iPhone 5

Macotakara brought news of the iPhone 5 having a curved aluminum back to the table (mockup below), now they report that Apple's next smartphone will be a variation on the iPhone 4 design, possibly named the iPhone 4S. According to sources, this device will launch in late July to early August and keep the familiar iPhone 4 form factor while packing upgraded hardware inside.

One major change will be an integrated SIM, saving space and dropping the need for a removable SIM card as in current devices. The iPhone 4S will also include several antennas and a Qualcomm hybrid chip that will allow the device to activate on either the Verizon or AT&T network.

Just when everyone started to believe that the fifth generation iPhone announcement wasn't coming until August, new information points to a possible WWDC reveal this June. According to Electricpig in the United Kingdom, British journalists are being invited by Apple to attend the Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) starting on June 6.

Would the iPhone public relations team in the UK be asking select tech publications to attend WWDC in San Francisco if a new product announcement wasn't about to happen? Electricpig's sources say no way. This could mean that new iPhone hardware will be shown off in June after all. According to US invites pictured above, the focus of the event seems to center in on the next version of the iOS mobile operating system.

A curved front glass screen could be on its way to the fifth generation Apple iPhone. Sources in the component supply chain tell Taiwanese tech paper DigiTimes that Apple has purchased 200-300 glass cutting machines and is storing them at assembly plants for future use. Apple has been working with touch sensor and cover glass manufacturers, glass cutters and lamination suppliers to improve yield rates.

According to the report, the new machines will be used when manufacturing is up to speed. Apple purchased the machines because they are an expensive investment for cover glass makers. Industry sources claim Apple is working on a curved cover glass for the next iPhone model that will utilize the equipment. These investments will ramp up production and make the curved glass possible at an unspecified date in the near future.

Another day, another next generation iPhone prediction. This one seems to make sense, at lease based upon historical Apple iOS event dates and iPhone hardware announcements. Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray calculated the number of days between these two events for the past three years. Also listed in the chart below from AppleInsider is the actual iPhone ship date.

Extrapolating these numbers based on this year's iOS event in San Francisco scheduled for June 6 points to an August 24 iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S announcement. This would place the shipping date for the new hardware squarely in the middle of September. These predictions mesh well with previous information we've heard over the past few months.

Despite the rampant rumors surrounding the next generation iPhone, thanks to Verizon Wireless at least two points of speculation have been cleared up. Thanks to an interview of the Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo by Reuters, hardware and data plan details for the iPhone 5 have been divulged. First the hardware: it's widely known that the Verizon iPhone 4 already has a hybrid wireless modem installed, making it possible to connect to GSM or CDMA networks.

Currently the chip is locked into CDMA mode for the Verizon network and can't be used on GSM networks in the US or overseas. In contrast, the AT&T model iPhone 4 has only a GSM modem. Shammo explained that Apple's next hardware release would take place on both carriers simultaneously, indicating that the hybrid chip would be installed and activated for use on both network technologies.