According to BGR editor Jon Geller, a "reliable source" confirmed a radical new case design, which would complement the famous teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 rumor first reported by This Is My Next.
With less confidence, Geller's sources suggested Apple "may" announce the fifth-generation iPhone at a separate, unprecedented event in August or at its annual iPod-related event in September.
Time has already eliminated one enduring rumor about the iPhone 5: that Apple planned to announce it at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June (instead CEO Steve Jobs introduced iOS 5 and iCloud).
Last week Apple began selling an unlocked, unsubsidized iPhone 4, fueling speculation that Apple purposely created a high cost barrier for the iPhone 4 so people would wait and eventually purchase a subsidized fifth-generation iPhone in the fall. On Thursday, AppleInsider reported that Apple was withholding the next iPhone and iPod Touch until it finalized a bundled version of iOS 5 and iCloud.
Tech journalists aren't the only ones eager to get a sneak peek at Apple's next iPhone device; Samsung recently asked for a preview, arguing before the courts that it was an essential part of the discovery process in its trademark case against Apple. Right.
For a roundup of the biggest iPhone 5 rumors from the first half of the year, check out 8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones. As mobile technologies like near-field communications (NFC) and high-speed 4G networks gain steam, both features that the iPhone 4 lack, it remains to be seen whether or not Apple will choose the early adopter route of launching an NFC-equipped, multi-carrier new iPhone this fall, or if it will fall behind NFC-equipped devices from Nokia and Android phones slated for the end of the year.