Rumors

Samsung believes its Galaxy S3 is on its way to more than 30 million in global sales by year's end, according to a report from the Yonhap News Agency.

Samsung's IT and mobile unit chief Shin Jong-kyun announced the forecast to reporters today at the company's offices in Seoul. This tidbit comes on the heels of news that Samsung sold 20 million Galaxy S3 phones in the 100 days since its debut in May.

Shin also touted Samsung's new Galaxy Note 2, which was on display at last month's IFA trade show. Sales of the … Read more

Editors' note (September 12, 2012): It's official, folks. The iPhone 5 is for real. Our first impressions, plus additional full coverage.

Well, it's been a long time coming. Tomorrow, Apple is expected to finally announce the next iPhone. Whether it's going to be named the iPhone 5 or "the new iPhone," have a bigger screen, or come with seven arms sticking out of it, we've sifted (and sometimes trudged) through months and months of rumors that will either be confirmed or done away with come tomorrow. As archivers of the iPhone rumor mill, it has been entertaining, but we're looking forward to a brief moment of peace until a whole new batch of rumors comes out for the next iteration. Until then, remember to join us during our live blog tomorrow as the iPhone specs are unveiled and the bets get settled. (Who put $5 on NFC, anyone, anyone?)

After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we're fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple's gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

That's why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we've resurrected CNET's iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We'll add to it until we get the real thing; please let us know if we've left any gossip out.

See also CNET's iPad Mini rumor roundup and Apple HDTV rumor roundup.

September 10, 2012 Those previously mentioned plugs may be the size of Micro-USB Not satisfied with just posting pictures of the supposedly new iPhone 5 plugs, Nowhereelse is now reporting that these updated dock connectors may be the same size as a Micro-USB port. In addition to the new phone sporting the smaller port, other future devices, like the next iPad, will include it too.… Read more

I think it's fair to say that the iPod is the most important product Apple ever made. It marked the tipping point between Apple's history as a computer manufacturer and its shift toward mobile consumer electronics. Without it, there would be no iTunes, no iPhone, no iPad -- none of the things people think of when they think of Apple today.

Which is not to say that the iPod is still an important part of Apple's bottom line. It could ax the iPod's whole division and still make more money from the iPhone and iPad than … Read more

The iPhone 5's much-rumored new dock connector is as small as a Micro-USB plug, at least according to French tech blog site NowhereElse.fr (English translation).

Photos of a Micro-USB cable and photos of the new dock connector cable supplied by an anonymous source to the French site show the similarities between the two, most notably in size.

Rumors have floated over the past few months that Apple would reduce the size of the current 30-pin connector used on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Initial reports said the new size would use 19 pins, but later reports pointed to … Read more

I've owned an iPhone every year since its 2007 debut. Every one. The reward for such reckless upgrading has been a sense of the iPhone's evolution over those years. What started as a device that had not many apps to speak of, but dripped futurism, has become an always-on, location-aware, frighteningly integral part of my nervous system.

While I've listed what we expect out of the next iPhone, I haven't told you what I want. So, here's my own personal list of what matters most...to me.… Read more

The introduction of the iPhone 5 is expected to shake up the overall iPhone lineup.

Apple will hold a launch event on Wednesday, September 12, at which it will probably unveil the next-generation iPhone. Several reports say that the iPhone 5 will go on sale the following Friday, September 21.

The new model means that Apple could curtail the aging iPhone 3GS, leaving the 8GB version of the iPhone 4 as the entry-level edition, says the Telegraph. If so, that model iPhone 4 would probably be offered for free by Apple and other vendors when paired with the usual $30-per-month … Read more

If leaks are true, a feature Apple is sure to tout on its next smartphone is thickness. But just how will Apple's latest compare with iPhones of yore?

We got some idea of that from French blog Nowhereelse.fr, which stacked it up against an iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS in photos last week. Today online repair site iResQ, which has provided numerous photos of what it says are pre-release components, has a fully assembled iPhone 5 (minus a few pieces) right next to an iPhone 4S.

Three of the four side-by-side shots show a definitive difference in thickness, … Read more

It's now exactly one week until September 12, otherwise known as iPhone 5 launch day. Or perhaps it'll be "new iPhone" launch day.

Whatever the case, another Apple handset is coming -- and a new video suggests that all the mockups, leaked specs, and other rumors we've seen are right on target.

The video (obtained via Gizmodo) shows the new iPhone alongside an iPhone 4, with the handler turning them over so you can see them side by side, back to back, top to top, and so on.

OK, sure, but maybe this is just … Read more

The wait is almost over.

Apple has officially announced a September 12 press event in San Francisco, confirming months of rumors. And the invitation (reproduced above) leaves little doubt that the event will be the rollout of the iPhone 5 (or whatever name Apple chooses for its sixth-generation iPhone).

Rarely has a product ever been so analyzed, so rumored, and so leaked as Apple's next-gen phone. Not a day, or even an hour, goes by without a new picture of the rumored case, screen, connector jack, even headphones. Has all the excitement already been spilled, or is there something … Read more