These images come via TUAW, and show placeholders for the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. These screenshots do not show images of either device, but offer a look at the possible specs for Apple’s new iPhone.

Before you get too excited, these could just be placeholders put up by an expecting carrier — but even that is a telling sign. Just yesterday, we saw the Sprint iPhone 5 show up in Radio Shack’s inventory system.

You see, these screenshots appeared on the pre-paid pages of Cincinnati Bell. This is the first time we have heard about this carrier getting the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S.

The first screenshot shows the specs of an iPhone 5. This includes a larger 4″ display, up from 3.5″ on the current iPhone 4. We also see an 8MP camera listed, which is an improvement over the current 5MP iPhone 4 camera, and we also see 4G data speeds listed. While this might get your heart beating a big faster, calm down. This isn’t real 4G LTE, which delivers super fast downloads. Instead, this is HSPA+, which is only 4G in a fantasy world where marketers control definitions.

Are these the iPhone 5 Specs?

Next up, we see a screenshot of an iPhone 4S placeholder. This is the rumored low cost, tweaked iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S claims to have the current iPhone 4′s 3.5″ display and 5MP camera, but has an upgraded A5 processor. This device is notably cheaper at $99 after an instant $300 rebate.

Are these the iPhone 4S specs?

We are waiting for Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, to announce the new iPhone on October 4th at the company’s headquarters in California. We expect at least one new iPhone, but we may actually get two unique devices on Tuesday. If the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S are announced by Apple, we expect a release date of mid October on Sprint, AT&T and Verizon.

Apple is also expected to announce the iOS 5 release date. iOS 5 is a new version of the software that powers the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This new version is rumored to bring voice control in the form of a new Assistant app, only available on the new iPhone, as well as over 200 new features to the iPhone 5 and older iPhones.

This leak gives us hope that Apple may go even broader with the launch and allow regional carriers that use Verizon, AT&T or Sprint towers to get in on the iPhone 5 game.

[Thanks: http://www.gottabemobile.com]

1. Apple started out with the classic iPods, that used FireWire 400, using a power adapter called the “Apple iPod Power Adapter.” It’s model number A1003, and the output is 12 watts (12 volts x 1 amp). It’s about 6 cm. on a side, and should be used with older iPods that use FireWire 400. It looks like this.

(Original) Apple iPod Power Adapter (FireWire 400) 12W

2. The next generation of chargers, arrived when the iPods went 100 percent USB. It was called “iPod USB Power Adapter.” It’s slightly smaller than the original adapter above, being about 4.5 cm. square. The model number is A1205, and it puts out 5 watts (5 volts x 1 amp.) It’s suitable for all USB iPods and the iPhone. (It shipped with the original iPhone.) If you bought several early iPods and worked your way up through the iPhones, you probably have a few of these laying around.

iPod USB Power Adapter 5W

3. When Apple came out with the iPad in April, 2010, its larger capacity battery called for a charger with more power. It ships with the “10W USB Power Adapter” model number A1357. It’s output is 10.7 watts (5.1 volts x 2.1 amps) Unfortunately, it looks just like #2.

10W USB Power Adapter (looks just like #2) 10.7W

If you try to use the old 5 watt adapter (#2 above) with an iPad, it will work, but it’ll charge the iPad much more slowly when it’s idle and perhaps not much at all when in active use. So if you have any “#2” type chargers laying around, it’s probably a good idea to mark them as 5W so you don’t accidentally try to use it with an iPad.

Recently, we bought one of these 10W adaprers for my wife at an Apple store so she could charge her iPad at work. It’s clearly marked as 10W in the product name. When you buy that product, you also get the optional extension cable that replaces the built-in power prong. Here’s a photo (Apple.)

4. Starting with the iPhone 3G, Apple started shipping iPhones with the “Ultracompact USB Power Adapter,” although it’s too small to actually print that text on it. The model number is A1265, and it’s about 2.8 x 2.5 cm and outputs 5 watts (5 volts x 1 amp.) Being as small as it is, it naturally suggests that you should only use it with iPod touch and iPhones.

