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Chinese iPhone case manufacturers aren't just leaking photos of their next generation products online. According to MICGadget iPhone 5 cases are "everywhere" in China and ready for distribution. If you're willing to buy a minimum of 500 cases the wholesale cost starts at 30 cents a piece.

The cat is out of the bag, and the proliferation of similar case designs now serve as a good indicator of the shape of the next iPhone. New evidence from AT&T and Apple point to a September iPhone 5 launch date only weeks away.

With data-hungry Android devices taking over and the iPhone 5 due for release in the next month or two, AT&T is getting serious about usage tiers. iPhone owners who currently enjoy an unlimited data plan may think they have carte blanche to single-handedly dominate their local cell tower's data connection, however starting October 1st AT&T will be watching.

The wireless carrier plans to slow down transfer rates on the mobile devices of the top five percent of unlimited data users every month. Here's how it works: if you transfer enough data on your mobile device that you fall within the top five percent of users AT&T will throttle your speeds until the start of your next billing cycle. Of course, this won't happen immediately.

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.