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Apple broke from its traditional June unveiling for the iPhone 4S, choosing instead to launch the device at a dedicated “Let’s talk iPhone” event in October. But we may not have to wait until October of this year to see the iPhone 5.

According to one analyst, the sixth-generation device will get back its traditional June announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in 2012.

The story comes from Daiwa Securities — via the Commercial Times — which claims that Apple’s next iPhone will get the same WWDC unveiling given to the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4. Furthermore, the company claims the device will utilize “glass to glass” touch panel technology that will be supplied by TPK Holding and Wintek.

The report isn’t a huge surprise to most, who didn’t expect the Cupertino company to make its October iPhone event a permanent fixture. Many reports circulating before the launch of the iPhone 4S last year claimed 2010′s iPhone event was simply delayed so the company could perfect its iPhone 5, which was postponed at the last minute and substituted for the iPhone 4S.

Apple is yet to announce the date of its WWDC event for 2012, but a previously leaked calendar from San Francisco’s Moscone Center suggests it could happen between June 10 and June 15. This week was held for a “Corporate Meeting,” which is the name typically used for Apple events.

[via MacRumors]

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Did you know that your iPhone’s serial number says a lot about your device? It isn’t just a random string of digits. It reveals the factory in which your device was built, the year it was manufactured, its unique identifier, and more. Here’s how to decode your iPhone’s serial number.You can find your serial number either on your iPhone’s box, or in the About menu within the Settings app. If your device is connected to iTunes on your computer, you’ll also see it on the Summary page.

Serial number are presented in the form AABCCDDDEEF, and this is what those letters represent:

• AA = Factory and machine ID
• B = Year manufactured (this is simplified to the final digit, which means 0 = 2010; 1 = 2011; etc.)
• CC = Week of production
• DDD = Unique identifier (not the same thing as the Unique Device Identifier, or UDID)
• EE = Model and color of device
• F = Storage capacity of the device (S = 16GB; T = 32GB)

So if your serial number was 79049XXXA4S, the first to number would indicate it was assembled in factory 79 — presumably a Foxconn factory, which assembles all of Apple’s iPhones — in 2010 during week 49. A4 means it’s a black iPhone 4, while the S suggests it packs 16GB of storage.

However, some older iPhones employ a slightly different labeling scheme, according to OS X Daily. On the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, the letter K may refer to 16GB of storage as opposed to the letter S. The labeling scheme is also different on the CDMA iPhone 4 built for Verizon, and on the new iPhone 4S.

But OS X Daily provides this handy list of suffixes, which will tell you whether your device employes the labeling system detailed above. If its serial begins with any of these three letters, the method above will apply:

VR0 (iPhone 2G Silver 4GB)
WH8 (iPhone 2G Silver 8GB)
0KH (iPhone 2G Silver 16GB)
Y7H (iPhone 3G Black 8GB)
Y7K (iPhone 3G Black 16GB)
3NP (iPhone 3GS Black 16GB)
3NR (iPhone 3GS Black 32GB)
3NQ (iPhone 3Gs White 16GB)
3NS (iPhone 3Gs White 32GB)
A4S (iPhone 4 Black 16GB)
A4T (iPhone 4 Black 32GB)

• Get Technical Information About iOS Devices To Help Support Personnel Via iTunes [OS X Tips]
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Do you have an old first or second gen iPod touch or iPhone? If so, you’re probably pretty red-faced with jealousy about all of those cool new iOS 5 features you’re missing out on: multi-tasking, reminders, iCloud, homescreen folders and so on.

There’s no reason your face has to be so flushed, though. Thanks to Whited00r, you can get iOS 5′s best features on your old iPod touch or iPhone 3G, no jailbreak required.

How does it work? The Whited00r dev team have basically built a custom version of Apple’s official iOS 5, specially catered towards the ARM6 family of Apple devices: the iPhone 2G & 3G, and the iPod Touch 1G and 2G. You just download the IPSW firmware and install it through iTunes, just like a regular software update. Here’s the installation guide: it’s dead simple.

Once your device has been restored using WhiteD00r 5.1, you’ll have most of iOS 5′s best features, including multitasking, reminders, a rough approximation of iCloud that uses Dropbox as a core, folders, Newsstand, and even custom wallpapers.

