iPhone 5

A new report from DigiTimes states that Apple will release the iPhone 5 with a larger 4-inch display. Current and past iPhone models have always had 3.5-inch screens. According to the report, the move to a larger screen will help the iPhone compete against larger Android smartphone displays.

Shown here is a 4-inch Samusung Galaxy S pictured next to a 3.5-inch iPhone 4 from Emoiz. The possibility of a larger iPhone 5 comes hot on the heels of earlier news pointing towards a smaller, cheaper iPhone nano that would also come to consumers in summer 2011. If Apple does diversify its line of smartphones, it would be further filling the gap between the current iPhone and the 9.7-inch iPad tablet.

Just the other day, Bloomberg reported on the long-anticipated iPhone nano, a smaller iPhone in the works at Apple. Now the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that such a device is in development and should see release this summer. According to the report, the smaller iPhone will be around half the size of the current iPhone 4.

Patents for a mini-iPhone first surfaced almost four years ago, and since then Apple executives have discouraged rumors that a smaller smartphone is under development. Sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal claim to have seen a prototype device, dubbed the N97.

Nobody can seem to get enough of the iPhone nano. Ever since the first news of a mini-iPhone patent surfaced almost four years ago, the concept refuses to disappear for more than a few months at a time. Now Bloomberg cites sources within Apple who say the smaller handset is indeed in the works.

According to the report, prototypes of the iPhone nano exist and have been considered as a way for Apple to increase competition against popular, cheaper Android devices. By using current-generation components Apple could reduce manufacturing costs on a new handset coming in at two-thirds the size of a normal iPhone.

Well the iPhone 5 rumor mill is in full swing, and reports are backing up claims that Apple's next generation device will come this summer with significant changes. Apple has already shifted some of its parts suppliers from Japanese companies to Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn and Foxlink. This will likely lower manufacturing expenses for Apple, although it's not clear if the move will result in lower prices for consumers.

New information is revealed every day surrounding the upcoming iPhone 5 design. As usual, Apple is silent as a whirlwind of leaks and rumors about next generation iPhone hardware makes its way to the public. Seen below is last fall's cool yet ridiculous handyflash concept, one of the first to appear.

The truth is that Apple has been granted a patent for changes to its capacitive touch screen that could lead to thinner iPhones. As described by AppleInsider, separating conductive nodes from the touch surface reduces the hardware necessary for a touch screen and saves battery power. The patent was first filed in July 2009, but it's not clear if this new interface will make it into the iPhone 5.