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]

In a study released yesterday, the mobile ad network discovered that 41 percent of mobile users in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada will buy the new iPhone, with 50 percent of those planning to pick one up within the first six months of the phone’s debut. If those numbers hold true, the iPhone 5 would become the most successful product launch yet from Apple, according to InMobi.

Apple has an iPhone event planned for next week, at which the tight-lipped company is widely expected to unveil the iPhone 5.

Further, the new iPhone could easily shake up the battle between Apple and Android by boosting the market share of iOS to 41 percent from its reported 27 percent in June, the study said. A small survey conducted in early August by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster found similar results, prompting the analyst to forecast that the iPhone 5 could double Apple’s market share.

The iPhone 5 is also expected to steal business from other platforms as it’s being eyed by 51 percent of current iPhone users but 27 percent of Android owners and 52 percent of BlackBerry users. Some of the new features that consumers are hotly anticipating in the new iPhone include better battery life, faster performance, higher screen resolution, and stronger phone service, InMobi said.

(Credit: InMobi)

Though most people may be expecting Apple to unveil a totally new phone at next Tuesday’s event, past reports have claimed that the device will just be a revamped iPhone 4 with a few improvements but the same basic features. Even if such rumors prove true, a new “iPhone 4S” will scoop up business from 11 percent of current iPhone users, 11 percent of Android owners, and 28 percent of BlackBerry customers.

As a mobile ad network, InMobi has seen an increase in ad impressions for iOS, particularly in iPod Touch devices. Including all of its mobile devices, Apple currently holds the leading share of impressions on InMobi’s network at 29 percent.

Though demand for its mobile devices is still running hot, Apple’s iOS has seen its once dominant lead in the smartphone OS market overtaken this year by Android. InMobi points to iOS as the top dog on its network, but fellow mobile ad network Millennial Media has been tracking Android in first place since shooting past iOS early this year.

[Thanks: http://news.cnet.com]

Is Facebook’s long-awaited iPad app going to make its debut at Apple’s iPhone 5 unveiling event, which is expected to take place Oct. 4?

That’s the rumor, according to Ben Parr of Mashable, who says his unnamed sources have told him a Facebook iPad app will be announced at Apple’s iPhone 5 event along with a new Facebook iPhone app and maybe even an HTML5-based mobile app store.

Apple and Facebook officials weren’t available for comment on the report Monday, although Apple always declines to comment on speculation. And, so far, Apple has yet to confirm that the next-generation iPhone will be announced Oct. 4 or even be called the iPhone 5.

But the information, while exciting to those who have been waiting months for a Facebook app on the iPad, does have some odd aspects given that the event will no doubt be focused on the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4S, or whatever name Apple gives its new iPhone).

The announcement of a Facebook iPad app and a new iPhone app would make sense at an Apple event if the apps were shown taking advantage of some new features in iOS 5, the latest version of Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad operating system, which will ship on the iPhone 5.

But it’s also worth keeping in mind that iOS 5 places Twitter front and center.

Twitter, not Facbeook, is the social network built into iOS 5 and integrating into the iPhone’s photos, contacts and Safari Web browser apps. It has been reported that Apple at one point wanted to integrate Facebook into iOS 5 before going with Twitter, but that obviously didn’t happen.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive and co-founder, showed off what his social network’s new Timeline-style profile pages would look like on an iPhone at the company’s F8 developer conference keynote last week and that would either have to be presented in a updated app or maybe an HTML5 version of Facebook.

The one bit of Parr’s information that seems to me to be unrealistic is that Facebook would launch an HTML5-built mobile app store of its own at the Apple iPhone 5 unveiling. Apple has built a major business on selling apps for its devices through its iTunes App Store and now its Mac App Store.

Why in the world would Apple want to let Facebook unveil an app store of its own that operated outside of the Apple ecosystem? Why would Apple give stage time to Facebook apps, and not iPhone or iPad apps, at an event announcing a new iPhone equipped with a new version of its own operating system?

However, if Parr’s sources are correct and Apple, the world’s most valuable tech company, and Facebook, the world’s most valuable and most popular social network, were to team up for an app store, it could be huge and a threat to both Google’s Android operating system and the Google+ social network.

We’ll all find out what’s what when Apple unveils its next iPhone.

