The iPhone 5 rumor-mill is once again alive and kicking, following a rather unexpected dry run in light of the overwhelming success of the so-called “stopgap” solution that was the iPhone 4S.

Taking in up to 30 million sales in the final quarter of 2011 alone, the dual-core 4S marks the biggest success story of Apple to date, breaking record in the US and Europe left, right and center.

However, 2012 has now rolled around and the biggest story in the technology community, albeit a speculative one, is that of the bigger brother of the 4S and when exactly we can expect to see it.

Well, depending on which source the educated guesswork is coming from, the iPhone 5 release date will come about at some point between June and October – most likely one or the other to follow on from previous releases with September having been penciled in as prime iPod Touch territory.

Design-wise it could indeed be all change, as industry experts are now suggesting that contrary to previous expectations and suggestions, the iPhone 5 will move entirely away from the form of the 4S, marking a shift toward a new and currently unknown design of stunning beauty.

Needless to say of course the very thought of the iPhone 5 has been enough to sell it hook, line and sinker to the frothing masses, with analysts now predicting that almost 95% of all current iPhone users will be fighting tooth and nail to upgrade to the iPhone 5.

Indeed, should the iPhone 5 mark a whole new direction for the iPhone it will of course render each and every prior model yesterday’s new…and we all know how well that goes down with fanatic.

Cue the longest lines and order backlogs ever seen in human history…

This year’s unofficial iPad season is officially in full unofficial swing, with industry bigwigs and casual observers alike having earmarked Q1 as the ideal and indeed likely time for Apple to introduce the long-awaited iPad 3.

Indeed, if last year’s release is anything to go by, the US may finally get its hands on the fabled device as soon as early March.
Those who simply cannot wait that long may take comfort in further rumors suggesting that an Apple even will take place in the next few weeks to officially confirm the existence of the iPad 3 and stoke the fires of the adoring public a little further.
Packing a quad-core processor or maybe even the truly epic (if theoretical) A6 chip along with LTE technology and the very first tablet-sized Retina display, patience appears as though it will be rewarded richly indeed.
However, patience and good graces aside it really does appear possible this time that Apple will choose March as the ideal timeframe for the iPad 3 release, as a number of next-generation Android tablet rivals are ready and waiting to take their own share of the market anytime soon – some with faster quad-core processors, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and tantalizingly lower prices.
Indeed, the ASUS MeMo is already turning a good number of heads with its quad-core chip and ICS goodness for only $250-ish, which appears to be the first attempt at replicating the strategy of the Kindle Fire from Amazon, only with an extra wallop in the CPU and OS departments.

With a bumped up pixel count, improved battery life and perhaps even an unexpected thicker overall case design, the upcoming iPad 3 could represent a significant step forward for Apple upon its release later this year…or perhaps a step in the wrong direction for those who favor tablet thinness above and beyond all else.

So, the question at this stage is who exactly would be happy to sacrifice their beloved device slenderness in favor of boosted specs and perhaps even 4G LTE connectivity?

Well, some would argue that the thickness of a device really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but let’s not forget that the battle for Smartphone superiority in 2011 did in fact take into account thickness as an official category. Samsung and Apple in particular are known to have had long running debates on the thickness of their devices and its importance.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4 were if you remember embroiled in a pitched battle for the crown of slenderness, with the iPhone eventually taking the title for its consistent 9.3mm end to end.

Samsung and Apple also went head to head in the tablet PC thickness wars, with the 8.8mm iPad 2 sending Samsung back to the drawing boards, from which they produced the 8.6mm Galaxy Tab 10.1 and took the title home with them.

So, how importance is thickness and which way will Apple go with the iPad 3?

Well, the jury is well and truly out but with talk of the first Retina display to feature in a tablet, massive battery life and LTE technology, all the required components are likely to take up a little extra room to say the least, therefore a beefed-up iPad 3 is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.

It is becoming an annual thing for Apple to announce Black Friday discounts on many of its products. The price breaks are not too big, but they are at least something. Today’s deals feature discounts on iPads, iPod Touch’es, MacBooks and many accessories, but unfortunately not on the iPhone 4S or any other iPhone for that matter.

