Apple's iPhone 5 Top Rumours

Apple Inc distributed invitations to an event in San Francisco on September 12, setting the stage for what is widely expected to be the release of the iPhone 5. The typically cryptic invitation said 'It's almost here', sported a number 12 - corresponding to the date of the event - and cast a large shadow of the number 5, a clue that the fifth version of the popular smartphone could be in the pipeline. The event will take place at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the preferred venue for the unveiling of past products such as the iPad.

  

Here's a look a the top rumours about the most-anticipated Apple device till date:

#1 The new screen could measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source has said, an increase from the 3.5-inch display that has been held constant since the smartphone began selling in 2007 and revolutionized the mobile industry.

#2 A technology blog, 9to5Mac, that got hold of a purported photo of the next iPhone, say that the new phone would be taller than the previous iPhones

, but not wider like many of the Andriod phones available today.

#3 The leaked images also show that the back panel appears to be covered in metal and the headphone jack is on the botton of the phone now.

#4 Apple Inc's new iPhone will drop the wide dock connector used in the company's gadgets for the best part of a decade in favour of a smaller one, a change likely to annoy the Apple faithful but which could be a boon for accessory makers. The iPhone 5, Apple's next generation iPhone expected to go on sale around October, will come with a 19-pin connector port at the bottom instead of the proprietary 30-pin port "to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom", two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. It would mean the new phone would not connect with the myriad of accessories such as speakers and power chargers that form part of the ecosystem around iPods, iPads and iPhones, without an adaptor.

#5 The phone will have an advanced technical capability of LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network that would give all phone carriers a chance to sell their fastest data services to Apple's base of iPhone customers. LTE technology is much more fragmented than the previous third-generation wireless technology, making it more difficult to make LTE phones that work seamlessly around the world.

#6 The next iPhone, is expected to come with a built-in chip which can serve as your credit or debit card for small payments. Tech savvies looking at leaked images of the internals of the device have spotted what they believe is an NFC chip within the phone. NFC is seen as the successor to the chip-and-pin, serving as a small contactless card that can be waved against scanners at tills to automate a payment, the Daily Mail reported.

#7 Audience Inc , which makes chips used in Apple Inc's iPhones, said its top customer is unlikely to use its technology for the latest iPhone. Audience's chips improve the voice quality in mobile devices by filtering out background noise, and the company supplies these to Apple's contract manufacturers like Foxconn International Holdings Ltd and Protek Ltd.

#8 Vietnamese tech news site tinhte.vn, has speculative images of the newly designed earphones that could accompany the new iPhone.

#9 Photos that are believed to be that of the next generation iPhone's motherboard that have surfaced on the WeiPhone user forum, show that a SIM card slot that seem to be smaller than the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.