Ultracompact USB Power Adapter 5W

In September, 2008, Apple discovered that some of these Ultracompact adapters had a defect that could lead to the prongs snapping off and offered to replace them free of charge. The replacement adapters have a small green dot next to the prongs.

It’s important to note that you can use the 10W charger (#3) to charge an iPhone. Even though it’s over capacity, both #3 and #4 chargers output 5V, and the iPhone will only take as much current as it needs to charge. There’s no risk of damaging your iPhone. See my comment above about the other way around.

The type printed on the sides of these power adapters is incredibly small; it’s almost impossible to read. I am 20/15 at 12 inches, and I needed a lighted magnifying glass to read the ultra-fine print, output and model numbers. So, as I mentioned above, a permanent marker and a code, 5W or 10W, for some of your #2 and #3 chargers is a good idea.

Nowadays, all iPads ship with #3 and all iPhones ship with #4. (The iPod touch comes with the USB Dock Connector cable but no power adapter.) So there shouldn’t be any confusion moving forward.

Thank goodness.

[Thanks: http://www.macobserver.com]

The XSS bug is affecting the latest version of Skype for iOS, and works like that:

A Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability exists in the “Chat Message” window in Skype 3.0.1 and earlier versions for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.Skype uses a locally stored HTML file to display chat messages from other Skype users, but it fails to properly encode the incoming users “Full Name”, allowing an attacker to craft malicious JavaScript code that runs when the victim views the message.

The researcher informed Skype of the issue on 24 August, and was told that an update to fix it would be released early in September.

[Thanks: http://www.zdnet.com]

iOS5, the next version of Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad operating system, is heading towards a release in the next two weeks, developers say - which means that a refreshed iPhone is almost certain to be announced in the same timeframe.

iOS developers were warned by Apple on Sunday that on Thursday 22 September “the iCloud backup data will be reset. Backing up to iCloud or restoring from an iCloud backup will be unavailable from 9am PDT-5pm PDT… After this reset, you will be unable to restore from any backup created prior to September 22. A full backup will happen automatically the next time your device backs up to iCloud.”

Why does this matter? Because iOS5 has been in beta since 6 June, when it was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC). The expectation is that its final GM (”gold master”), working version will be released to the world this month - and what would x.0 Apple iOS release be if it didn’t bring a new phone with it too? According to the Wikipedia article on the timing of iOS releases, that would be unusual. So people are expecting the next iPhone at the same time.

Why though were developers told that their existing backups would be wiped? “Because the backup format has been finalised and old ones that aren’t in that format shouldn’t remain [in iCloud],” one developer told me. There’s that word - “finalised”.

Developers that I contacted say that iOS 5 seems to be ready for prime time: “[the most recent] iOS 5 beta 7 is two weeks old. I have faith that Apple has an internal build which fixes most of the outstanding issues. We’ve been told iCloud will be reset on 22 September, which seems to indicate something is happening,” said one. “My guess would be another beta on Friday (which may be the same as the GM), followed by an Apple event on [September] 28 or the following Wednesday where the GM will be released.”

So that gives you a couple of dates to mark on your calendar. Some aren’t waiting - the perhaps opportunistic businessmobiles.com is already faxing companies and people (I forbear to say “junk-faxing” - I’m sure some people are happy to receive them) with the fabulous chance to pre-order the iPhone 5: here’s the picture of the fax, via Matt Brian of The Next Web. (Unfortunately they haven’t actually got a picture of the iPhone 5. Now that would be news.)

When I phoned businessmobiles to ask where it was getting them from, and how soon, the answers were “don’t honestly know” (though obviously it will be a carrier) and “before Christmas”. OK, so that’s your backstop date. But the salesperson said that since the faxes started going out on Thursday he personally had taken 15 (individual) orders, and that interest was running higher than for the recently released range of BlackBerry phones (which you would expect would do better than iPhones, being usually thought of as a business phone).

Apple PR did not respond to a request for comment on the timing of the iOS 5 or next iPhone launch by time of publication.

So what should you expect from iOS 5 - which you’ll recall introduces Android-like notifications, BlackBerry Messenger-killer (or at least pain in right knee-er) iMessage, geofenced reminders, deep Twitter integration and various other things (such as being able to take a picture without unlocking the camera - though we can see that one going wrong).