Sadly, though, there is a caveat. Notification Center doesn’t come along with the package, and you also lose out on the App Store (although you can still buy, download and install apps through iTunes).

We haven’t tried Whited00r personally — I simply don’t have any iOS devices lying around that are that old — but this looks legit, and the forums are filled with happy users. If you’ve got an ancient iPod touch or iPhone and want to extend its life just a little bit longer, give Whited00r a try.

You can download Whited00r here.

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Apple is in for another huge iPhone 4S launch, if early lineups are any indication. Penn Olson reports that lines outside Apple’s five official retail stores in China have already extended into the hundreds ahead of Friday’s launch.

Photos from Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo clearly show huge crowds at the two Beijing and three Shanghai locations, despite temperatures between 32 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The lineups are likely for people who want to try to get an iPhone off-contract and unlocked, starting at 4,988 yuan, or around $790. Shoppers can also buy directly from China Unicom, which even has some pricing plans that allow users to pick up the hardware free, but monthly contract requirements for those subsidies are quite steep. Plus, buying unlocked makes it easier for scalpers to resell devices through unofficial channels.

When it launched in the U.S., the iPhone 4S was also greeted with long lines, and in Hong Kong, attendance at Apple’s retail flagship store numbered in the thousands. The Chinese launch of the 4S should be the biggest since it debuted in October, since China is now Apple’s second-most-important market, and according to at least one estimate, it’s conceivable that Apple sold more iPhones in China during its fiscal fourth quarter of 2011 than it did in the U.S.

The staggered launch means that sales resulting from the Chinese launch of the iPhone 4S will appear as part of Apple’s second fiscal quarter results and not those that will be reported on Jan. 24. That could help Apple post higher iPhone shipments next quarter even without the holiday bump, especially if its regulatory progress with getting a China Telecom-compatible version of the 4S to market bears fruit within the next couple of months.

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Over the course of the past year, Samsung has shamelessly stolen Apple’s design on everything from the iPod touch, the iPad 2 Smart Cover, iOS’s homescreen, and more. Heck, they’ve even poached the actresses who star in Apple’s current iPhone 4S commercial!

Having apparently run out of new Apple products to rip-off, Samsung has decided to examine Apple’s past portfolio of devices for new designs to flagrantly plagiarize. The latest? Meet the Galaxy Ace Plus, Samsung’s new entry-level Android phone that looks just like the three year old iPhone 3G design!

This is just beyond parody at this point. Next up? Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 8.5 Noir, which shamelessly violates the design of the 1993 Apple Newton.

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Photo by rb3m - http://flic.kr/p/6sFFE4

In the ever-changing patent wars, somedays you are the windshield and some days you are the bug. After coming up roses Thursday, Apple finds itself on the losing side against Samsung and Motorola.

An Australian court today dismissed Apple’s request to continue the country’s ban on Samsung’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet. The ruling by the Australian High Court means the South Korean company will be able to hawk its device during the all-important Christmas buying period.

In an ironic move, the court also ordered the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant pay legal costs. Conversely, on Thursday, a French court denied Samsung’s bid to ban the iPhone 4S, ruling the smartphone maker must pay Apple’s court costs. Apple and Samsung are engaged in courtroom brawls covering some 10 nations.

Apple suffered a second patent loss Friday, this time in Germany. That nation’s court ordered an injunction against the iPhone and iPads using 3G. Motorola claimed the Apple devices infringed on a European patent regarding the “Method for Performing a Countdown Function During a Mobile-originated Transfer for a Packet Radio System.” Patent expert Florian Mueller, writing at FOSS Patents, said the patent was ruled essential for the GPRS standard, a version of 3G used widely used in Europe.

The ruling comes after a German court sided with Motorola in an earlier default judgement against Apple. The default judgement was entered after Apple failed to respond to Motorola’s complaint. Today’s court decision actually carries a penalty compared to the essentially administrative default ruling.

Although the iPhone 4S was released after Motorola filed the German lawsuit, Mueller believes Apple’s newest iPhone would also contain the offending technology. However, the actual ruling mentions only the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G.

While Apple’s next step is unknown, one potential reaction could be for the company to modify its products to remove the patented technology. The company is expected to unveil a new iPhone and iPad in early 2012.

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Digitimes’ latest report puts some numbers on the low end iPhones coming out of China.  The 2.5 year old iPhone 3GS has continued to sell briskly with the volume likely to reach two million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 1.4-1.6 million units in the first quarter of 2012, according to “industry sources”.