[Thanks: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com]

Some of the panels supplied by Wintek have been found to suffer “delayed bubble” problems, DigiTimes reports, where bubbles of gas are trapped in-between the multi-layer films used. There’s no word on exactly what proportion of Wintek’s touch panels are believed to be affected.

Wintek is providing up to a quarter of the iPhone 5 touch panels, the sources claim, with Apple supposedly aiming to ship as many as 26m units of the fifth-gen smartphone in Q4 2011. The company has only publicly said that all of its products are being delivered “on schedule” and has not commented on specific orders or customers.

With the application process of the iPhone 5 touch panels being identical to that of those in the iPhone 4, industry insiders don’t envisage that Wintek will experience any significant delays in rectifying the problem. Exactly how many of the panels it has already supplied will need to be replaced is unclear.

Apple is believed to be readying two new versions of the iPhone, the iPhone 4S with almost identical aesthetics to the current iPhone 4 and targeted at the more affordable end of the market, and the iPhone 5 which is tipped to have a larger display among other changes. Cases for the iPhone 4S were caught in the wild yesterday seemingly confirming that Apple is indeed close to launching at least one of the new handsets.

[Thanks: http://www.slashgear.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]

“Skype uses a locally stored HTML file to display chat messages from other Skype users, but it fails to properly encode the incoming user’s ‘Full Name,’ allowing an attacker to craft malicious JavaScript code that runs when the victim views the message,” Purviance wrote on his blog.

The heart of the problem, according to Purviance, is an improper definition within the Skype app that allows access to a user’s local file system. He says the threat is partially mitigated by protections within iOS itself, but the address book remains vulnerable.

Skype appears to be in no hurry to fix the problem. In a tweet, Purviance said he notified Skype of the vulnerability on August 24, and was told that an update addressing the issue would be released in early September.

A statement from Skype confirms that the company is aware of the issue and will fix it “in our next planned release, which we hope to roll out imminently.”

You can watch a demonstration of exactly how the exploit works in this video, created by Purviance:

[Thanks: http://www.pcworld.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]

Apple is prepping for a bigger iPhone market in this second half of the year analysts say, ramping up the orders of its current iPhones and also stepping up production of the anticipated iPhone 5.

However, the technology giant is expected to face tough competition from Android smartphones, particularly from HTC that has planned to introduce its biggest smartphone known as the HTC Holiday.

Let’s see how the HTC Holiday would fare with the iPhone 5:

iPhone 5:

The iPhone 5 is expected to run on an upgraded operating system, iOS 5, and is supported by a strong ecosystem including iCloud. iCloud will store photos, apps, calendars and documents without storing them onto the phone’s memory storage.

Apple may fit a near-field communication chip in the iPhone 5 as some high-end Android devices are expected to sport the NFC chip. NFC allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. A smartphone or tablet with an NFC chip could make a credit card payment or serve as keycard or ID card.

Apple is rumored to increase the screen size of iPhone 5 to compete with Android smartphones, probably going for a 4-inch screen. The iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch screen.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5 as a “World Phone” - both GSM and CDMA compatible. It is conjectured that the phone will have a SIM-less design with 3-4 antennas. Another rumor suggested that the iPhone 5 will feature a SIM card slot for other countries except the U.S. This will allow users to insert any SIM card in the iPhone when traveling abroad.

Apple has made improvements in the camera department by fitting a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to sport an 8-megapixel camera.

There is also near-unanimity in gadget circles that Apple will bring its A5 chip on to the iPhone 5. The A5 processor is the same one that Apple rolled out to power its iPad 2. Apple may boost the speed of its A5 chip in the range of 1.2 or 1.5 GHz as several Android smartphones are coming with 1.2 GHz processor.

HTC Holiday

The Holiday is rumored to boast a 4.5-inch display, supposedly the first of a new wave across the Android landscape with 4.5-inch displays.

The recent breed of Android phones, like Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Thunderbolt and Motorola Photon, found expression in 4.3-inch displays. The trend seems to highlight that the next barrage of Android phones will follow the 4.5-inch form factor.

HTC Holiday is expected to run on the latest version of Google Inc.’s smartphone operating system, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS.

The Holiday will sport an 8MP dual-LED flash rear-facing camera with 1080p video playback and a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chat. The device is expected to have a 4.5-inch qHD display with 960×540 screen resolution.