Here’s the view from a mixture of developers who’ve been trying it.

How different does it look?
Developer comment:

“From a user’s front end, it’s probably not going to feel like a huge jump straight away, so I think you’ll find a lot of ‘huh? Is that it?’ comments. Visually, the core thing that changes is how the system deals with notifications from apps, which is now very Android-like.”

He adds:

“Some of the biggest changes come within what apps can do themselves (and so general users are unlikely to directly credit Apple with some of the changes coming).”

What’s the Twitter support like?
Developer:

Twitter support is baked in, although oddly you do need to download the free Twitter app to activate it. This may be a pre-launch requirement rather than an ongoing thing, of course. Once iOS devs can release code built on the v5 code, Twitter apps will be able to use any account info defined within Settings as well as use a special Twitter-friendly keyboard with @ and # available from the off (kind of like the email and URL special keyboards).

What about iCloud (which synchronises between your computer, tablet and phone)?

One dev says:

“The integration with iCloud is looking very smart, but I haven’t got any apps which need that functionality so I’m not too hot on how it works in reality compared with how the docs /say/ it will work… Similarly, I know of several magazine publishers who are waiting to release apps that integrate with the new Newsstand folder. Until they do, it’s just an undeletable icon that does nothing of use.”

Another says:

“The riskiest bit seems to be iCloud at the moment, specifically iTunes Match. In early beta’s the whole syncing/backup piece was a bit hit and miss - duplicating contacts, bookmarks and the like - but I’ve been testing across multiple Mac’s and iOS devices and those kinks seem to have been worked out. Since iTunes Match was released to developers, the Music app has became quite unstable - its slow and a bit unpredictable. Some songs won’t play, it starts playing randomly (this is a bit strange, seems to be tied to when I go from signal/no-signal areas).”

How does it compare to Android?
Developer:

“I’m probably biased… but in terms of user experience, iOS is still the best choice for consumers - its so easy to pick up and use. While Android has been making big strides over the past few years, it still feels more…. complicated than it needs to be. The App ecosystem is also fragmented and less consumer friendly.

“iOS 5 takes an already great platform and builds in more incentives to buy into the whole iOS/Mac ecosystem. iCloud/iMessage are great examples of this - and they are also things which separate it from Android. No Android device vendor can offer that fully integrated solution.

“For developers, iOS has always been the better choice in terms of tools and SDK - Android has always been a bit sparse in this area. With iOS 5, Apple has introduced a lot of new API’s and features which will make it easier to write apps.”

Another dev:

“The only real advantage for developers that Android [now] has, and it depends what kind of app you are writing, is that with Android there is no app store review/approval process.”

“The new functionality for the most part seems rock solid - Reminders, Notifications, Sync/Backup, Twitter, iMessage….

What’s new under the hood?
• Developer support for creating multi-touch gestures,
• CoreImage which allows developers to manipulate 2D images and apply photoshop-like effects and filters,
• ARC which I suspect is part of a much larger plan. ARC basically makes developing for iOS much more accessible, and negates the need for developers to do complicated memory management.
• Full support for UI automation and testing

Any problems?

One dev says:

“My biggest bugbear at the moment (on my lowly 3GS) is the number of times app quit due to memory shortages, or because they’ve taken too long to load. I’m hoping that the debugging code within the iOS core is partly to blame here, and once it reaches release the core’s footprint will shrink and things will run as smoothly as iOS 4.

If it doesn’t, and I have to get used to frequent app crashes on my 3GS, then I’ll be disappointed. Of course, I’ve had it so long that an upgrade to a 4 or (more likely) a 5 isn’t too far away, but I’d like my iPhone to remain functional but slow. It’s hard to type on an iPhone keyboard when you’re also crossing your fingers it won’t crash.

(Note that the 3GS is the oldest model that will be supported by iOS5.).

So the drums are beginning to beat.

[Thanks: http://www.guardian.co.uk]

Italian blog Macitynet.it has posted a photo gallery of a case that it says will fit the iPhone 5. The blog took comparison shots with the iPhone 4 and the iPod touch, both of which fit into the case with plenty of extra room, suggesting the iPhone 5 will be wider and taller than the current devices.

