New iPhone 5 Image Surfaces Claiming to be the Real Deal (Updated)

Could we be staring at the first clear(ish) spy shot of the long gestating iPhone 5?  That's up for everyone to decide on their own, but of all the photos to have popped up recently, this one certainly looks the most realistic and "finished."

Posted today on the MacRumors forums by a user known as "guigsh," they slapped up the image with the only explanation being, "Picture taken yesterday in the office of a French operator. Believe it or not."  The user then came back to explain that they were only allowed two minutes with the device and that no pictures were allowed, but somehow they snuck this image.  Another follow-up post stated, "The only thing I can tell you, is that my iPhone 4 looks really slow now."

Of course, there are a few things that hurt the story, such as the fact that if no pictures were allowed, how were they able to hold a piece of paper behind it for a background and balance it on their hand in the way they did?  Wouldn't that have been somewhat obvious that something was going on?  Add in the fact that guigsh only registered their forum account this month, and only has three posts – all relating to this image – to their name, and it starts to seem a bit random.

All of that being said, if it's a fake, it's a mighty good fake.  It somewhat matches up with the iPhone 5 cases we've been seeing, but not exactly.  That could be the fact that the cases may be wrong, but we'll know for sure in the next few months.  Otherwise this image does seem to match up with the numerous other rumors we've been hearing about the design, so we'll just have to wait and see if we've somehow been made privy to an image far earlier than Apple would ever like us to be.

What do you think?  Does this look like an actual iPhone 5 to you?

Update: Gizmodo (oh, the irony) has debunked this story. So, no, no real picture of the iPhone 5 as of yet.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/apple/iphone/new-iphone-5-image-surfaces-claiming-to-be-the-real-deal/

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PS Vita in 2012? Sony’s Missing a Golden Opportunity

Face it, the PSP was trounced by the Nintendo DS, and all its variations, in the United States. The system may have done exceptionally well in Japan, but the rest of the world loved the DS more by leaps and bounds. The price and the ergonomics of the unit, the software library and the UMD format worked against Sony to keep the PSP so far from the top spot in the States.

Fast forward to today. The Nintendo 3DS is, by all accounts, under-performing. Nintendo poorly elected to bolster the hardware with a weak software lineup leaving gamers with no real reason to buy a unit. The 3D aspect of the device is far from its greatest asset, and the cost of the system kept the frugal and fence-sitters away.

So Nintendo was forced to bring out an early price drop. I still think it was a great move, by the way, and Sony's decision to keep the PS Vita in Japan during 2011 only solidifies my opinion.

Then came news of Sony's release schedule for the PS Vita. The system will only be releasing in Japan this holiday, it won't be out in the United States or Europe until 2012. Our own Killian Bell touched on this briefly in his initial report, but I feel it absolutely must be hammered home that this move is a bad call by Sony. Really.

With the price cut from $250 to $170, the Nintendo 3DS has become a lot more attractive to potential consumers. In the face of mobile phones and the current economy, the new $170 price might be sitting directly in the sweet spot for a slew of would-be-buyers.

Still, an early cut is a sign of weakness in product for customers. That's a market Sony should release their hardware to. Now, Sony's giving Nintendo and their new, low, attractive price wide open space to breathe. Anyone that wants a brand new portable system this year will be able to turn to the Nintendo 3DS. The PS Vita will not be directly in front of everyday consumers when it comes time to shop for the holidays.

Sony was poised to vault over the 3DS come fall. The system has hype, a great price, a nice roster of games and a purely sexy look. It would have sat on shelves next to a portable that has a tumbling price in the eyes of buyers. And, carrying the Sony brand would have done it even more justice given the success of the PS3.

Now? The hardware will release in a dead spot in the calendar year. Holiday consumers won't be interested. Will it perform? I hope so. But the space Sony's given Nintendo may be hard to overcome.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/gaming/portable/ps-vita-in-2012-sonys-missing-a-golden-opportunity/

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Nokia’s N9 to Arrive on September 23

Fans of the MeeGo platform, it's time to get all excited. The Nokia N9, which could be Nokia's first and final MeeGo device before the company adopts Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, is set for release later this year. And according to Nokia's Swedish site, its launch could be as soon as next month.

The webpage dedicated to the upcoming N9 on Nokia's Swedish site now features a countdown timer that will end on September 23 — finally confirming the device's release date (in one country at least). It's currently unclear whether this date will apply to the rest of Europe, but for Sweden, the N9 is now just 48 days away. As for you guys in the U.S., Nokia has previously suggested that the device may not reach American shores at all.

Will the device be worth the wait for you MeeGo fans? Well, let's take a look at its ingredients. The N9 will sport a 3.9-inch curved glass AMOLED display, which is 0.4 inches bigger than the iPhone 4's Retina display, but 0.4 inches smaller than Samsung's new Galaxy S II smartphone. Just like the Samsung, the N9 features an 8-megapixel camera, and also packs a 1GHz ARM processor and 1GB of RAM. The device will be available in three colors: black, cyan and magenta; and will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of storage.

The N9 is Nokia's most advanced phone for some time, with a completely button-free design that relies on touch input alone. It's also Nokia's first smartphone to support NFC. That's a specifications list which, I'm sure you'll agree, will give the MeeGo platform a good send off — if indeed it is Nokia's last MeeGo device. However, the have been rumors that the company is working on a MeeGo-powered tablet that it hopes will do battle with the iPad.

Do you think Nokia's first and final MeeGo device will be a success, or is it destined to fail with Nokia's short-lived support for the platform?