The Holiday will be powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 1GB RAM.

The Holiday is expected to have HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 21 Mbps and HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) 5.76 Mbps support. In addition, the smartphone would have Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support along with advanced Bluetooth version 4.0 with A2DP and EDR

There is no word about internal storage details of the HTC Holiday yet, but it is expected to have an external storage via a microSD card slot of up to 32 GB.

On the pricing front, Apple’s iPhone 5 has been rumored to be priced at $600, while iPhone 4 is listed on AT&T at $299 for 32GB version with a 2-year contract. The Holiday is expected to be priced at $199 to $249 at AT&T.

However, Apple certainly knows how to surprise and already has a few things in place like iCloud which can steal the thunder from Android devices. Apple’s iPhone features are extensively varied from HTC Holiday, which means the loyal Apple fan base remains the same. And for Apple, there is no reason to fear a potential loss with respect to buyers.

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

We all want to know

Though highly speculative, there’s little new in this morning’s claims, in brief: Digitimes now says the iPhone 5 won’t possess a 4.2-inch screen. (iPhones have never had such a screen). The iPhone 5 will boast a metal back with a 3.5-3.7 inch screen with a thinner bezel for a larger-looking screen.

The new claims do render some interesting gleanings: “The rumored specifications of iPhone 5 include a 4- to 4.2-inch HD touch panel, 8-megapixel camera, Full HD video recording, A5 dual-core processor and new ultra-thin industrial design; however, the sources believe that the leaked specifications are rather the market’s expectations for iPhone 5.”

This is interesting because a second rumor this morning claims that the introduction of Apple’s A6 processor may not take place until the second-half of next year, which suggests a late 2012 launch for post iPhone 5 models and any significant A6-powered iPad upgrade.

A6 for late 2012?

Analysts at the Linley Group say that the A6 processor “may not arrive until later in 2012″. That’s no great surprise — particularly since Apple seems far more amenable to remaining flexible in its product release schedules these days, presumably to keep competitors guessing.

However, any perceived delay in the introduction of any predicted (or imagined) Apple product in the coming months will likely be seized on by a traffic-greedy media as evidence the company under new CEO, Tim Cook, is losing its grip.(Which it isn’t).

Such reports will hopefully be taken by the majority of the Apple faithful as the shoddy wish-fulfillment fantasies that they will eventually emerge to be.

Returning to the Linley Group, analysts there warn the A6 processor won’t likely hit market until the second half of next year.

This is interesting because it could imply the iPad 3 will host an A5 processor, fully souped-up to deliver the more advanced ‘pro’ features many expect this imagined configuration may deliver. It could also suggest the A6-powered iPad 4 will make its own blushing debut at a later-than-anticipated juncture.

Apple ditches Intel?

Linley analyst Kevin Krewell explains: “This pace would make the A6 one of the first 28nm mobile processors (along with Qualcomm’s MSM8960) to enter production.”

The move to 28nm process is likely to be a tough one for Apple’s suppliers, but will offer the company some serious possibilities when it comes to the development of new, ultra-powerful but low power mobile devices, perhaps equipped with multiple multi-processors.

That’s well-timed as Apple continues to apply pressure to chip giant and current Mac processor supplier, Intel, to deliver ever-faster, ever-more-low-power processors to feed its busier than ever production lines.

Meanwhile, Apple’s moves to replace Samsung as supplier continue while the company’s litigation against its old ally seem to support Cupertino’s claims against it. Samsung is not winning the legal arguments in any territory, and faces real danger of its seemingly Apple-inspired Galaxy products being banned in key markets.

[Thanks: http://blogs.computerworld.com]

For those unfamiliar with Flipboard, it’s a neat, magazine style way of reading all of your various news feeds from Facebook to Twitter to all of the stuff on your Google Reader RSS feeds. You can then tailor your experience to your liking. It’s fantastic and has been downloaded 3 million times but access to it has been limited.

It has only been available on the iPad.

And it appears that expanding to the iPhone and iPod touch isn’t the only expanding that Flipboard will be doing. The company apparently is going to be branching out beyond news stories and plans to add TV shows and films to its content. As of yet, it appears that no deals have been cut with studios.

I’m excited to see how Flipboard translates to the smaller screen but if it looks anywhere close to as beautiful as it does on the iPad, I’ll be satisfied.

Anyone else excited?

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