Slots for the power button and headphone jack remain at the top of the case, but on the left side, there are only two buttons for volume; the slider “mute” option is now on the right. Macitynet.it also notes that the curves of the case are better equipped for the iPod touch rather than the iPhone 4.

Of course, pre-release cases in the wild aren’t always the best predictor of what Apple might do. Most third parties likely have just as much information as we do and simply build a few different cases based on rumors. This could be one of those cases.

In May, another iPhone 5 case suggested the device would have an edge-to-edge screen. Many recent rumors have actually focused quite a bit on the device’s screen size. There were reports that the next-gen iPhone would have an HD, 4.2-inch screen (the iPhone 4 is 3.5 inches), but recent rumors put it at less than four inches.

On Monday, meanwhile, MacPost and Engadget posted photos of an LCD display labeled “N94 EVT 1.” The posts said the photos were from an iPhone prototype in the Engineering Verification Testing phase that date back to March 3.

Losing track of all the Apple iPhone 5 rumors? Be sure to check out What the iPhone 5 Might Look Like and Six Amazing Phone Technologies We Want in iPhone 5, as well as the 8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones slideshow below.

[Thanks: http://www.pcmag.com]

Works with your iPad, iPhone or iPod to stream video of whatever you’re trying to keep an eye on.

[Thanks: http://www.news-record.com]

The iPhone 5 parts images come our way courtesy of the guys over at 9to5 Mac and have been published by Greek iPhone, who claim that the camera module is “quite different” to that of the current iPhone 4.

Along with the supposed camera module the website posted an image of an audio cable that apparently suggest the design of the iPhone 5
changes slightly and an image of the audio cable with the headphone
jack along with connectors for the volume up and down buttons and mute
and vibrate switch.

Apparently in this particular image the volume
buttons are on the right rather than the left, and the guys speculate
that this could be either for a “smaller iPhone codenamed N97” or for a “redesigned iPod touch.”

So
there you have it the latest bit of speculation based on purported
iPhone 5 leaked parts, but to be honest as I always say, nothing is
confirmed with the iPhone 5 or any other Apple gear for that matter
until such times as Apple lets the cat out of the bag.

So what do
our readers think, are these parts for the iPhone 5 or perhaps for
something else, and do you feel these leaked parts signify that the next
iPhone will feature a slimmer profile? Feel free to voice your opinions
to our comments are below.

Personally As the parts aren’t stamped
iPhone 5 or anything else I feel they could be for just about any
smartphone out there or in production, still we take everything to do
with Apple gear leaks with a pinch of salt don’t we.

[Thanks: http://www.phonesreview.co.uk]

Smartphones and tablet computers — including the iPhone, iPad, Android devices and others — can also take advantage of location-awareness, with which a new social networking application by BitFlx (news, site) lets users share videos that are time-bound and location-aware.

Geo-Tagged and Time-Bound Videos

BitFlx is a social video application for Apple iOS devices that integrates video content and locations for better interactivity with one’s vicinity, says BitFlx founder and CEO Sebastian Andreatta.

BitFlx creates a window into what’s happening near and now and provides a new way for users to experience their community, both visually and by location. We believe BitFlx will help shape the way members of communities engage with one another in a compelling and visual manner.

Social networking and collaboration become more interesting when the location and time aspects are embedded in the content.

Think of checking into a place, but only with video and not just a short textual post. Most smartphones and tablets today — from cheapest to most high-end — will have GPS and location-sensing built-in, and so tagging content for location has never been more accessible.

BitFlx interface on the iPhone shows time-bound and geo-tagged videos

BitFlx is not just about location, though. Unlike YouTube, which acts more as an archive of shared video content, BitFlx displays shared video by the day, organized by place. This means that relevant videos today might no longer be as relevant tomorrow, although they are still accessible.

Collaboration, Marketing, Events, Crowdsourcing

The applications of location-aware video sharing are actually diverse. While initially intended to augment the capabilities of existing social networks like Facebook, BitFlx can also be used in a variety of applications. For instance, videos can be used to document events and activities from any location. Businesses can interact with BitFlx users through localized video content (commercial sites are given a special mention in the BitFlx interface). Organizations can crowd-source content, asking members for contributions that can be tagged according to time and place.

