iPhone 5 event rumors pump eBay smartphone trade-ins

iPhone 4s lined up at an Apple Store when the product launched in 2010.

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Multiple reports that Apple will hold a special event to unveil its next iPhone have resulted in a noticeable boost in people trading in their old devices, eBay said today.

According to the online sales site, submissions to its trade-in program increased 70 percent in the past three days, when compared with the same period the week before.

The company says that during that span "nearly" 100,000 smartphones were offered up for trade-in by people using the company's Instant Sale program. Among the Apple phones that people offered to trade-in, eBay says the 16GB model of the iPhone 4S tops the list, followed by the 8GB iPhone 4 and 32GB iPhone 4S.

How does this compare with when an Apple device is actually announced? According tostatistics from last year, eBay got 375,000 trade-in offers for smartphones from October 4 to 6 -- the 4th being the day the iPhone 4S was announced. Of that bunch, 89 percent of the devices were iPhones.

The Apple event rumor stemmed from a report by tech blog iMore, which said Apple will hold it on Wednesday, September 12, to unveil its next-generation iPhone model, which would subsequently go on sale Friday, September 21. Extra outlets, including The New York Times, All Things D, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Loop, and The Verge, added on with their own confirmations.

eBay is just one of a few places where people tend to sell off their old gadgets when new versions are expected. There are also trade-in sites like Gazelle, NextWorth, and BuyMyTronics, along with trade-in programs from Apple itself, as well as from retailers like RadioShack. eBay, for its part, says it has racked up more than 10 million "trade-in offers" since it launched its program in October 2010.

iPhone 5 sales to hit 170 million over next year, predicts analyst

(Credit: Apple)

Out of 200 million iPhones sold over the next year, the iPhone 5 could account for 170 million of them.

At least, that's the number predicted by Asymco analyst Horace Dediu.

Generating one of his usual market analyses, Dediu is eyeing total iPhone sales of 200 million over the next 12 months. And based on past sales, the iPhone 5 will capture around 85 percentof those.

To arrive at his figures, the analyst quoted Apple's own marketing chief Phil Schiller. Testifying at the ongoing Apple v. Samsung trial, Schiller explained the company's iPhone sales projections as such:

"Each new generation sold approximately equal to all previous generations combined."

The iPhone 4 beat all three of its predecessors and the 4S is about half way to surpassing the first four models in sales. Assuming the 4S stays alive at least another year, it will handily outshine the other models before its retirement.Charting out those projections, Dediu found that the iPhone 3G outsold the original by four times and the 3GS outsold both the 3G and the original iPhone by a factor of 1.6.

Looking beyond the next year, the analyst believes the iPhone 5 could rack up more than 200 million in sales over its lifetime, meaning the next two years. Depending on how Apple's strategy, the iPhone's penetration, and other factors play out, the iPhone 5 may even see sales as high as 250 million.

Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone sometime next month, with the latest reports pegging September 12 as the date for the company's annual launch event.

Samsung tries to get Apple to talk iPhone 5

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- There's been no shortage of once-confidential Apple information spilling out recently, ahead of the Apple v. Samsung patent trial here. But with the proceedings in full swing, today could have brought the biggest revelation of all.

During the cross-examination of Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, Samsung's attorney tried to get the executive to talk about a product that hasn't been announced yet.

In an attempt to get Schiller talking about design, Samsung attorney William Price asked Schiller whether Apple's next iPhone model would look anything like existing versions, or if changes were in store.

Apple's legal team jumped up to object the question immediately, telling U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh that an answer would be divulging confidential information. After a brief pause, Koh overruled, saying she would let Price ask the question.

Schiller, looking nervous, sought confirmation from Price of what had just been asked of him. Then he said, "I prefer not to tell confidential information about future products."The courtroom went dead silent.

Price didn't press for more.

Apple is expected to roll out a new version of the iPhone next month, per numerous rumors. That event is rumored to take place on September 12, by which time this trial will presumably be wrapped up.

iPhone 5 Rumors Persist: New Dock Connector, Thinner Design

The iPhone 5 rumors are starting to sync, providing a  basic outline of what Apple’s next phone might look like.

While it has been previously reported that the new iPhone (or what many assume will be called the iPhone 5) will have a new, smaller dock connector,Reuters is now corroborating these rumors.

The next iPhone will come with a 19-pin connector rather than the 30-pin port on the current iPhone and iPad  ”to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom,” two Reuters sources who are “familiar with the matter” said.

Apple has recently moved to a new dock connector on the MacBook Pro with Retina Display and sells an accessory so the new charging port is compatible with older chargers.

The move to use a new dock or charging port would save some space and may also  allow the phone to be thinner.

Which brings us to another rumor. Last week The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple will use  a new type of thinner screen that will integrate the touchscreen right into the LCD.

In iOS 6 will not be supported by a standard client for YouTube

A few days ago, Apple introduced the fourth is "beta» iOS 6, which is available for developers. This release differs important feature - the lack of customer YouTube, which is always accompanied to the "apple" operating system.

This fact could be attributed to an error of developers, but not this time. In the coming iOS 6 is really no longer be referred to the traditional client video service. This fact was confirmed by officials of Apple, as well as to Google.

This situation is due to the expiration of the license to use YouTube in the gadget from Apple. The company did not renew the agreement with Google, and hopes that users will go to the video network via web browser Safari. It is also noted that Google's developers have already engaged in the development of special applications for iOS, which will simplify the interaction iOS 6 and YouTube.

It is noteworthy that in later versions of iOS standard application will remain available. In general, according to the representatives of both companies, customers will benefit from this situation, having a more functional application to work with "YouTube".