9 to 5 Mac has been informed that Apple has seeded select developers with prototype iPhones. These iPhones look identical to an iPhone 4 but feature the faster A5 processor that’s found in the iPad 2. Their source called the prototype device the “iPhone 4S.”

Many of the latest rumors — excluding Joshua Topolsky’s — have pointed to the iPhone 5 having the same, or very similar design to the current iPhone 4. It’s entirely possible that the iPhone 4S that Apple has lent to developers is the source of these rumors. But, Apple could be putting next generation hardware inside of the iPhone 4 enclosure in order to keep the next generation design secret — just like iPhone 4 prototypes that were put in a case that looked like a 3GS. So, I wouldn’t count Topolsky’s rumor out entirely.

Joshua Topolsky has heard that “the design of the phone is set to radically change.” This radically changed design will be thinner than the iPhone 4, appear “teardrop” shaped from the side, feature a gesture area around the home button, and a larger 3.7-inch display will reach from edge to edge — nearly eliminating the bezel on the left and right side.

However, I still think Apple will keep a similar design to the iPhone 4. And Topolsky might thinks so too, judging by his “this info isn’t fact” paragraph which mentions that his source could be seeing design prototypes and not production ready phones. History has shown that Apple doesn’t release major design changes every generation anymore. They do continue to do so with their iPod lineup, but Macs and iPhones (and I’d bet iPads) are different. Macs and iPads are much more expensive and iPhones come with two year contracts, so most users don’t upgrade every year.

But even though the iPhone 5 may not see a design change, the iPhone prototypes that are being lent to developers aren’t finished hardware. If Apple does keep the same design it’s very unlikely that the A5 processor will be the only change. The iPhone 5 is almost certain to receive an 8 megapixel camera and a new cellular networking chip that’s capable of running on both GSM and CDMA networks.

It’s obvious that the iPhone 4S that Apple has been lending to developers isn’t the finished hardware, but I doubt Topolsky’s source is accurate regarding finished hardware either. The teardrop shape and edge to edge display seem like reasonable additions, but a 3.7-inch display and gesture area seem highly unlikely. The only way I could see Apple offering a 3.7-inch iPhone is if they decided not to sell the previous generation device at the $99 price point as they have with the 3G and 3GS. Apple would offer a 3.5-inch iPhone in two capacities for $99 and $199, alongside a higher end 3.7-inch iPhone at $299. This would keep the product lineup simple and seems more characteristic of the types of launches Apple does. I certainly don’t expect Apple to just release a 3.7-inch iPhone, this would leave the 3.5-inch model lagging behind in hardware features and would make hardware development for the following year’s release much more complicated — they would have to develop two different sized iPhones concurrently.

And then there’s that gesture area. There’s a simple reason why I don’t expect Apple to release an iPhone with a gesture area, inadvertent input. I have heard of people accidentally activating a gesture on their MacBook trackpads without ever realizing what they did, all they know is that all of a sudden stuff moved around on them. I’ve even done this with my Magic Mouse — moving back a page in Safari because I inadvertently swiped two fingers on the Magic Mouse. Many iPhone users hold their device in landscape mode while typing or playing games, if you accidentally swiped your right thumb the wrong way it would activate a gesture. I’d be quite upset if I accidentally jumped to my home screen during a game of Tiny Wings because I moved my finger wrong.

But, I’m willing to bet that there’s at least a kernel of truth in all of these rumors. Apple probably does have an iPhone 4S waiting in the wings. This way if serious production issues arise, Apple won’t leave us waiting too long for a new handset. And, if Apple doesn’t release Topolsky’s rumored design then Apple was probably just testing it and will either release a version of it in the future. Or after testing it for a while, decided it just wasn’t right and scrapped it altogether. We already know that Apple’s testing gestures on the iPad, why wouldn’t they be testing gestures around the home screen button? Apple develops a lot of designs that never see the light of day, it doesn’t mean rumors of those design were wrong.

There’s been a lot of rumors published recently regarding HP’s webOS event on February 9. It started when Engadget’s Nilay Patel published rendered images of the upcoming “Topaz” webOS tablet.

The 9-inch Topaz is said to be just one of two tablets announced at the event. There will also be a 7-inch tablet codenamed Opal. The rendered device on Engadget’s site looks quite nice. It’s similar in design to the iPhone 3GS, just blown up to 9-inches. There’s a front-facing camera, micro USB, and a three speaker arrangement that Nilay Patel speculates would allow for stereo audio in both portrait and landscape orientations.

But, that was just the beginning. The following day Thomas Ricker reported that Topaz and Opal would have inductive charging and that HP would be offering large amounts of cloud storage for the devices. This cloud storage would “dwarf” the local storage of the devices and could store apps and app states. This could allow users to seamlessly switch from tablet to handset without having to deliberately transfer data.

However, all of Engadget’s rumors were trumped by Dieter Bohn who managed to get his hands on inductive charging details and the HP Topaz specifications.

The new tablet-compatible inductive charger will be named the “Touchstone v2″ and may allow for wireless audio streaming over Bluetooth, wireless video streaming to VGA or HDMI out, and wireless gaming using your television as a display and the tablet as a controller. The Touchstone v2 sounds more like HP’s answer to the Apple TV than it does a wireless charging dock for tablets. The video gaming angle could be huge and I hope that HP has managed to secure content partners to go along with their wireless video streaming feature.

The target specifications that Dieter Bohn obtained are as follows:

• 1.2GHz dual-core processor
• 9.7-inch 1024×768 display
• 512MB RAM
• 1.3MP front-facing camera
• 8+ hours of battery life

The specifications are better than the iPad all around (aside from the battery life). Which makes it clear that HP has designed Topaz to compete with the iPad 2, not just to play catch-up with the current iPad. HP is really swinging for the fences with this announcement, and I hope they’re successful. It’s clear that HP knows where the industry is headed and their acquisition of Palm put them right where they needed to be development-wise. All that’s left is to bring devices to market and sell as many of them as possible. And, HP is ready to do just that.