[via Pocket-lint]

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/nokia/nokias-n9-to-arrive-on-september-23/

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Samsung Conquer 4G Coming to Sprint

Samsung and Sprint today announced a new 4G phone which will be the first to sell for under $100 on the carrier.  Launching on Aug. 21st, the Samsung Conquer 4G will sell for $99.99 with a two-year agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

"The price of Samsung Conquer 4G makes Sprint's 4G speeds accessible to more customers than ever," said Fared Adib, vice president-Product Development, Sprint. "We are proud to deliver this dynamic device at a great value without sacrificing must-have technology. Our customers can really do more for less when this ultra-affordable 4G device is paired with the great value of our unlimited data calling plans."

Samsung Conquer 4G Tech Specs

• 1 GHz processor
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• 3.5-inch touchscreen
• Dual-Mode 3G/4G device
• 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and zoom
• 1.3-megapixel front facing camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• GPS capable
• MicroSD card slot that supports up to a 32GB memory card (2GB card included)
• 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capable, supporting up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices on the Sprint 3G or 4G networks
• Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology

While we aren't huge fans of the mail-in rebate gimmick, even at $150 this looks to be a fairly decent device.  True, the 4G is Sprint's WiMax, but you're still going to get decent speeds and truly unlimited data, so you're going to be able to download pretty much anything you want at decent speeds (when in a service area).  It is rather interesting to see mid-tier phones getting to the point that the upper-tier was at not all that long ago, and the Samsung Conquer 4G looks like it could be a phone you could easily get as your first smartphone or to give to a teenager.

Do you have any interest int he Samsung Conquer 4G?

http://www.technobuffalo.com/mobile-devices/phones/samsung-conquer-4g-coming-to-sprint/

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Droid Bionic to Ship with Two Batteries?

As we keep waiting for the Droid Bionic to ship, rumors keep leaking out of what we can expect.  The newest information to cross the TechnoBuffalo desks comes from a trusted source that has never led us astray before, and things seem to be a little odd in the world of the Bionic.

Our known source has had some time to try out the Droid Bionic already, and they have walked away less than impressed.  While they note that they were trying out a pre-production model, they found the screen and performance to be very unimpressive.  Considering the amount of time they've had to work on this device you would think that even pre-production models would be up to snuff, but they have found themselves distinctly disappointed in two of the most important aspects of any new big name phone.

The weirdest twist, however, is that there were two batteries packed with the device.  While they were unsure of the miliamp hours, there were a smaller and larger capacity batteries packed with it, but use of the larger one would require a different battery cover.  We don't know if Motorola was testing two different batteries for possible inclusion, or if the Bionic will actually ship with both sizes.

Considering the length of time we've been waiting for this phone to arrive on Verizon, this news is leaving us a little downhearted.  All we can hope that as it was a pre-production model that some of the kinks will be worked out by the time it ships, but we'll have to wait and see.

Does this news lessen your excitement for the Droid Bionic at all?

http://www.technobuffalo.com/mobile-devices/phones/droid-bionic-to-ship-with-two-batteries/

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Samsung Hercules Coming to Telus?

It seems that a previously unannounced Samsung phone called the Samsung Hercules got a rather unsophisticated introduction to the world last night in Canada.

MobileSyrup attended a Samsung event last night in Canada, and in the VIP area is where they spotted the phone you see above.  They described it as "a cross between the Samsung Galaxy SII, Nexus S and the Galaxy S Infuse" with the screen being around 4.5-inches.  From what they could glean it will be running Android Gingerbread on a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with a rear 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p video and a front-facing 2 megapixel lens for video conferencing.  What they do know for sure is that it was being referred to as the Samsung Hercules and that it appears it is coming to Telus.

No pricing or release date information was available, but the fact it was being passed around at such a public event surely indicates that it has to be close to a release.  From first glance, and only going by this one picture, I pretty firmly have to label this as "awesome."  The screen, even in a hastily shot photo, looks gigantic and clear, and makes me a tad jealous of the folks in the Great White North.

What are your first impressions of the Samsung Hercules?

[via MobileSyrup]

http://www.technobuffalo.com/mobile-devices/phones/samsung-hercules-coming-to-telus/

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White Samsung Galaxy S II Headed To O2 Next Month

We knew the white version of the Samsung Galaxy II was headed to some UK carriers next month, and now we know at least one of those carriers is going to be O2. O2 has posted a landing page for the white Galaxy S II, listing its arrival date as September.

The white version of the Galaxy S II is identical to its black counterpart, and will also be available unlocked in the UK. Samsung sold 5 million of the handsets within its first 85 days on the market.  Check out a full spec rundown of the handset below:

Samsung Galaxy S II Tech Specs

• 4.27" WVGA super AMOLED Plus screen (800 x 480)
• 1.2GHz Dual Core CPU
• 8.49mm thick
• Android Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0
• HSPA+ connectivity
• 8 megapixel rear camera
• 2 megapixel front camera
• Full HD 1080P video at 30fps
• 1GB of RAM
• 16GB of Internal Memory
• Bluetooth 3.0+HS
• Wi-Fi Direct for connectivity to Wi-Fi enable computers for communication
• AGPS
• Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity Senor and Light Sensor
• Support for  MP4, 3GP, DivX, XviD and Streaming video.

What do you think about the white Galaxy S II? Are anyone you holding out to get one of these over the traditional black model?

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/samsung/white-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-headed-to-o2-next-month/

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