iPhone 5

Why rush the next-generation iPhone when older iPhone models are still selling well? On Monday, the research firm NPD revealed that the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 helped Apple increase its smartphone market share in Q2 of 2011. While Google's Android grabbed 52 percent of sales in the U.S., Apple still had two of the best selling phones so far this year. Proving there is no need to flood the market with new devices on a daily basis. However, the same report revealed that one in five new phones sold in Q2 were on a prepaid plan, and that the prepaid phone market is still emerging.

On Tuesday, Reuters dug the iPhone 4S out of its rumor grave, by claiming Apple is working on a new flash drive for a lower-priced 8GB iPhone 4 which will be released in a few weeks. While Apple fanboys and tech bloggers have their eyes glued to the iPhone 5, and the new rumored October 7 release date, does Apple plan on sneaking out their "affordable" iPhone in September?

The latest round of updates and changes to Apple's mobile operating system hit developer's iPhones yesterday, and with it a new expiration date that could indicate the final release date for iOS 5. Not only this, but Apple's next generation iPhone 5 hardware is expected to launch simultaneously and ship with iOS 5 installed.

Developers with iOS 5 beta 3 or later can install the beta 6 update over-the-air (OTA) via a 144 MB download. According to developer @iH8sn0w, the expiration date for iOS 5 beta 6 is Thursday September 29, 2011. The million dollar question is will this be the last beta version of iOS 5 or not?

It looks like BGR is taking back their August iPhone 5 release date. This time one of their "high-level AT&T sources" revealed that an AT&T Vice President told his employees to prepare themselves for a launch in early October.

The unnamed AT&T President said, “expect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days."

October seems to be the new popular release date with iPhone fortunetellers, Gizmodo published an e-mail from someone claiming to be an AT&T employee, who wrote vacations were blacked out at the end of September. The Wall Street Journal reported that the iPhone 5 will be available sometime in late October. And 9to5Mac sources claim Apple will start accepting pre-orders in September and launch the iPhone 5 on October 7.

Sometimes the Apple rumor mill spins out of control. Way out of control. The hype surrounding the iPhone 5 is no different, but lately we've seen some stories surface that are complete speculation or absolutely bogus. Separating the wheat from the chaff can be tough, but other times it's so easy we have to laugh.

First of all, for those expecting a September 7th Apple event you can cancel the party planning. Japanese site Kodawarisan first brought up the date after being told by "a source in the know" but we're not buying this. The Loop has confirmed with their Apple sources that the company has no such plans. Given The Loop's track record it would appear that the first Wednesday in September will be boring after all.

Just when I thought late October would be the last invented iPhone 5 launch date, KitGuru comes along and extends the possible release window to March 2012! According to the rumor mill, this means that the iPhone 5 could be launched sometime between late August and March of 2012. So basically, us tech bloggers have spent the last few months telling you that Apple will most likely release another phone after the iPhone 4, possibly sometime between today and the end of time. You're welcome!

On Friday morning, the Japanese website Kodawarisan announced that Apple's Fall Event would be held on September 7th. This event is normally reserved for iPod news, but Apple is expected to switch gears and announce their next-generation iPhone. However, KitGuru reports that a "slimmed down, cheap version of the iPhone" will be announced instead, and go on sale around October 1st. This supports the Wall Street Journal's latest report that a new iPhone will be available sometime this October.