Sprint is trying hard to move Apple's iPhone 4S.

(Credit:Apple)

Sprint is upping the ante to move the iPhone 4S to customers as many expect Apple to unveil the next generation of the popular smartphone next month.

After a price drop last week, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier is now packaging a $100 gift card with the purchase of any smartphone by new customers over the Internet. Apple plans to match the deal by offering Apple Store credit for the same amount, Business Insider confirmed.

The new promotion, which is good until August 26, comes less than a month before the expected launch of the new iPhone on Sept. 12. It also comes a week after Sprint quietly dropped the price of its iPhone 4S from $199 to $149. Sprint told CNET at the time that price cut was simply a back-to-school promotion.

Apple is planning a major event in mid-September and, according to recent iPhone chatter, it will be announcing the new iPhone there and could possibly release the device just a few days later.

While there has been myriad rumors of what hardware the new iPhone will feature, there is wide speculation it will have an A5X chip and a smaller SIM card slot.

Updated at 9:40 p.m. PT to correct the new hardware features rumored to be on the new iPhone.

Apple iPhone 4S

Sprint sweetens the deal for iPhone 4S

how will the new iPhone 5 shape up compared to the iPhone 4S? find out in this cool new concept video, which puts the two phones side-by-side and spins them every which way.

We’ve seen the inside and outside of the new iPhone as photos of components leak in dribs and drabs. But now they’ve been assembled in a video placing 3D models of the two phones side-by-side.

the good folks at 3D-desk.com, who create three-dimensional animated models for your perusal, drew on industry rumours, strategic logic — and “a bit of wild guessing” — to flesh out their hypothetical iPhone.

the video shows the difference in scale between the current model and the hotly anticipated new iPhone, including the new smaller dock connector and headphone jack moved to the bottom. Hit play below to see the two phones spinning in space without a care in the world:

Leaked photos reveal the new iPhone to be taller than the current model when you hold it normally, or wider when you turn it sideways to landscape orientation.

The screen will apparently measure 4 inches across and boast a resolution of 640×1,136 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio, meaning no more black bars when you watch movies and TV and allowing your video to make the most of the screen. the extra space on the screen is also enough for an extra row of icons on the home screen.

There’s no guarantee this is what the new iPhone will look like, of course. In fact, the animated animators behind this video also speculate Apple could keep the screen the same, rather than forcing app developers to change the layout of apps.

If you’re wondering what the new iPhone would look like if the screen stayed the same size and it just got thinner, check out this video:

What do you think of the look of the new iPhone? Are the expected changes smart thinking by Apple, or does the iPhone have other problems that haven’t been addressed here? tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

iPhone 5 vs iPhone 4S in 3D concept video

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

What’s being rumored as Apple’s unannounced next-generation iPhone 5 is being shown in the latest round of leaked images depicting the phone’s housing with the aluminum casing, elongated and larger display, along with a smaller dock connector. The images being leaked match what we’ve been hearing from earlier rumors.

The latest image set was reported on 9to5 Mac and originally appeared on iLab Factory.

From the front and the sides, the iPhone 5 appears similar to Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S smartphones, though the display is slightly longer on the iPhone 5 than on previous models which had a 3.5-inch display with Retina display resolution. On the bottom side of the phone, we can see a new new machined microphone and speaker grills and that the 3.5-mm headphone jack has migrated from the top left of the phone to the bottom left of the device.

Also on the bottom, we’re seeing a smaller dock connector port suggesting Apple may be migrating away from the dock connector format that has appeared since the debut of the original iPod.

Additionally, the Apple FaceTime camera is now centered just above the earpiece speaker.

On the back, rather than a glass panel, the phone now is housed in an aluminum casing and there are plastic cutouts, perhaps to improve reception and help with the assembly of the phone, for top and bottom panels.

Fully Assembled iPhone 5 Shown In Latest Leaked Images

Over the past few months since the very beginning of the website, we’ve been collecting any rumors associated with the upcoming iPhone 5 (also known as the new iPhone or iPhone 2012) from Apple. Everything from the likely to the ridiculous has been posted. While we have yet to confirm any of these rumors regarding the new iPhone device, we thought it would be fun to add a few more rumors to the mix and at the same time take a walk down memory lane with the old rumors.

Apple unveiled the slightly-improved iPhone 4S in October 2011 instead of the expected — and very different — iPhone 5. We’re fairly certain that the iPhone 5 — the real deal that Apple fans have been waiting for — is on the Apple menu for 2012. In fact, according to a rumor we published on February 20th, the release date for the Apple iPhone 5 looks to be October 2012, one year after its predecessor.