BitFlx is a free application for the iPhone and iPad, and iPod Touch, and is currently available for download through the iTunes App Store. The developers are currently working on an Android version, which is targeted for release later this year.

[Thanks: http://www.cmswire.com]

The flaws, exploited by the Jailbreakme.com
project, essentially allowed remote code execution attacks via
specially rigged fonts and escalation of privileges to escape the iOS
sandbox.  The Jailbreakme.com project used rigged PDF files to deliver
the malformed fonts.

Here’s the skinny on the three vulnerabilities patched by Apple with the iOS 4.3.4 software update:

• CoreGraphics (CVE-2010-3855) – Viewing a
  maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an unexpected application
  termination or arbitrary code execution Description:  A buffer overflow
  exists in FreeType’s handling of TrueType fonts.
• CoreGraphics (CVE-2011-0226) – Viewing a
  maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an unexpected application
  termination or arbitrary code execution Description:  A signedness issue
  exists in FreeType’s handling of Type 1 fonts.
• IOMobileFrameBuffer (CVE-2011-0227) – Malicious
  code running as the user may gain system privileges. An invalid type
  conversion issue exists in the use of IOMobileFrameBuffer queueing
  primitives, which may allow malicious code running as the user to gain
  system privileges.

The iOs 4.3.4 update is available for iOS 3.0 through 4.3.3 for
iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 (GSM); iOS 3.1 through 4.3.3 for iPod touch (3rd
generation) and later; and iOS 3.2 through 4.3.3 for iPad.

[Thanks: http://www.zdnet.com]

Analysts, tech blogs and consumers oscillated between hyping the phone as the second-coming or deriding it as much-ado about nothing. In 2007, I was both an Apple fan (I purchased my first iPod in 2002) and a mobile phone fanatic. Still, I had my doubts about the iPhone because of its outlandish price, its carrier lock (and the carrier of choice) and the lack of third-party applications. I thought, OK, the iPhone will probably sell pretty well, but it’s not going to change the mobile phone industry.

The details and investment into the narrative surrounding the iPhone’s launch wasn’t like other tech products — or even other Apple products. It was more like a highly promoted, well publicized and much buzzed about movie. The only question was, would the iPhone be an Ishtar (a highly publicized failure), or a Titanic (surpassing even the most hopeful expectations)?

In four years, the iPhone has utterly transformed the mobile industry. One can debate how much Apple innovated versus refined when it comes to certain features (touchscreens and app stores existed before the iPhone), but when we look at the mobile industry, there is a very clear line between what happened before June 29, 2007, and what happened after. I would argue that every major smartphone that has gone into production since the iPhone’s release has, in some way, been a response to the iPhone itself.

The iPhone not only transformed the mobile industry, but changed Apple as a company. In 2007, Apple was nearly 10 years into a fantastic business turnaround. Propelled by the early success of the iMac and pushed further into the black with the iBook, iPod, iTunes and the transition to Intel processors, the iPhone took Apple into an entirely different direction.

As our lovely infographic showcases, Apple’s stock has nearly tripled over the past four years. The company now has a market cap of more than $300 billion, exceeding that of Microsoft. Apple’s revenues are now higher than Microsoft’s, too — something that would have been a laughable suggestion four years ago.

Four years after the first iPhone was released, a lot has changed in the mobile space. Smartphone adoption has finally gone mainstream. The fortunes of Nokia, RIM and Palm (now HP) have significantly changed. The big leader in the mobile OS space is Android, Google’s open source OS that debuted a year and a half after the original iPhone.

One thing that hasn’t changed (aside from Apple’s aversion to Flash on mobile devices) is the hype and furry that the iPhone still incites in both its supporters and its detractors. Rumors of the iPhone 5 are likely to continue to build throughout the summer, ebbing the hype to the point that all of us will ask, “Can anything really meet these expectations?” Only this time, we know how this story ends.

After all, if the iPhone was Titanic, the iPad was Avatar. Now we just have to wait for the sequels.

[Thanks: http://mashable.com]