HP CEO Leo Apotheker recently spoke with the BBC’s Tim Weber about the future of the company. Regarding product announcement timelines:

“HP will stop making announcements for stuff it doesn’t have. When HP makes announcements, it will be getting ready to ship,” he promises, saying the products launched on 9 February will be on sale just a few weeks later.

“A few weeks later” sounds perfect to me. That will put the release date before the RIM PlayBook and likely before the Motorola Xoom.

John Gruber decided to put a damper on rumors that the iPad 2 will feature a Retina display:

I asked around, and according to my sources, it is too good to be true: the iPad 2 does not have a retina display. I believe the iPad 2’s display will remain at 1024 × 768. […] Maybe it uses the new manufacturing technique Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 display, which brings the LCD closer to the surface of the touchscreen glass — making it look more like pixels on glass rather than pixels under glass. But my sources are pretty sure that it’s not 2048 × 1536 or any other “super high resolution”.

John has become skeptical of Engadget’s entire report at this point. Especially since his sources also didn’t have anything to say about the purported SD card slot. There are a lot iPad cases turning up that indicate there will be some sort of extra port. But, this could be Apple’s attempt to find leaks in the company — give a number of people different specifications for the iPad 2 and see which ones leak. This might explain why some of the leaked cases (like the one above) has an additional slot along the left hand side while others don’t. On the other hand, the SD card slot may see the same fate that the third-generation iPod touch’s camera did.

John’s point is that none of his sources have told him that the iPad 2 will feature such a high-resolution display and that displays at that size with such high-resolutions would be too cost prohibitive for Apple’s current price points. And, he’s probably right. In the past when rumors would surface of a higher resolution display I passed them off as highly unlikely because I believe the only logical resolution is 2048×1536 but this resolution wouldn’t be possible at Apple’s price points.

We all became rolled up in the hype of an iPad Retina display without thinking too critically about how likely that actually is. I’m certain we all would have been a bit more skeptical if “Engadget” wasn’t in the header. Engadget is highly regarded and their sources are usually top notch, I even mentioned so when I wrote about their rumor yesterday.

Both John Gruber and Joshua Topolsky have exchanged words regarding the rumor on Twitter. Topolsky defending his sources saying they have been “consistently right” and that his report never mentioned a specific resolution. Engadget’s Nilay Patel even chimed in mentioning that Gruber wrote his piece believing that the resolution bump would be 2048×1536 or nothing but Engadget never claimed that this was the case. The iPad 2 could receive a resolution that has a scaling factor of 1.25 (1280×960) or 1.5 (1536×1152) times the current resolution. But, this is unlikely because of how difficult it would be for developers to design assets at both resolutions. And, what happens when an iPad with a Retina display is released and developers will have to support three resolutions for the same class of device? That’s a lot of additional work for developers just because Apple couldn’t wait a year or two. It’s not as if the competition is blowing Apple away with their high resolution tablets.

Another point John Gruber mentioned on Twitter is that Engadget’s source may not have been talking about the iPad 2 but instead the iPad 3. Which may be the case. But, we may have to wait for Joshua Topolsky to write a composed rebuttal before we hear whether or not that’s a possibility. A rebuttal that will be an interesting read to anyone who follows this type of news.

The fact is, either John Gruber’s or Joshua Topolsky’s sources are wrong. At least as it’s written right now. Joshua Topolsky could write that his sources were speaking of the iPad 3. Regardless of what Josh writes about this, I have a great deal of respect for both of these writers and am excited to see how this turns out.

Joshua Topolsky published a ton of solid information Friday night regarding the next-generation iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. Sources like the ones that detailed the latest Apple TV update have given them this information and I expect it to be incredibly accurate. Not only does Engadget have fantastic sources but they are unlikely to publish rumors that they aren’t confident in.

Engadget has been told that the iPad will be released around April and will feature an SD card slot, dual-facing cameras, and a Retina-like display. An SD card slot may be surprising to some but I’ve been expecting it. When DigiTimes first published rumors of a USB port in the iPad 2 I firmly believed that the iPad would receive an SD card slot long before Apple would ever put a USB port in an iOS device. Unfortunately, I never published these thoughts because Milind Alvares beat me to it. With regards to the Retina-like iPad display, Engadget isn’t the only one with information supporting this. 9 to 5 Mac’s Mark Gurman found evidence of a Retina iPad back in June when Apple developer documents mentioned high-resolution image variations with resolutions at two times the current iPad display’s resolution. 2048×1536 sounds like the logical next step for the iPad display.

Engadget’s sources also said that the new Apple TV will include a new Cortex A9-based multi-core processor that Apple has been working on called the Apple A5. The iPad 2 will also likely receive the new A5 but Engadget has yet to confirm it. This new processor is said to be able to crank out 1080p video “like running water.”

And, regarding the iPhone 5:

We don’t have much info on the phone at this point, but our understanding is that the new device will be a total rethink from a design standpoint and will be running atop Apple’s new A5 CPU (a Cortex A9-based, multi-core chip). This device, like the iPad 2, will feature a Qualcomm chipset that does triple duty as the CDMA / GSM / UMTS baseband processor — from what we hear there’s no LTE in the mix at this point.

Building one handset and tablet that can be sold by two carriers simultaneously makes perfect sense. And, this is exactly what I expected with the iPhone 5. Why would Apple want to put themselves through the agony of trying to anticipate how many CDMA iPhones to manufacture compared to GSM handsets? With just one SKU Apple can manufacture iPhone 5s at full capacity and simply send out units to carriers as they are requested.

I’m incredibly excited about the iPhone 5 and can safely say that I’ll be purchasing two on release day. One will be for me and the other will be for my girlfriend. And if a white version is available when we make our purchase, one of us will get it instead of the traditional black model. We’re both currently using iPhone 3GSs and — because my upgrade eligibility wasn’t until February of this year — we both decided to skip the iPhone 4 and wait for the iPhone 5 in June. And I won’t be making the same mistake I did with the 3GS release.

AppleInsider is reporting that the editor in chief of Mobile Review, Eldar Murtazin, recently wrote on Twitter that a source has informed him that the iPad 2 will have a USB port.

