This, according to China Ontrade, is the 4th generation iPhone midboard. Having accurately leaked part of the iPhone 3GS assembly in May 2009, weeks before Phil Schiller showed the launch device off at WWDC in June, they’ve gained some measure of credibility. However, this isn’t May 2010 and its hard to see ever-prototyping, last-minute-camera-ditching Apple setting anything in stone (or aluminum or plastic) this early in the cycle.

iPhones get introduced in June/July, after all, according to the same Phil Schiller. That’s their product cycle, and that’s what Apple has done for the first three versions. Could they be planning an early surprise? Gizmodo thinks pressure from Android (technically Android hardware manufacturers like HTC and Motorola in this case, we suppose) might get them to ramp up faster. However, a great iPhone 3.2 (which we’ve still not seen beta nor screenshot of) could relieve pressure on the OS side.

So is it real? Perhaps, and could well represent the current state of the art of 4th generation iPhone prototyping. Is it what we’ll see when the actual iPhone (insert new brand name here) ships? Eh, it’s just a midboard so it’s hard to get terribly excited unless/until some hardware whizzes figure out the dimensions must mean a 16:9 display, or it’s 8 feet high or something…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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4th Generation iPhone Midboard Leaked?

According to Business Insider, the mythical iTablet is imminent due to the unnamed, unverified, unspecified travel of someone at Apple who does… something:

a source tells us a system integration engineer friend of his at Apple has been ramping up his travels back and forth between China lately, broadcasting word of his travels over the Internet.

A friend of a friend — no names! — asked TiPb what will end up being more ridiculous, iPhone rumors or iTablet rumors. We answered — yes!

Anyone have an iTablet case (with or without camera hole!) they want to leak our way?

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Apple Frequent Flying to China Means… iTablet Imminent?

Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times, when discussing the evolution/revolution underway in the print media industry, mentioned off-the-record and in passing:

“I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate…”

And so the question becomes, was this an unintentional leak based upon content discussions the NYT has been having with Apple, or is Keller — like all of us — just so inculcated with speculation about the near-mythic Apple iTablet that he — like all of us — speaks as though it’s inevitable?

[via Gawker, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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iTablet Leak or Assumptive Speak? New York Times Executive Editor Says “Apple Slate”

Yes, the iTablet rumors just keep on coming, with the latest from Gizmodo being that Apple is in talks with traditional print publishers — text books, newspapers, and magazines, to redefine their industry they way they have music (and are trying to do with video).

Two people related to the NYTimes have separately told me that in June, paper was approached by Apple to talk about putting the paper on a “new device.” [...] A person close to a VP in textbook publishing mentioned to me in July that McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks to iTunes.[...] Apple also recently had several executives from one of the largest magazine groups at their Cupertino’s campus, where they were asked to present their ideas on the future of publishing.

Why?

The eventual goal is to have publishers create hybridized content that draws from audio, video, interactive graphics in books, magazines and newspapers, where paper layouts would be static. And with release dates for Microsoft’s Courier set to be quite far away and Kindle stuck with relatively static e-ink, it appears that Apple is moving towards a pole position in distribution of this next-generation print content. First, it’ll get its feet wet with more basic repurposing of the stuff found on dead trees today.

Gizmodo is also backing the rumored January announce date. What remains uncertain is, of course, the market for next generation print media. The Kindle was recently, and very publicly, panned by Princeton students as being unusable. Apple will have the benefit of the existing iTunes and iPhone ecosystem to fall back on, and buy them time — people can browse the web, listen to music, watch videos on the iTablet — but they’ll have to present a much more usable solution to get that print dinosaur cyberized for the next millennium.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

More iTablet Rumors: Apple Set to Redefine Newspapers, Textbooks, Magazines

Apple might be preparing a 10.7″ multi-touch iTablet with 720p resolution, running the iPhone OS, for announcement in January and release in May/June 2010. That’s just one of the rumors dropped by iLounge this morning, from a source they say was accurate about the most recent iPod nano, iPhone, and Chinese iPhone stories.

Like the iPhone and the iPod touch, iLounge’s source claims both a 3G and non-3G version will be available, so users can weigh always-on connectivity vs. another monthly telco bill.

Apple is no stranger to big product announcements in January, but since exiting Macworld, they’re also now free to set their own schedule. Possible delays? Odds of it receiving the official “b’okay” from Steve Jobs in its current form are said to be 80% (after it already being nixed at 7″ for being “too small”). That’s good, but far from certain.

Also far from certain, but certainly interesting is Microsoft’s equal and opposite tablet concept — the Courier, which focuses not on media but on journaling. Gizmodo has another video up. It reminds us of those awesome, future-filled Bill Gates keynotes from CES. Most of what Gates demoed hasn’t made it to market, however. Hopefully the Courier will fare better.

People are used to phones, they’re used to MP3 players, laptops, desktops, even set top boxes. A decade later, there’s no indication of tablets breaking through into the mainstream, so Apple, Microsoft, and everyone else has their work cut out for them.