This rumor seemed to clash slightly with the very next article to reach our pages on March 19. the release date was stated as “July-September quarter,” based on new information obtained. Other rumors hinted at gorilla glass housing, ultra-sonic bonding, quad-core processor, 4G LTE, thinner and sleeker design, and of course iOS 6 with Siri.

The worldwide 4G LTE rumor seemed to find solid ground with our March 23 article, which stated that the new iDevice would support 4G LTE roaming. While this may not be a direct benefit to many users, including Tru SIM users, due to the deployment schedule of some countries, it will nevertheless be a long term benefit. Now it awaits to be seen as to whether or not Apple feels it necessary to include this benefit in their next iPhone. very likely, considering the new iPad does.

On March 26, we received news that the iPhone 5 could support a bigger screen, which would mark the first time since the iPhone’s creation that the company would increase the display. this rumor was posted some time after hearing about a rumored iPad Mini, so we couldn’t help but wonder at the time if we had run into a kind of rumor cross-fire and if the screens were for the iPad Mini, not for the next iteration of the iPhone.

The article we posted on April 5 went so far as to suggest yet another release date for the device, one that has obviously come and gone: June 15th. it seems more likely than ever that the device will hit in October as the very first article posted about the device predicted.

New touch panels made their way to the rumor roundtable on April 20, an article which hints at a lighter and brighter iPhone 5. the article detailed in-cell multitouch technology and also drove another nail into the “third quarter 2012″ release coffin.

May 10 marks the article that was dubbed the first actual “news” regarding the new device, when Apple attempted to gain control of the iPhone5.com website domain from fans. this came as important for a variety of reasons, one of which confirmed that Apple was at the very least considering the iPhone 5 name for its next device.

The larger screen rumor taunted us again on May 16, when it was confirmed that Apple was ordering larger screens. again, it’s possible that the iPad Mini could be involved, but the rumor seemed to point to the iPhone 5 as the likely beneficiary, which was all but confirmed on the very next article published on May 23, which confirmed the existence of 4.1-inch touch panels.

Rumors regarding a new chip, 1 GB RAM, and a mystery iOS application blessed our pages on May 31, all of which were regarding the iPhone 5 and were accompanied by some pretty specific details.

Quite possibly the most solid out of all the rumors, though, is the June 8th video that showed the iPhone 5′s alleged backing, which confirmed a unibody approach to the new device, along with other details.

Since WWDC the rumors regarding a bigger iPhone have spread like wildfire. Other rumors, like being able to swap out the camera lens and possibly even remove the back panel persist (odd because Apple has always shipped sealed handsets).

And the rumors will keep on coming at a much faster rate, no doubt leading up to the devices “October launch.” unless of course Apple decides to release it between July and September after all, which, to us, doesn’t seem very likely at all.

What are you looking forward to most about the iPhone 5? any rumors we haven’t listed yet? Sound off in the comments!

Stay up to date about iPhone 5. Like us on Facebook!

Apple iPhone 5 Release Date, Specs, iOS 6, and More News, Rumors « TruTower

Sprint is looking to bring in new subscribers by offering a $100 trade-in credit for those who bring in their iPhones from another carrier and purchase a new iPhone 4S with a new two-year contract, and to make the move more enticing, Sprint still offers unlimited data plans.

Sprint said the limited time offer ends July 1st, but it will be accepting any iPhone models during the duration of the offer.

Both AT&T and Verizon ended unlimited data plans on their contracts, but some mobile customers were grandfathered in. However, Verizon announced earlier this week that it would push to end all unlimited data usage for its users this summer when it rolls out new shared data plans.

The top wireless company on Thursday issued a statement clarifying that only subscribers upgrading to a subsidized handset would lose their unlimited data plans.

AT&T in March made the decision to throttle heavy data users that pass a 3GB per month threshold.

Now that Verizon and AT&T are making the move to shared data plans and tiered pricing, their customers may be more enticed by Sprint’s user-friendly plans. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has committed to continuing its unlimited data plans when the next iPhone rolls out, even if its 4G LTE.

This strategy has somewhat worked in getting Sprint new customers in recent quarters, but profitability has lagged due to the high cost of subsidizing iPhone prices. Hesse said earlier this week that Sprint wouldn’t make a profit from the iPhone until 2015, but has no regrets in signing a $15.5 billion over-four-year deal with handset maker Apple.

“We believe in the long term,” said Hesse. “And over time we will make more money on iPhone customers than we will on other customers.”

Sprint Looking To Entice New Customers With $100 iPhone Trade-In Offer

If you just get an iPhone and are not sure how to use it properly, this article is to show some very basics.

1. Turn the power on and off:

Turn on: press and hold the Power button at the top right of your iPhone until the iPhone screen starts.