The tweet, as posted on TwitLonger:

Talked with colleague which working with some ODM vendors connected with Apple. He is research guy. According to his sources iPad2 will have usb port.

This isn’t the first time rumors of the iPad 2′s USB port materialized. Last month the Economic Daily News (as reported by DigiTimes) published rumors that the iPad 2 would have a USB port along with several other new hardware features. This is what I wrote about the USB port last month:

I highly doubt the iPad will be gaining a USB port. One could argue that a USB port would make the iPad more computer-like but Apple doesn’t want the iPad to feel like a computer, they want it to feel like something different. And the biggest problem with adding a USB port is that users would have an expectation that it would work with external hard drives, printers, and all sorts of other peripherals that iOS may never support.

What I failed to realize when I wrote that and what AppleInsider points out in the aforementioned piece is that this USB port could be the result of an agreement between European device makers that ensures that micro-USB would serve as a charger for mobile devices.

I’m not sure if the iPad 2 will have a USB port but the rumors are certainly pointing to it. I’m still worried about the customer’s expectations when they are shown a USB port, but if the port is of the micro-USB variety I think a lot of those expectations will disappear. But, then the question has to be asked: will the 30-pin iPod connector be replaced by the micro-USB port or will the iPad 2 have both ports?

Joseph Tsai reporting for DigiTimes:

Apple is expected to release three versions of iPad 2, supporting either or a combination of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA, for 2011 with mass production to start as early as the later half of January.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple decided to release an iPad that was compatible with Verizon’s cellular network. But, I would be surprised if Apple started shipping them in January. An announcement in January is one thing, but shipping in January is a different matter entirely.

Reuters is citing “sources” that say Apple is gearing up for production of the second-generation iPad in the first quarter of next year. One of their sources also says that the iPad will have front- and rear-facing cameras.

From Kelvin Soh and Argin Chang’s report in Reuters:

One of those said the revamped model would feature cameras on the front and rear, while the other said the new model would be slimmer, lighter and have a better resolution display.

This report from Reuters comes just two weeks after DigiTimes published the Economic Daily News’ list of new features that include FaceTime, smaller size panels featuring thinner glass, 3-axis gyroscope, a USB port, and Retina display.

I stand by what I wrote in response to the Economic Daily News’ list. I do think that the iPad 2 will have a front-facing camera but find the rear-facing camera highly unlikely. And in regards to the Retina display:

A Retina display on the iPad would be absolutely stunning but the problem is that the only logical resolution is 2048×1536. And a 9.7-inch panel at that resolution wouldn’t have high enough manufacturing yields and would be too expensive to sell at Apple’s current price points. They could release the iPad 2 with a higher resolution than the current 1024×768 resolution but lower than the logical 2048×1536 but that would make very difficult for developers to build assets at both resolutions, simply because the math wouldn’t work out well.

Neil Hughes and Kasper Jade are reporting that iWork ’11 is planned to be released alongside the Mac App Store. Writing last week on AppleInsider:

People familiar with the matter say development of iWork ’11 wrapped up this fall and the software was initially slated for an introduction alongside iLife ’11 last month, but was held back at the last minute for undisclosed reasons.

Apple’s revised plans currently call for the company to launch the new productivity suite alongside the forthcoming Mac App Store, these same people say.

iWork was prominently displayed in the Mac App Store during the on-stage demo at last months event and is also shown in images on Apple’s Mac App Store page.

Whether iWork ’11 is ready or not it would be smart of Apple to release them alongside the Mac App Store. iWork is a very popular software suite and the Mac App Store would benefit from a big application release being available exclusively in the Mac App Store on day one.

Engadget points to a chat log where the folks at webOS Internals spent time digging through SFR’s webOS 2.0 build for the Palm Pre 2. In it they discovered the names Broadway, Windsor, Mantaray, Roadrunner and Stingray as codenames for potential future devices.

These are likely the devices that The Taiwan Economic News’ source was speaking of late last month. Palm really hasn’t had a new device since the Palm Pixi, all of the handsets that have come since are just slight upgrades to the Pre and Pixi. I’d love to see what Palm and HP have been working on and hope that Reuters was right when they pegged an early 2011 release date for new webOS handsets.

The folks over at Engadget have acquired some photos of and details regarding the rumored Playstation Phone. With the release of this device Sony is rumored to be launching a gaming platform built on Android that would deliver PSP-level games to smartphones. Whether or not those games would be playable on other Android handsets remains to be seen and there are still a lot of questions about developer support. But, at the very least we know that it exists.

Up until now it was hearsay but this device is something that Sony is indeed working on and it is pretty far along in it’s development. I’d love to think that Sony will be to portable gaming what Amazon is to e-books, they might not have the best device per se but because they’re also on everyone else’s device they can be very successful even without selling a lot of devices.

Unfortunately, this is Sony. And, with their track record of proprietary hardware and software lock-ins I don’t have any faith that they will allow users to install they’re marketplace or games on other handsets.

Pocket-lint:

Well, according to our jacket wearing gent, Apple is having trouble getting its two suppliers in the Far East to match the white used in the manufacturing of the parts. The white home button colour doesn’t match the white front face plate colour, it turns out.

The folks at Pocket-lint ran into the white iPhone carrying gentleman at a New York City press event and asked him why the device hadn’t been released yet. Seems like a simple enough explanation, I just can’t understand why it is taking so long to get it fix.

Andrew Munchbach reporting for Boy Genius Report:

Apple will be holding a media event titled “Back to the Mac” on October 20. The invitation seems to indicate that the focus of the meeting will be on/around Mac OS X 10.7 — maybe to be called “Lion”? — and the Mac.

Apple’s media event will begin in a couple of hours and I thought I would publish my two cents.

The event will bring the introduction of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, iLife ’11, and a new MacBook Air. 10.7 is practically a lock, just look at the Lion peering through the invitation, if that’s not 10.7 I don’t know what it is. iLife ’11 will also likely be introduced and will follow Snow Leopard’s lead with a new, lower price point.

And finally, the new MacBook Air which Engadget managed to obtain details of and that Thomas Ricker published about early this morning. 11.6-inch display, two USB ports, SD card reader, new-style trackpad, and a repositioned power button that lends credence to John Gruber’s rumor from a recent Talk Show episode that stated that 10.7′s big feature will be instant-on wake from sleep.

