It's a big month for the tech and gaming industries with next-gen smartphones being unveiled and the first of the next-gen home consoles (the Wii U) on the way (pricing and release date info coming tomorrow). Last week Nokia unveiled their first two Windows 8 phones in the Lumia 820 & 920 just ahead of the big competition (Apple) who are preparing to unveil what's expected to be the next iPhone later today.
The current smartphone from Apple - unveiled last October - was met with mixed reaction since it took the name "4s" and failed to deliver a revolutionary step in the series, serving as an upgraded variant of the iPhone 4. That phone however, broke sales records and today, we're going to get our first look at its successor, what's reportedly on track to be the biggest change in the iPhone series, but it may not be the iPhone 5.
Back in March, Apple held a similar event to what they're hosting tonight where they unveiled the "new iPad." At the time, speculation had the device adopting the name iPad HD or the more obvious iPad 3 but that wasn't the case, much to the chagrin of some Apple product users. During that press unveiling, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that their newest tablet device was reinventing what consumers expect from portable computing and with that, came the rebooted name change. For them there's no need to number iPads or MacBooks, but in reality, it's a way to keep purchasers upgrading year after year with the successful annualized release schedule the company has embraced and succeeded with.
As rumor has it, that philosophy may be embraced by the next iPhone as well, a device that's likely going to feature a larger screen and entirely new port (yes, your accessories and cases are about to become obsolete).
TechCrunch spotted what may be a leaked photo from iPhonenieuwsblog.nl that seemingly reveals the packaging design of the iPhone 5, except it's not really the iPhone 5 at all. Instead, the packaging in the photo clearly reads "the new iPhone" which if legitimate, reveals that the phone to be announced later today will simply be called "iPhone."
To see the full original photo, click here.
'Oh, you have an iPhone 4s? I have an iPhone.'
What's interesting about this image is that the first hint towards the name of the next device came from Apple themselves - the invite for today's Apple event featured the number 12 (representing the day of the month) and its shadow took the shape of the number 5 with the help of some intentional alterations to the shadow itself.
The new iPhone could launch as early as this month - Are you going to be following the press conference tonight and do you expect you'll be looking to upgrade? Would you prefer the next device to be titled the iPhone 5?
[Update: MacRumors reports that several searches for "iPhone 5" on the official Apple site reveal URLs for yet-to-be-published pages that include "iphone-5." Whether that's for categorizing and SEO or if this will be the actual phone designation, we'll find out very soon.]
Stay tuned to our liveblog of the Apple event later today (event officially begins 10AM PST/1PM EST).
[Update 2: It's called the iPhone 5. Here are the official specs.]
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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.
Source: iPhonenieuwsblog.nl (via TechCruch)