Turn off: press the Power button and hold it until you see the Slide to Power off on the screen, slide the control on the screen itself to turn the power off.

2. Insert and remove a SIM card:

When you buy a new iPhone, you may find a small tool for opening the SIM card tray (which holds the SIM card) in the manual book. If you cannot find it, a stretched out paperclip or hairpin may suffice. to open the tray, push that small tool into the little hole (about 1-2 mm across and not the headphone socket) to open the SIM card. You can remove or change the SIM card without turning off your iPhone. On the iPhone models up to 3GS the tray is at the top of the phone. On the iPhone 4 and 4S models it’s on the side of the phone.

3. take a picture of your iPhone screen:

Press and hold the Home button that is a big round button at the bottom screen of your iPhone, then press the Power button until you hear a sound. Your iPhone screen’s picture will be taken and saved in the Camera roll application.

4. Check your iPhone version:

The iPhone version is like a version of Windows PC. to check your iPhone version, go to the Settings, General and About then look for the Version.

5. how to move and arrange your iPhone application icons:

Click and hold on an application icon on your iPhone screen until you see the icons shaking and some of them will show an X symbol at their top left corner. At that time, you can move the icons from place to place and from page to page by holding and icon and moving it with your finger. You can also drag an icon to the side of the page to move it on to another page. If you drag an icon over the top of another icon it will create a Folder (Group) where several icons can be grouped together (iOS 3 and above).

6. Import SIM contacts:

Go to the Settings, choose Mail, Contacts, Calendars and tap on the Import SIM Contacts near the bottom of the screen.

7. use your iPhone scientific calculator:

Normally if you tap on the Calculator on your iPhone, it will just show simple calculation. Rotate your iPhone horizontally then the simple calculator will become a scientific one.

8. Exit the program completely:

Double tap the Home button. Once you are in that multitasking screen, hold the application you want to quit. They will start to jiggle with red minus button on the upper left corner. Tap the minus sign and the application will quit.

iPhone – Quick Guide for Beginners

A recent ad by T-Mobile (below) compared the speed of the iPhone 4S on AT&T’s network with 4G speed on T-Mobile through two motorcycles. The man puttering along on an old-style commuter bike represented the iPhone 4S while the blur of a woman on a sleek sportsbike represented T-Mobile’s 4G network. is T-Mobile so much faster than AT&T that T-Mobile is a blur in comparison?

According to recent benchmarks by PC world, T-Mobile’s 4G download speeds (at 5.53 Mbps) are on average more than two times faster than AT&T’s 3G network (2.62 Mbps), which is the standard the iPhone 4S uses. while that’s not quite a “I can’t see the other guy” difference in speed, it’s considerably faster. But it’s not the fastest network AT&T offers. AT&T’s 4G network (9.12 Mbps) was found to be almost twice as fast on average as T-Mobile’s. all the ad really shows is that 4G has the potential to provide a faster internet connection than 3G.

That said, my primary internet connection this month is my last-gen iPhone 4. According to Speedtest.net, it is currently providing my tethered laptop with 5.62 Mbps in download speed, 0.85 Mbps in upload speed, and a ping of 63 ms on a rainy day in downtown Ottawa. those speeds aren’t absolutely stellar, I’m not going to be gaming with a benchmark ping of 63 ms, but I’m getting adequate browsing speed from Bell (at a few hundred kilobits a second faster than T-Mobile’s 4G average!).

Whether or not 4G networks themselves can provide you with a significantly faster browsing experience than 3G really depends on the quality of service in your area more than anything else. if you live in an area where either standard can comfortably stream Netflix over the air, the primary concern is no longer how fast you can pull data from the internet. At this point the real questions we should be asking are “how much data can I get?” and, “at what cost?”

How fast is your phone’s internet connection? let us know in the comments thread below.

T-Mobile 4G Vs iPhone 4S On AT&T, Sprint, Verizon [VIDEO]

Apple naming the latest iPad just “the new iPad” has set off a flurry of rumours about what it’ll call the next iPhone. well this could be a hint — the Cupertino company has filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organisation, seeking to gain control of the domain name iPhone5.com, Mac Rumors reports.

Previously Apple has been slower to act on knockoff websites. it didn’t gain control of iPhone4.com until almost a year after that handset launched, and iPhone4S.com didn’t become the subject of Apple’s attention until a few weeks after the 4S was announced. (In that case the site was forwarding visitors to porn sites though, so it could be a case of Apple jumping on iPhone5.com to stop anything similar happening.)

Head to iPhone5.com at the moment and all you’ll see is a series of discussions concerning the upcoming handset. it was set up in October 2010, not long after the iPhone 4 launched.