This is poised to be a pretty good event for those of you who have noticed Apple’s Mac offerings getting a little stale. I’m incredibly excited for 10.7 and iLife ’11, I spend a lot of time on my Macs and would love to see a few new features show up in the OS and some of my most used apps like iPhoto or Mail.

Apple will be streaming the event live on their website as they did with their most recent event in September. However, I won’t be able to watch the event live today nor will I be able to really process the announcements until tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I’ll having something insightful to say by then.

Yukari Iwatani Kane and Ting-I Tsai writing for the Wall Street Journal:

Apple plans to begin mass producing the new iPhone by the end of the year, and it would be released in the first quarter of 2011, these people said. The phone would resemble the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T, but would be based on an alternative wireless technology used by Verizon, these people said.

There have been rumors of a Verizon-ready iPhone before but this is the first sign that Apple and Verizon have actually come to an agreement.

Not only does this confirmation have a lot of weight because of it’s publisher but it was also partially written by Yukari Kane, the person that I suspect to be Apple’s go-to writer for controlled leaks. She was the writer that got the scoop about Steve Jobs focusing on the tablet last year and she was also one of the writers that broke news about Steve Jobs’ liver transplant.

But it’s not just the Wall Street Journal writing about the Verizon iPhone, the New York Times has also confirmed that Apple will be releasing a Verizon iPhone early next year.

Reuters:

Hewlett-Packard Co will introduce smartphones in early 2011 using the webOS software it acquired through its $1.2 billion Palm buy earlier this year, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

It’s been a little too long since the last webOS device was released. But, I have high hopes that we’ll see something interesting when it’s announced early next year.

Mark Gurman reporting for 9 to 5 Mac:

Hidden within the APN network settings on the iPad 3G is a new section dedicated to internet tethering. This tethering appears to be the type of tethering iPhones currently use versus tethering the iPhone’s internet to an iPad.

Internet tethering sounds much more attractive on the iPad than it does on the iPhone. The increased battery life of the iPad and the ability to turn on both 3G and tethering without any contracts seems like the perfect fit.

Dan Frommer reporting for Business Insider:

Adidas supposedly pulled its $10+ million ad campaign from the iAd program because Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being too much of a control freak. According to one industry exec, Adidas decided to cancel its iAds after Apple rejected its creative concept for the third time.

John Gruber on the recent Facebook phone rumors:

The whole story could be bullshit, but I’m a big believer in the tenet that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. With three different publications backing the story, and a rather curious hardware-focused denial from Facebook, there’s quite a bit of smoke here.

I’m with Gruber on this one, whether Facebook ends up actually releasing a device is a different story, but I do believe they’re working on one.

Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. is developing a digital newsstand for publishers that would let them sell magazines and newspapers to consumers for use on Apple devices, said two people familiar with the matter.

The newsstand, designed particularly for the iPad, would be similar to Apple’s iBook store for electronic books, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private. The newsstand would be separate from Apple’s App Store, where people can buy some publications now, they said.

The next logical step.

Financial Times:

Sony will begin its latest attempt to fight back against Apple’s dominance in the digital media field on Wednesday, when it unveils a new music and video subscription service to run across a range of its devices.

The announcement is expected to be made in Berlin at the IFA technology show, just hours before Apple’s own music-themed press conference in California, which is expected to include updates to its iPod, iTunes and Apple TV products.

Sony started with an ad campaign and is now planning to announce a “me too” service on the day of Apple’s announcement. It’s an interesting strategy, I’m not sure if it’ll get much attention from the announcement. It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t get this announced before Apple’s event.

Ronald Grover and Peter Burrows reporting for Bloomberg:

Apple Inc., preparing to announce a new set-top box that delivers video to consumers’ TVs, will include programming from Netflix Inc., according to three people with knowledge of the plans.

The big question remaining is whether Netflix streaming will be built into the OS or if it will be an app?

But for those who aren’t Netflix subscribers, the Wall Street Journal’s Shira Ovide reports that ABC and Fox are on deck to offer 99-cent TV show rentals through iTunes.

I guess 99-cent rentals from two major networks is better than none but this isn’t going to make me go all-in on iTunes quite yet. Add NBC, CBS, and a few major cable networks to the list and I’ll get really interested.

Another bit worthy of note regarding tomorrow’s Apple event is that Apple will be live streaming it on their website using HTTP Live Streaming. You’ll be able to watch the event live on either a Mac running Safari on Snow Leopard, an iPhone, iPod touch, or an iPad. My initial reaction to this announcement is that there is no reason for Apple to deal with the headache of live streaming for any reason other than to show off the technology that will be used to stream TV shows and movies through iTunes.

Jim Dalrymple reports for The Loop that Apple will be holding a special media event on September 1 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California.

Historically Apple has held events in September to announce new iPods and other music-related products. And make no mistake, there has been no lack of rumors since invitations went out just a few days ago.

Although the guitar image in the invitation implies that music will be the focus of the event, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of a “one more thing” announcement at the end of the event unveiling a new Apple TV. This seems even more likely when you consider the numerous reports of a new $1-per-episode price point in iTunes for TV shows.

Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney claims that someone with connections inside Apple has told them that Apple will be announcing $1 TV shows soon, likely at this upcoming event. But instead of $1 per episode, that fee would give you access to the entire catalog of a given TV show. E.g. pay $1 per month for the Office and have access to all of the shows episodes as long as you continue to pay the fee.

Cult of Mac’s information doesn’t jibe with Bloomberg’s reports of $0.99 TV show rentals with 48 hour viewing windows. I suppose we’ll have to wait until Wednesday for more information, unless somebody leaks it early.

Apple’s iPod announcements haven’t been left out of the rumor mill, though. Jeremy Horowitz reports in iLounge that The fourth-generation iPod touch will lose the dome shaped back and go back to one that looks more like the first-generation iPod touch’s back. He has heard that the rear-facing camera will be there and that the iPod touch will likely have a microphone and not a camera flash.