We’ll see if the iTablet can tell a compelling enough story, and offer a feature set that sells.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTablet to be Announced in January, Launch in Early Summer, Run iPhone OS?

Is Apple planning a larger, touch-screen enabled remote control to go along with a next generation Apple TV? Boy Genius‘ tipster, the same one who leaked iTunes 9 app organization and social integration, says yes indeed. And if the image above is accurate, one of the updates will be — Safari. (No sign of Apps yet, though…)

Would this really be a lower-cost option to something like the Remote App for iPhone and iPod touch, which could conceivably do anything a dedicated remote could do and more? (Actually, adding Bluetooth to an Apple TV for more persistent, don’t have to wait for WiFi to reconnect, iPhone remote would be even better!)

Along those lines, we don’t see Apple investing this much in a single-purpose remote control, even if it can control Macs, docked iPods, etc. as well, given what they’re doing with the iPhone platforms, but stranger things have happened.

You want?

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Crazy Rumor Tuesday: Touch Screen Remote for New Apple TV?

Could we see a combination CDMA/HSPA iPhone hit Verizon before the holidays? No, we don’t think so either, but that’s the rumor we’re hearing again.

Of course, we’re no stranger to iPhone on Verizon rumors, whether they be wishful thinking or the result of ongoing, longterm Apple/carrier negotiations that may or may not ever amount to anything, it’s ironic that rumors about America’s most reliable network are almost always anything but…

Given the limited remaining lifespan on CDMA (Verizon’s going LTE for 4G) and market (primarily the US — even Bell and Telus in Canada are going HSPA), it just seems like such an un-Apple-like thing to do. Then again, Verizon’s customer base is no doubt a huge temptation for Apple. Given how many iPhones they sell on AT&T, if they hit Verizon, we can only imagine the market share shift. (Not to mention the load balancing of network traffic that would hopefully follow).

Again, we’re not getting our hopes up. We don’t think we’ll see an iPhone on Verizon any time soon, especially not before the holidays. Let’s face it, it’s almost October already and the window to effectively launch and market the iPhone on a new US network by then is rapidly diminishing from slim to none.

But, if you want to sound off anyway about how much you want a an iPhone world-phone on Verizon, hit the comments.

[Thanks tipster!]

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Wednesday Crazy Rumor: Could We See an iPhone on Verizon by the Holidays?

Every year Apple has a special music event, and every year Beatles rumors follow along with it. This time, the event date of 9/9/9, the release of Beatles Remastered on CD and Beatles Rock Band has the rumors running faster than ever. Will iTunes join the fray, or will Big Music try to make their money on physical media and games before allowing digital downloads?

Current is adding fuel to the fire, however, with a purported screenshot of the Beatles being featured on iTunes — a slip of the old server, so to speak.

But is it real, or just really fake? iTunes ads are easier to whip up on photoshop than lolcats, after all.

Still, we’re just over a day and half from “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it“, so crazy time, it has arrived!

[Thanks Glenn for the tip!]

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Real or Really Fake? Beatles on iTunes Screen Shot

UPDATE: Video has been posted, check it out after the jump!

ORIGINAL: New images have surfaced purported to be Apple’s third generation iPod touch, showing a top, center mounted camera for the presumed-to-be-announced in September product revision.

To catch up, we’ve heard the new iPod touch would have a camera and mic, and potentially come in at 16GB/32GB/64GB for $199/$299/$399. Now, as to the picture above…

Real? Fake? Really fake? There are certain constants in this Apple ‘verse, including spec and image leaks prior to, and in anticipation of, any new Apple event. So either way, we’re right on schedule!

[via MacRumors, thanks for the tip Gregg!]

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UPDATED with Video: iPod touch Leaks Begin! Is This the Third Generation’s New Camera?

UPDATE: Boy Genius has linked to screenshots from China via Germany that show Last.fm and “social”. Real or Fake? You decide!

Boy Genius is back with more from the same iTunes 9 leaking source, this time with details on iTunes 9 social network integration and plans for an Apple “social app”.

The Apple “social app” is rumored to be some kind of consolidator that would bring all your other social network services together (BGR says similar to Yahoo’s OneConnect — yeah, we don’t use it either). Whether it’s a desktop app, iPhone app, or both wasn’t made clear.

It’ll let you share what music you’re listening to, connect with “friend’s friends” (expand your network and meet new people?) and push status updates to your other networks.

Apple began integrating with Facebook and Flickr in iPhoto ‘09 demonstrated at Macworld 2009, but rather than simple data sharing or publishing, this sounds like Apple might actually be “getting” social media?

Lastly, the ability to organize iPhone apps in iTunes is said to include the ability to:

sort your applications alphabetically, by genre, date added, and of course, custom arrangement.

Speculation remains high that, if indeed Apple is set to release iTunes 9, it will be at the annual iTunes and iPod Music event in September alongside the new iPod touch, rumored to get a camera this time around.

(Not going to mention Kevin Rose’s iTunes 9 wish list from last year, b’okay?)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Updated: Apple Going Social? More iTunes 9, “Social App”, and App Organization