Generally Mac computers will have a discount of about $100, the Nano can be had for $11 less and discounts on the iPod Touch will range from $21 to $41 off. iPads will shave anywhere from $41 to $61 off their prices.

These prices can be found on the online Apple store and of course in physical stores as well. Although Apple rarely lowers prices and doesn’t lower them much, this is the one time of year that it happens. It all looks good until one looks at online sites like Amazon where the prices are substantially better than can be found direct from Apple. Best Buy is offering similar deals.

Accessories are looking good at Apple today with discounts on everything from iPad covers to hard drives and keyboards. If you don’t know what to choose for a gift, the $100 gift card is also $10 off.

Apple has commenced the launch of a number of teaser pages via its online stores, regarding a one-day shopping event set to take place across the world this coming Friday.

The Cupertino giant will of course be keeping tradition by offering the usual Black Friday promotions, though in true style they have released no details thus far about what we can expect to see, or for what price.

For now, all that has been stated by Apple is that iPad, iPod and Mac gifts will be available during the one-day event, with banners appearing on Apple’s international online stores all around the world.

Of course, the Black Friday deals to come from Apple are known to be rather modest in comparison to those of other big name retailers, with last year bringing about a $101 reductions from the cost of the iMac, $41 off the iPad, $21 from the iPod Touch range and $11 from the Nano. A number of accessories also received token discounts, including Apple TrackPads and keyboards.

Generally speaking, third-party retailers have always undercut the promotions being offered by Apple by way of their own reductions, therefore whether this year marks a welcome break in tradition remains to be seen later this week.

All in all, Apple is once again expected to break each and every one of its own sales records over the holiday season, with iOS devices known to have taken the top-three spots for most desirable electronic devices for Christmas, across almost all age groups.

Picture if you will an iPad no bigger than a Kindle Fire…perhaps even an iPhone growing more toward mini-tablet size. Each and every day at present is bringing us weird and wonderful suggestions about what exactly Apple may have up their sleeves for the near future – all of which seem to point to the Cupertino giant moving away from a standard three-way device structure.

According to the latest reports, Apple are well and truly in the developmental stages of an iPhone 5 sporting a 4 inch retina display, along with an iPad Mini carrying a display size of 7.35 inches. The latest rumors have originated from chatter regarding ongoing talks between Apple and LG, which are said to focus on a potential $1.1 billion deal to supply screen parts for iOS devices right through until 2016.

Of course, the iPod touch would not be left out of the equation and is likely to be revolutionized beyond all recognition, along with its bigger brothers.

Needless to say, such an overall product revamp across all three lines may be exactly what Apple requires in order to maintain an edge, given the arsenal of new high-end Android devices currently in the pipeline – not to mention Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The iPhone 4S may have been a runaway success that none saw coming but this does not take away from the fact that it is clearly a temporary gap filler – one that cannot possibly hold its appeal for long anddemands Apple to once again up their game in the very near future.

Contrary to the belief of many, there is in fact abundant reason to believe that Apple is in nothing close to a hurry to bring the iPhone 5 release date around. At this particular juncture in time, we are all familiar with the long queues of iPhone devotees snaking their way down the sidewalks, with hundreds braving the elements waiting for the next shipment of the iPhone 4S to be delivered. What it more surprising however is that this is not something confined to its launch date last month, but is in fact still happening today.

Demand for the not exactly all-new though Siri-toting iPone 4S really blew all reasonable estimates out of the water, perhaps even those of Apple themselves. Indeed, the iPhone 4S had been pegged by many as something of a stopgap solution while the final touches were quickly afforded to the iPhone 5, but given the runaway and record breaking success of the 4S, what exactly would be to gain for Apple by hurrying along the iPhone 5?

Of course, the simple answer is nothing at all…hence Apple most likely taking their sweet time to say the very least.

Complaints and frustrated calls abound regarding the lack of real info regarding the iPhone 5 including its eventual release date, but the simple fact of the matter here is that Apple cannot be blamed for the ongoing delays. Logically, had the iPhone 4S been boycotted or at least somewhat neglected by consumers, the iPhone 5 would simply HAVE to come along sooner rather than later to avoid a publicity and marketing disaster for Apple of epic proportions. Instead, the manufacturer is enjoying record sales and pretty much all the time in the world they need to plan their next move, quite some time from now.