There have also been rumors of a much smaller iPod nano that would use that 1.7-inch touchscreen that was floating around last month. iLounge has published images of, what are claimed to be, cases for the next-generation iPod touch and iPod nano. Adding more credence to the rumor, Neil Hughes and Kasper Jade report on AppleInsider that the iPod nano will be shrunken to a size more similar to the iPod shuffle’s size but will retain its 30-pin dock connector.

In the aforementioned AppleInsider piece they also mention the possibility of a new iLife suite the the potential for a 3G-capable iPod touch. Like I said, there is no lack of rumors. There’s even rumors of an iTunes update that will add more social features.

But just like most other Apple events, it is highly unlikely that all of the rumors will be incorporated at this event. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on an iPod touch with FaceTime, a new iPod nano that will use that 1.7-inch touchscreen, some sort of $1 price point for TV shows, a new iOS based Apple TV, and iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch (not iPad).

Unfortunately, I have to work on the day of the event so I won’t be able to follow along at home as I usually do. But if a $99 Apple TV is announced, I’ll come home with credit card in-hand to place my order.

In a follow-up to his piece late last month, Hugo Miller reports in Bloomberg that RIM will not be using BlackBerry OS in their BlackPad and instead will be using an OS developed by QNX Software Systems, which RIM acquired for $200 million in April.

The BlackPad will include Wi-Fi technology so it can connect to the Internet wherever the wireless technology is available, including a home or office. When not near such Wi-Fi “hotspots,” people could connect wirelessly to their mobile phone with Bluetooth technology and then to the Internet. The device will not be able to connect directly to the cellular network the way some iPads can, two people said last month.

I think it’s wise of RIM to use a different OS for their tablet. BlackBerry OS just isn’t cutting it anymore on cell phones and I doubt they’ll be able to make it work on a tablet. It’s time to start from scratch.

On the other hand, not including 3G in the BlackPad sounds like an awful idea. I own an iPad with 3G and even though I’ve only paid for one month of data and only used it over one weekend, I’m still incredibly happy that I have the option.

Being able to tether your BlackBerry device to the BlackPad for 3G data may be their saving grace but I think it’s shortsighted at best. Unfortunately, if RIM has already decided to keep 3G chips out of the BlackPad than tethering exclusively to the BlackBerry is their only option. But, what happens if a BlackBerry and BlackPad owner decides to switch to another handset that doesn’t support tethering with the BlackPad?

Lee Mathews:

Yes, our source tells us that Google is building a Chrome OS tablet. It’s real, and it’s being built by HTC. No surprise there, since HTC churned out the Nexus One for Google.

Why hasn’t Google realized that Chrome OS is splitting their market into two groups, the manufacturers and customers that choose Chrome OS and those that choose Android.

Android has a lot of momentum at this point, don’t screw it up.

PreCentral.net’s Derek Kessler reports that the developer of Cloud Hopper for webOS has noticed something interesting in their application logs. A new device running webOS 2.0, identifying itself as “Roadrunner HD,” with a display resolution of 640×960.

The name “Roadrunner” has appeared in logs before but never with the HD moniker and certainly without a 640×960 display resolution.

webOS is dying for new hardware and a device with a higher resolution display wouldn’t hurt. Nothing else is known about the Roadrunner HD at this point but I’m anxiously awaiting more leaked details in the future.

Kevin Rose writing on his weblog:

From what I hear we should expect to see the iTV launch in September.

He expects there to be an iTV App Store, simple photo and image sharing from your iPhone, and the ability to control the iTV from your iPad.

It’s hard to tell how much of his predictions are wishful thinking and he has been hit-and-miss with his previous rumors. But, I personally believe the iTV will be announced in September and I do expect there to be a new section in the App Store to go along with it.

Engadget’s Joshua Topolsky reports that Sony Ericsson is planning to introduce a new Android gaming platform:

We now know (via a trusted source) that the company is actively and heavily developing a brand new gaming platform, ecosystem, and device (possibly alongside Google) which are already in the late stages of planning. And we’ve got the goods on it.

The device that will launch alongside the new platform has been described to them as a landscape slider with game controls in place of the typical QWERTY keyboard (think PSP go). The display will be between 3.7 and 4.1-inches with WVGA or better resolution.

The handset will run Android 3.0 with a new area of the Android Market specifically for their high-end PSP-quality games. God of War, Call of Duty, and LittleBigPlanet are all possible titles for the platform.

This could pose a real threat to Apple. Games is one area that iOS has excelled at, but if Engadget is right with their assertion that this new platform could launch as early as October, Apple’s going to have a serious fight on their hands.

The always well-informed Yukari Iwatani Kane and Ian Sherr, reporting for the Wall Street Journal:

Several people familiar with Mr. Papermaster’s situation said his departure was driven by a broader cultural incompatibility.

Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn’t appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn’t used to Apple’s corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.

Well, that explains it nicely. Papermaster failed with the iPhone 4 antenna but that wasn’t the only reason he got canned, just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Hugo Miller reporting for Bloomberg:

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans. […]

RIM plans to call the tablet Blackpad, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s plans. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, acquired the Internet rights to blackpad.com this month, according to the Whois database of domain names.

It’s unfortunate for RIM that they won’t be able to push this thing out earlier than November, that leaves an extra couple of months in the holiday shopping season where the iPad is the only tablet in town. But, at least they plan on getting it out before the end of the year, HP isn’t planning to release their webOS tablet until early next year.

Engadget has another fantastic scoop regarding the upcoming iOS-based Apple TV. Joshua Topolsky had this to say regarding video playback capabilities of the new box:

Apparently the box won’t be capable of handling (or enabled to handle) 1080i or 1080p video. Instead it will only push out 720p clips. The word — and cause for much internal debate, we’re told — is that this has something to do with the A4′s inability to crank on higher resolution content

The current Apple TV is not capable of playing back 1080p or 1080i content however the rumor that Engadget reported on a few months ago stated that the new set-top box would be capable of 1080p playback. Apparently, that is now off the table.

The folks at Engadget have also heard that the upcoming Apple TV will be getting applications and will be renamed to the Apple TV’s original name, “iTV.”