Think about that for a second.  In a world where a new, free Android flagship phone comes out every week or so and dying out a few months later, Apple is selling 2 million/quarter of a device that was introduced two and a half years ago.  This is the phone the original Droid went up against — in fact.

Verizon and conceivably other CDMA carriers in the world have also continued to sell the iPhone 4 CDMA version at an impressive clip.

Meanwhile, the production of the CDMA version of iPhone 4 is expected to top 800,000 to one million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 500,000-600,000 units in the following quarter, estimated the sources.

• iPhone 3GS supply tightens ahead of likely discontinuation this fall (9to5mac.com)
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There’s trouble in extra power land: Two types of iOS device battery cases are being recalled for overheating issues. One could burn, and the other could catch fire, according to their manufacturers. The issue has affected both bargain brands and market leaders, but luckily, incidents are relatively rare and getting your money or a replacement product back if you have a problem gadget is easy.

Mophie’s Juice Pack Air for the 4th generation iPod touch is one of two battery cases being recalled. It can, in very rare instances, become so hot it can potentially cause burns to a user. Mophie says it only happens in very rare cases, but the heat is enough to deform the case in many more instances. If your product has a serial number starting with TR113 through TR120, you’re eligible to receive a replacement product, which you can get following the instructions found at Mophie’s replacement website.

Best Buy’s in-house brand Rocketfish is also having heating problems with its battery case for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The situation is a little more extreme for those accessories, however, as Rocketfish is saying those overheating issues could in some cases lead to a fire during the charging process. There are 14 reported incidents on record, some of which include minor property damage. Affected owners will be reimbursed with a gift card for $70 or $105 depending on whether they’re located in the U.S. or Canada, respectively. Check your eligibility and find directions for getting your gift card at Best Buy’s recall site.

If you’re a battery case user, you already know they tend to get hot, but in both these cases the situation is going beyond the average levels of heat and into dangerous territory. Had any incidents with the products described above? Let us know in the comments.

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It hasn’t even been a month since Apple’s iPhone 4S first hit the market, and already its 8-megapixel camera is proving to be a huge hit amongst Flickr users. The device has quickly rocketed up the Flickr charts to become the second most popular camera phone on the photo sharing service, overtaking the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the HTC EVO 4G.Based on the graphs that feature on Flickr’s Camera Finder page, Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone is already one of the most popular camera phones amongst photographers. In fact, the only device that sits above the iPhone 4S is its predecessor, the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4 made news earlier this year when it followed a similar pattern, quickly becoming the most popular camera on Flickr, beating even dedicated point-and-shoot cameras. The iPhone 4S still has a long way to go before it takes the top spot, but it’s certainly not out of reach — especially if we’re kept waiting until late next year for the iPhone 5.

[via MacRumors]

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Inside of every iPhone are a dozen little moisture indicators that turn pink the second your iPhone is exposed to excessive moisture. Apple uses them to tell when to deny you warranty service because you’ve accidentally dropped your device in the drink or left it out in the rain, but wouldn’t it be better if Apple never had to worry about replacing a water damaged device again?

We could be a year away from just that, thanks to Never Wet, a superhydrophobic coating that does such a good job resisting moisture that devices literally can never get wet when slathered in the stuff. Don’t believe us? Check out the video above, in which an iPhone 3G functions while submerged in water for over thirty minutes.

This does not appear to be a scam. The coating was developed by the minds over at Ross Nanotechnology, and not only does Never Wet make it possible to keep electronic devices water proof for over a year at a time, but it’s also great for preventing ice damage, corrosion and making devices less prone to picking up harmful bacteria.

Just watch the video. There don’t appear to be any camera tricks: all they did was spray every inch of the outside with Never Wet, then dumped it in a bowl of water with the stopwatch app going. 30 minutes later, the device was still perfectly functional.

According to Ross Nanotechnology, Never Wet’s still at least a year away from being deployed commercially. It can’t come to market soon enough, in my opinion. Just think: every iPhone’s just a squirt and a couple years away from being totally waterproof.

Needless to say, Ross is making some bold claims, but we don’t see anything that stands out as fake in this video, and it’s got the guys over at Wired convinced. If you know otherwise, let us know!

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