The iPad naming did cast doubts on Apple calling its next handset iPhone 5. when it refreshes its computers or iPod line, it saves new names for a completely new product, after all. and it’s likely it wants to avoid high numbers after the product name, as that would make the device seem old. Film franchises do the same, with The Final Destination, Rambo, and Rocky Balboa handily avoiding numerals which would highlight how tired the various series have become.

The latest rumours say the next iPhone will feature a 4-inch screen and new dock connector. Samsung has gone big with its rival, the Galaxy S3, slapping a 4.8-inch screen on it. but the battle for the smart phone crown is about a lot more than just size.

What would you like to see from the next iPhone? and what would you call it? let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

Apple seeks to take over iPhone5.com domain name

The Liquidmetal iPhone 5 concept might not be real, but there are some substantial next iPhone rumors surfacing today.

The Apple news site iLounge says it has heard from its own sources that the next version of Apple’s phone will have a larger 4-inch screen (the current iPhone has a 3.5-inch display), a metal back, and a new dock connector.

“the new iPhone will indeed be longer and thinner than the iPhone 4 and 4S,” iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz reports. he also says that it will have a new back; it will have a metal panel but won’t be curved as other reports have suggested.

It is also said that the new phone will use the second generation of Gorilla Glass, the durable glass that covers the current iPhone. Gorilla Glass 2 is thinner, but provides the same protection.

Lastly, iLounge reports that the phone will have a new dock connector, something that has reported previously as well. the new charging port is said to use fewer pins and be smaller.

Apple is expected to release the next iPhone in the second half of the year, perhaps in September, close to a year after the iPhone 4S was released. Apple has not said anything publicly about the next version of its iPhone. Here’s what we do know for sure: there will be a heck of a lot of iPhone 5 rumors before Apple releases the real deal.

Also, make sure to check out our best iPhone camera accessories video and post. 

iPhone 5 Report Suggests a Larger Display and New Dock Connector

When the iPhone 4S was launched in October 2011 it was the most advanced mobile handset available and as a result scores of consumers were eager to get theirs hands on one of the devices. As time passes however technology moves on and now the specification of the 4S is more comparable with a high quality mid range device rather than one of the new premium handsets that are available. As a result of this we have seen the price of the iPhone also decrease slightly over this period. We see how the model compares with the new HTC One S, one of the leading new mid range phones, for screen technology and design.

The iPhone 4S boasts a very unique design which is part of the reason why it has been so popular with consumers. the model perfectly combines two glass panels with a slim steel strip which is sandwiched in between them. When you actually handle the phone it feels very premium and part of the reason for this is that it weighs 140 grammes which is slightly heavier than many of the new models that are being released. the glass design of the phone is actually very durable which is somewhat surprising and this is thanks to Apple using Gorilla Glass in the design which is much tougher than traditional panels. the chassis design was first used on the iPhone 4 in 2010 and despite its age it still compares favourably with many new models that are being launched. the HTC One S is also a very stylish phone and one could argue that it is the best looking device that HTC have ever released. the model uses a metallic chassis which has undergone an oxidising treatment during its manufacture which gives it an impressive finish and also helps to make it more durable. the model is slightly larger than the Apple device but it does feature a larger screen so this is to be expected. the HTC handset offers a much more curved design and the appearance of the phone could almost be described as pebble like. Both of these handsets boast excellent design and while the iPhone 4S may offer the more unusual materials one could argue that the gentle curves of the One S are more aesthetically pleasing.

At its time of release the iPhone 4S had the highest quality screen available and it still remains one of the best examples of display technology on the market. the Retina display used on this phone uses LED backlit technology to produce an excellent resolution of 960 x 640 pixels. this enables the handset to display a pixel density of 326PPI. this is actually a level that exceeds what the human eye can detect and this is why the screen has been affectionately named the Retina Display. the one disadvantage with this display is that it is one of the smallest of any current smartphone at just 3.5 inches. the HTC One S uses a larger 4.3 inch Super AMOLED screen. Technically this screen is superior to the LED panel on the Apple device as it can produce more vivid colours and more natural depth. the resolution however is lower at 960 x 540 and combined with the larger display means that pixel density on this model drops to just 256 pixels per inch. Although the technology found on the One S is very impressive the screen cannot deliver the image clarity of the 4S thanks to the superb pixel density offered by the Apple phone.

Despite being one of the older phones on the market the iPhone 4S still manages to hold its own against many of the newer handsets that are being released. When compared to the HTC One X it was hard to fault either phone in terms of design but when we looked at screen performance the Apple device still offered a superior picture.

The iPhone 4S And The HTC One S – How Screen Technology And Design Differ