I’m anxiously awaiting Apple’s iTV announcement, which could happen anytime between now and the end of September.

Interestingly, this release could finally push me to purchase a new television for the bedroom. My current bedroom TV is an old 27-inch CRT that would need to be replaced if I stick with my current plan of retiring my current Apple TV to the bedroom when the iTV is released. If anybody has any suggestions in the 32 to 37-inch range I’d love to hear about them.

John Gruber:

I don’t know anything about negotiations with Verizon, and I doubt anyone does other than the highest-level executives at both companies. But I do know that engineering-wise, the wheels are turning on N92, the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4. It’s certainly not in production yet, and hasn’t reached DVT status (device verification test — like Gray Powell’s infamous stolen unit), but it is, a few little birdies claim, at EVT (engineering verification test). That’s one step below DVT, which is one step below production.

The interesting thing about John Gruber’s piece is that he doesn’t seem to have any sources telling him that the iPhone is coming to Verizon, only that a CDMA iPhone is moving forward.

I’ve always off-handedly mentioned to friends that I expect the iPhone to come to T-Mobile before Verizon but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sprint was Apple’s next carrier of choice. One could argue that Apple would choose Verizon as their second carrier to add the most potential market share — and I’m not opposed to this idea. But, what if Apple decides to go with Sprint or T-Mobile instead because of Verizon’s recent anti-iPhone marketing campaigns?

Jeremy Horwitz has heard from a “reliable source” that Apple will be ready to announce three new iPods as early as this month. The possible announcements include a new iPod nano, iPod touch, and a replacement for the iPod shuffle that uses the 1.7-inch touchscreen that has been floating around the internet as of late.

The other rumor of interest in Jeremy Horowitz’s rundown is that Apple is pushing up the release of a new iPhone to early 2011. He is unsure as to whether it will be a slight hardware revision to the iPhone 4 that will fix the antenna issue or if this will be more substantial, but this is what he’s hearing.

Some of these rumors are a little hard to believe, especially the ones I decided not to write about (like the seven-inch iPad or the three-inch touchscreen iPod), but the early 2011 iPhone hardware revision doesn’t seem too far-fetched. It’s not unheard of for Apple to make slight changes to their hardware mid-product cycle and it would give them an opportunity to minimize the impact of the iPhone 4′s antenna problem.

But, iLounge isn’t the only place publishing rumors about upcoming Apple products, Hardmac has received a mockup of the next-generation iPod touch which depicts a rear-facing camera and flash. Unfortunately this mockup doesn’t include a front-facing camera which does put a dent in its credibility. A front-facing camera with FaceTime has been rumored to be coming to the iPod touch for months and MacRumors has received images from an iPhone parts supplier of the iPod touch’s front LCD and bezel which does have a hole for a front-facing camera.

Coming hot on the heels of all these iPod touch rumors is word that Apple has added email-based FaceTime support in iOS 4.1 beta 3, which was seeded to developers earlier this week. MacRumors’ Eric Slivka reports that iOS 4′s Contacts application gives users the option to make FaceTime calls using either a phone number or an email address. There is no word on how FaceTime calls would be made using email addresses however this would presumably allow iOS devices without a cellular connection to perform FaceTime calls.

There’s a whole slew of Apple-related rumors flying around right now. And these rumors will only heat up as we move closer to September, when Apple will announce new iPods (as they have for the past several years). I’m excited about the announcements, I have a feeling that expanding FaceTime to the iPod touch will add a tremendous amount of momentum behind it — I wouldn’t be surprised if FaceTime becomes the de facto standard for video calling by this time next year.

9 to 5 Mac has published a slew of screenshots of the yet-to-be-announced Pages for iPhone.

Mark Gurman:

We’ve heard that iWork for iPhone will come with Pages and Numbers as a universal binary for all iOS Devices.

I missed this when it was originally published two weeks ago. It looks really slick and I can’t wait for the release.

In late May Engadget received word of an upcoming refresh to the Apple TV. The update would bring all new hardware, including an A4 processor, 16GB of storage, 1080p video playback, iOS, and a $99 price tag.

The new Apple TV was already starting to sound great but earlier this month The New York Times revealed that several sources have told them that Apple was building a completely redesigned user interface for the new Apple TV.

NewTeeVee has also heard rumblings of some changes to TV show pricing in iTunes.

Ryan Lawler reporting for NewTeeVee:

According to sources, Apple is trying to get TV programmers to let it rent individual TV shows for 99 cents each, as opposed to the $1.99 it receives for sales of standard-definition episodes and the $2.99 it gets for selling HD episodes. […] Unlike its current TV and movie sales through iTunes, the new service will move content into the cloud and stream it to users, rather than having them download videos.

I’m incredibly excited about this Apple TV update. I’ve been a huge fan of the device since it’s launch and it has been the centerpiece of my home theater for over two years now.

A $99 Apple TV running iOS, 99 cent TV show rentals, brand new user interface, and a focus on streaming content. If all of these rumors are true, I see a lot more people cutting the cord soon.

9 to 5 Mac notes that many MobileMe users have noticed a change in their account status. Users report that their accounts have changed from “Individual” to “Full Member.” After some digging around the MacRumors forums, Mark Gurman found evidence of these changes as early as May 18.

There have been rumblings that these changes have been made to both individual and family pack members. Although, I haven’t seen any changes to mine, it’s likely Apple is just slowly rolling it out.

It would make a lot of sense for Apple to offer free MobileMe services. Free could have mail, calendar, and contacts with full membership adding find my iPhone, iDisk, and Gallery.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see but I would love to get some of my iPhone-using family members on board with MobileMe, even if it was just for syncing.

MacGeneration reports that Apple may be launching Safari 5 at tomorrow’s WWDC keynote. They’ve managed to get their hands on what appears to be a changelog which lists some of the major features.

25% faster JavaScript performance, DNS prefetching, the option to use Bing as your search engine, and improved HTML5 support are among some of the features listed. There will be a new “Safari Reader” feature which will let you “view articles on the web in a single, clutter-free page.” There will be new Safari developer tools and my favorite new feature, tab settings that allow you to force links that open new windows into tabs instead.

