iPhone 5

I fear for people's sanity if Apple doesn't make an announcement about the iPhone 5 soon! Things have gotten so bad that we've been reduced to posting dodgy pictures of people holding iPhones. What's next? Pictures of Elvis with an iPhone from the future?

9to5Mac posted a picture taken by a person who claims he saw an iPhone 5 prototype on a train in San Francisco. His credentials are listed as owning an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, which according to 9to5 makes him an Apple expert. The tipster told the tech blog that the next-generation iPhone is "almost EVO-like," and that the edges of the device looked like the edges of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. So he's not only an Apple connoisseur, but he also knows a lot about Android devices too.

I'm guessing the picture was snapped on an Amtrak train, because I do not recall Muni or BART trains having tables. However, I must admit I'm not an expert when it comes to San Francisco's transit system, and I haven't been there in years. Let me know if tables on trains do exist in the city somewhere. It will help us get to the bottom of this.

A bevy of new information points to early September as the release date for Apple's next generation iPhone. AT&T stores are telling managers to wrap up employee training in anticipation of an increase in customers this September. The report, filed by BGR claims AT&T has begun to communicate "launch plans" to its stores regarding the iPhone 5.

Similarly, Apple stores in the UK and US have been beefing up staff and asking former employees to return. The program is typically invoked for holidays, back-to-school sales and new product launches, according to MacRumors.

Apple can't keep a lid on the latest case designs according to Mobile Fun, who claims to have two independent sources with iPhone 5 case plans. If the leaked designs are legit, it would appear the iPhone 5 is due for release in just weeks. Of course, the cases themselves are not as important as the future devices they will protect.

As seen above, the design of the iPhone 5 will not be simply an update of the iPhone 4 that some are calling the iPhone 4S. What appears in these diagrams is a radical departure not only from the iPhone 4, but possibly the most significant redesign of the iPhone since its original 2007 launch.

Another day, another iPhone rumor... BGR is sticking to their earlier report that a new iPhone will be released this August, but this time their unnamed source also revealed that Apple plans to offer a cheaper prepaid iPhone and their next generation device by the end of this summer.

According to Boy Genius Report, Apple will begin selling the iPhone 3GS for around $350 with no contract. Their "incredibly solid source" could not confirm the iPhone 5 with teardrop design that they announced back in June, but they did confirm that the next generation iPhone will be announced by "late August-ish."

Those "well placed and anonymous sources" are at it again. The tech blogs Chip Hazard and West Coast Gadgets have kicked off a whole new set of rumors by claiming that the iPhone 5 is in the hands of AT&T and Sprint beta testers. Chip Hazard's "well places sources" in AT&T mobility revealed that beta testers have been testing the iPhone 5 since July 6. Citing no sources, West Coast Gadgets announced that Sprint beta testers will be spotted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, New York City, and Chicago starting this Monday.

Why is Apple purportedly using 3rd party testers? According to another tech blog, AT&T and Sprint are ensuring another Antennagate doesn't happen by checking for reception and connectivity. The author also points to Apple's own internal testers losing an iPhone last year, but wouldn't giving out more devices to 3rd parties increase the chances of a repeat, and more leaks? With all the so-called "inside sources" releasing so much information, it seems like Apple is having a hard enough time keeping their own people quiet these days.