In a nutshell, we really have nobody to blame for the lack of an imminent iPhone 5 other than ourselves…

Despite a great deal of waning patience across an incredibly dedicated community, Apple may in fact be in n hurry at all to bring about an iPhone 5 release date in the near future. We had of course expected long lines of customers braving the elements outside stores across the nation, waiting for deliveries iPhone 4S on its launch day – but the same scene is still being repeated on a daily basis even today. Demand for the Siri-toting iPhone 4S really is still that high, so there really is very little reason for Apple to speed up their plans when they already have such a monumental success in circulation.

That being said, this could perhaps turn around if standard iPhone 4 users were to rise up in large numbers and demand an iPhone 5 sooner than later. The simple fact of the matter here is that while the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S transition might seem like a logical upgrade, the striking similarity between the two makes it a rather hard sell nonetheless. As such, it is in fact widely accepted that the vast majority of iPhone 4S buyers have so far been owners of more dated models looking for a significant upgrade, or those jumping ship from the mighty Android and fast-sinking BlackBerry camps

So, if the main motivation for Apple offering an iPhone 5 release date is indeed the success of the iPhone 4S, then we realistically cannot expect to hear a thing while the buying frenzy continues. Essentially therefore, the most highly anticipated release of a Smartphone in years may not be quite as beyond our control as we thought, as buyers once again may well be holding all the cards.

Food for thought at least – especially with talk of a stopgap iPad 2S paving the way for the iPad 3 now very much doing the rounds…

When the world was first afforded a look at the iPad from Apple, the reaction was one of amazement and wonder from all angles at the revolutionary new device from the true powerhouse of an innovator. Fast forward two years down the line and the thoughts of the world are well and truly with the fabled iPad 3, which it is hoped will spur a further revolution and change perceptions across the board of what we thing we know.

While the iPad 2 cannot be considered anything other than a truly spectacular device in its own right, it nonetheless represented an evolution of the previous iPad, rather than the revolution we would have liked – in a similar vain to the iPhone 4S following the iPhone 4. However, if rumors are to be believed, the iPad 3 release date will bring about the breath-taking full and frank PC replacement that Steve Job has always had in mind since he first dreamt up the show-stopping tablet.

Inclusion of a brand new and blistering quad-core A6 process is pretty much a guaranteed given at this particular stage, as is the likelihood of increased storage options.

Furthermore, optimist observers are discussing the likelihood of 4G LTE connectivity, not to mention the rather ambitions plans for the iPad 3’s screen. If rumors are to be believed, Apple has every intention of no less than quadrupling the resolution of the iPad 2, so as to provide Retina Display quality with the iPad 3. Indeed, the lack of technology to actually bring this about has been labeled as the reason why we haven’t seen the device or heard so much as a peep about it yet.

With regard to release dates, March was of course the early favorite but it has now been suggested that the epic project will not be ready to launch until the fall, with something of a stopgap iPad 2S likely to be offered to keep us busy in the meantime – which going by recent consumer patterns will of course be a record-breaking success, regardless of what it actually offers.

What many had of course been hoping was simply a rather viscous rumor designed to discredit Apple has unfortunately now been officially confirmed. iPhone 4S users it seems have valid reason to worry about the batteries of their devices, as the manufacturer has now confirmed that there is indeed a rather problematic battery issue present on a rather vast scale. Thankfully, this is due to be taken care of in the very near future by way of an iOS 5 software update that should clear up the problem in its entirety.

Of course, never one to get away with anything so easily, Apple are now facing widespread allegations of mute incoming and outgoing calls by iPhone 4S users across all major networks currently carrying the device, those being Sprint, Verizon and AT&T. Some have stated that toggling the on/off speakerphone switch can rectify the problem, though this is hardly the ideal solution for a device still well and truly in its prime.

As it stands, Apple have offered no official response to the allegations, nor have they indicated whether or not this is another issue that could be rectified with a simple software update.

Despite initially frosty predictions for the iPhone 4S regarding its rather lackluster status as a successor to the iPhone 4, Apple have reported that the 4S is in fact their most successful and highest-selling iPhone to date so far. Released across the US month, another 11 countries are set to get their own hands on the iPhone 4S, with or without problems, later this November.