It’s hard to tell if MacGeneration’s feature list is legit or not, however John Gruber has previously hinted at a new version of Safari being announced at WWDC. So, whether this feature list is fake or not, Safari 5 will likely be at tomorrow’s keynote.

John Gruber regarding Safari:

The other big thing that’s missing (compared to both Chrome and Firefox) is a proper extension API. If only Apple had an imminent developer conference where they could unveil such a thing.

I continue to use Firefox for nearly all of my browsing and the addition of extensions wouldn’t compel me to switch. Currently, the only extension I have installed is Flashblock and I would actually prefer to use ClickToFlash. The biggest thing keeping me from using Safari is its lack of a “open new windows in a new tab instead” option.

A little over a week after Google announced Google TV at I/O, Engadget has received word of an upcoming Apple TV update.

I’m still looking into Google TV, but I just haven’t found anything compelling about it. The biggest drawback in my opinion is its use of IR blasters to control other components in your home theater set up. I really don’t think it’s going to be successful in its current form. It’s really hard to get people to buy another box, especially when it doesn’t replace anything in your set up and simply adds functionality to existing components.

The Apple TV update, on the other hand, sounds amazing. Especially if it is paired with the rumored TV subscriptions that was the talk of the town late last year.

According to Engadget’s sources, the new Apple TV will be much closer to the iPhone and iPad in terms of OS and hardware than to Macs. The device will have an A4 processor, 16GB of storage, and will be capable of 1080p video playback. Because of the limited storage Apple will be focusing on cloud-based storage, although there will be an option to use a Time Capsule to keep your data a little closer to home. iPhone OS will be utilized as the operating system and the biggest shocker is that it will only cost $100.

John Gruber has chimed in saying that the new Apple TV’s “K66″ code name has been in the iPhone OS 4 beta SDK for months.

I suspect that the Apple Remote will be used as the primary control device with the option to use an iPhone or iPod touch with the Remote app installed. But, what will the interface look like? Will there be a browser or app store?

Eric Savitz reporting for Barron’s:

Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with tiny Global Equities Research, contends that 7 minutes of the June 7 keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been blocked off for a presentation by Microsoft (MSFT) to talk about Visual Studio 2010, the company’s suite of development tools. Chowdhry says the new version of VS will allow developers to write native applications for the iPhone, iPad and Mac OS. And here’s the kicker: he thinks Microsoft’s presentation could be given by none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

It’s natural to be a little surprised by the idea of Steve Ballmer coming on stage during an Apple keynote. But, if you keep in mind that Microsoft is a software company, it isn’t as crazy as you may have initially thought. Apple is trying to develop a platform and they want more developers supporting their platform than the alternatives. Expanding their developer base to developers who don’t own a Mac would be huge.

There are three thoughts in my mind that keeps me from believing this rumor, though. First, I’m not sure Apple wants developers who run Windows to build applications for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Second, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Microsoft to support a competitor’s software platform just a few months before Windows Phone 7 phones start hitting stores. And third, Apple has been opposed to third-party development tools — they don’t want another company to have any control over their platform.

The Boy Genius Report has published two screenshots that seem to confirm video conferencing capabilities in the upcoming iPhone HD. The screenshots depict video call debugging options in the settings app and are were supposedly taken on a field test unit.

Quite honestly, video calls sound like a big waste of time. I don’t see why everyone has wanted the feature for so long. A front-facing camera only has one appeal to me, and that’s self-portraits. Taking a picture of yourself and a friend would be much easier if the screen was facing you.

CNET has already reported that HP plans to use webOS on slate PCs and printers.

But, DigiTimes has spoken with Monty Wong, vice president of personal computing systems group at HP Taiwan, who said that webOS will be used in tablet computers. Even mentioning that the HP Slate will hit the market before the end of October. DigiTimes doesn’t explicitly say that the Slate will run webOS but that is certainly the implication.

Running webOS on printers and tablets makes a lot of sense. webOS is a low-powered OS that would run just fine on a printer. The multitouch interface would make it much easier for users to manipulate photos that could, for example, be printed off of an SD card. And the iPad has shown the power of tablet computers running an operating systems that has been built from the ground with touchscreens in mind.

At first glance I was worried that the HP acquisition of Palm would be detrimental to webOS. But, HP seems to be taking webOS in the right direction.

Peter Kafka:

Last month, the Los Angeles Times said Hulu was set to roll out a subscription service “as soon as May 24.” That’s next Monday. But people familiar with the company say there’s no way a Hulu Plus will be up and running by then.

The Boy Genius Report on the BlackBerry tablet:

We have confirmed with multiple sources that the 8.9″ BlackBerry tablet will be strictly a “companion” device. If you are wondering what it is all about, take a good hard look at the Palm Foleo. Yes, the BlackBerry tablet will not have any cellular networking built in, and will rely on either a Bluetooth connection to your BlackBerry or the built-in Wi-Fi radio.

So, RIM is working on a tablet. And, it’s a companion device — haven’t they learned anything from the Palm Foleo? You can’t release a product that will cost $500 or so that requires another device to function. Companion devices will never work.

To make matters worse, I don’t know a single BlackBerry user that would even flirt with the idea of buying a tablet.

Norah Sheth, reporting for the Wall Street Journal:

Verizon Wireless is working with Google Inc. on a tablet computer, the carrier’s chief executive, Lowell McAdam, said Tuesday, as the company endeavors to catch up with iPad host AT&T Inc. in devices that connect to wireless networks.

The work is part of a deepening relationship between the largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers and Google, which has carved out a space in mobile devices with its Android operating system. Verizon Wireless last year heavily promoted the Motorola Droid, which runs Google’s software.

I’m not surprised that Google would be working on an iPad-like device that runs Android. And, it makes complete sense for Verizon to be their carrier of choice. But, I find it incredibly odd that Android could be getting their iPad-like device before it gets a proper iPod touch-like device.

The Examiner reports that an HP “insider” has informed them that HP is working on a webOS tablet code named “Hurricane,” that will be released in the third quarter of this year.

HP seems to have figured out what Apple has — that mobile computing starts from the ground up, tablets should be built using an operating system optimized for use on handsets not using an operating system built for desktop computers.

In just a few short months HP will turn webOS from an also-ran OS into a huge competitor in the mobile space. If HP can build enough momentum, I can see webOS becoming iPhone OS’s biggest rival.

From my perspective, webOS and iPhone OS could be the Windows and Mac OS X of the mobile space (although I’m uncertain who will take which spot). This of course, leaves Android with a Linux-sized piece of the market. All of this could change once Windows Phone 7 is released, but as it currently stands, this is how I see things playing out.

The Boy Genius Report has published a rundown of the new features in iPhone OS 4.0 beta 3. File sharing through iTunes, media player controls in the app switching tray, a quicker way to close apps, and an orientation lock are all mentioned. There may be more features in beta 3 but these are the most important ones.

I’m happy to finally see an orientation lock, this is something I’ve been hoping for since the iPhone first came out. And, I’m also happy to see that Apple has brought back media player controls for the double click home button shortcut. I rely heavily on this feature and use it more often than you might think, when I was running beta 1 this was one of those missing features that drove me absolutely crazy.

Arnold Kim, of MacRumors, is also reporting some interesting findings in beta 3. He reports that OS 4.0 gives developers full access to video capture which will make for some much more functional video recording and editing applications. But, the new APIs don’t just let you capture video at 640×480 but also reveal the ability to capture video at higher resolutions, such as 1280×720.

The camera in the next iPhone was rumored to be of the 5 megapixel variety. But, this news of higher resolution video capture adds credence to the rumored “iPhone HD” name. And, if these camera rumors are true, the iPhone is giving even better reason to carry it as your one and only device.

Peter Kafka reporting on All Things Digital:

I’ve been on the phone all day with music industry sources. None of them know of any specific plans Apple has to replace Lala at the end of May, when it will shutter the streaming music company it bought last December.

I never really expected Apple to launch a streaming music service immediately following the demise of Lala. But, I still expect them to do so at some point. This is the type of service that Apple may decide to start building before they discuss deals with record labels. Especially now that they are in super lock-down following the iPhone prototype leak.

While everyone is still mulling over the fourth generation iPhone leak, I’ve had some time to look through my backlog of news. Three days ago AppleInsider reported that Apple is in discussions to adopt AMD chips.

AppleInsider’s sources claim to have seen AMD executives on their way out of meetings at Apple’s campus. Regarding the reasoning behind Apple’s move from Intel, AppleInsider writes:

It is believed that Apple is working with AMD to expand its potential sources for CPUs in order to increase its flexibility and broaden its competitive options, but also likely in response to problems it has encountered with Intel. These issues include limited availability of new processors (which is rumored to have slowed Apple’s notebook refreshes) as well as new chipset designs imposed by Intel that have blocked the Mac maker’s plans to continue a partnership with NVidia to deliver a standardized chipset for use with its Intel processors across all of its consumer computer offerings.

Expanding their CPU sources is the most interesting reason behind this move. It means that Intel will have to compete with AMD for Apple’s attention which, if true, means that Apple will be able to get faster chips for less money per unit. I just hope that lower cost to Apple translates to even faster macs at the same cost to the consumer.

Just like many of you, I noticed the “iPod Out” feature listed on one of the slides at the iPhone 4.0 event. Until now there wasn’t any information as to what “iPod Out” actually was. The Unofficial Apple Weblog reveals that this feature could be used for car integration.

Their “informant” tells them that the application will be bundled with iPods and iPhones and when launched will turn the iPhone or iPod touch’s screen into a remote used to control a menu system fed out through a video-out cable.

The included video depicting the interface is reminiscent of click-wheel iPods and currently only allows for audio playback. Their informant also suggests that Apple could be building their own branded car kit that could include physical buttons and a screen to display the menu system.

Microsoft has invited the press to an event to be held on April 12. The invitations were received on April 5 and we already know what the event will be focused on. CNET’s Ina Fried has heard that Microsoft will unveil their “Pink” phones.

Ina Fried:

The devices, code-named Pure and Turtle, are both slider phones, each with a touch screen and keyboard, a source told CNET. In the U.S., the devices will run on Verizon Wireless’ network and go on sale within the month following the event.

Paul Thurrott has also stated that this is definitely the Pink phone announcement.

The craziest part about Microsoft’s Pink phones is that from what I’ve gathered, it isn’t going to be based on Windows Phone 7. That could have changed over the past several months, but it appears that Pink is just going to be their replacement for the Sidekick.

Apple is holding their iPhone OS event today and there have been a couple more rumors circulating regarding the announcements. The first of which is from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. Yes, the same Shaw Wu who predicted that Steve Jobs wouldn’t be at September’s iPod event (in other words, his track record is a little hit and miss).

Shaw Wu claims that Apple will unveil iPhone OS 4.0 with full multi-tasking support and a new “iAd” mobile advertising service. Multi-tasking shouldn’t come as a surprise since it has been mentioned by multiple sources over the past few weeks. But, the iAd platform is something that hasn’t had nearly as many mentions. The first report I managed to find regarding the iAd service was from MediaPost late last month. There wasn’t any solid details about the service’s features but it’s safe to assume that it would be based off of Apple’s recently acquired Quattro Wireless and would give developers of free App Store apps and web apps the ability to monetize their offerings.

The second rumor is based on speculation about Apple’s Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for iPad documentation that states “printing directly from iPad is not currently available.” While this doesn’t come right out and say that these applications will support printing, it does leave the window open for the future. It’s possible that Apple decided to include this simply to make it clear that printing isn’t supported, but they also could have included it because it’s something they’re working on.

I have little reason to believe that printer support will be included in today’s announcements but I can’t imagine it will never make it’s way into the OS. If Apple sees this as a serious content creation platform (and the existence of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers indicate that they do), printing is one feature that can’t be overlooked for too long. It will happen, but when is a different question entirely.

I likely won’t be able to write about today’s announcements until later tonight but rest assured I’ll be waiting with bated breath to see what Apple has in store for the future of iPhone OS.