Apple has finally announced a date for their iPhone Conference – and it’s tomorrow!

Although Apple usually reserves the fall for it’s iPod/Music event, this year they have pushed back their iPhone event in it’s place. This is the longest the iPhone has gone with out a refresh since it’s launch.

As with every Apple event there are copious rumours and speculation from every corner of the internet. But no one really seems to know what’s going on this year; Last year it was pretty obvious what was happening thanks to Gizmodo’s debauchery.

Yeah Yeah Yeah, just give it to me straight.

The Hardware

Probably the most important aspect to any new iPhone release and the most solid information we have: A5 Processor, 1GB Ram, 16GB, 32GB and potentially a 64GB version in the works. The A5 Processor can currently be found in the iPad as a dual-core system on chip and will give a significant boost to speed and graphics. And an improved 8MP camera, There’s a few other hardware rumours that i’ll cover in the design section.

The Software

iOS 5 has been in beta since WWDC 2011, I’ve been using the beta’s and can not believe how stable it’s been right from the beginning. The extensive list of update and improvements can be found on the Apple website. I’m going to go through my favourite new features.

Notification Centre

The new notification system works like a charm, gone are the intrusive blue boxes, and welcome to the slick animation at the top of the screen (the blue boxes are still available if you’d prefer, and you can choose your preference by app).

Slide down from the top of the screen and you access the Notification Centre, here you can view all notifications you’ve received, as well weather and stock widgets. It’s a feature that’s been present on android devices for a long time and something I could not be without now i’ve used it.

 

Wi-Fi Syncing

Gone are the cables, with iOS you no longer need to connect your iDevice to a PC to sync music, apps, or to backup – and you can even use your phone whilst syncing.

And it couldn’t be simpler to use, It’s extremely satisfying to hit the sync button whilst your phone is in your pocket and forget about it.

Lock Screen Camera and Dedicated Camera Button

The best camera is often the one you have with you. Apple has now made it even easier for you to access the camera app. Double tap the home button and up pops the familiar music controls and the all new camera button. Bt that’s not all, you can now take a photo using the + Volume button (controversial really.)

Twitter Integration

One of the biggest surprises from the iOS keynote is the Twitter Integration. I’ve used it many times to post pictures to twitter (although I do prefer Instagram) and few links through Safari. It will be interesting to see how deep this integration goes.

This is a nice segue to the flying rumours of Facebook Integration. Facebook and Apple have had a shaky relationship over the past few years. But the current rumours of Facebook announcing their dedicated iPad app tomorrow is something that begs the question of deeper integration.

 

 

iCloud

I’ve been using Apple’s cloud based storage to back up my device and distribute data between my Mac and iPhone since the beta’s

have been released. It’s reliable (no problem backing up) and easy to use, I’ve used it to restore my iPhone with no issues.

What i’m really looking forward to is how developers will use it to sync apps across devices, hopefully that will come with the release of iOS 5.

Voice commands

I’ve used my iPhone in my car since A2DP bluetooth has been enabled in iOS 3, and with my stereo I can even push a button and tell my iPhone to call someone or play music by a certain artist (which is just amazing). But new rumours suggest Apple are going even further with this creating a complete digital assistant.

Imagine being able to ask your phone to create a restaurant reservation, or compose a tweet or text message. It could be bring a complete revolution to the way we do things.

See Mac rumors video mock up to get a better idea of the system.

The Design

This is the probably the most conflicting of all Apple rumours. There have been three rumoured iPhones this time around.

A “Cheap” iPhone 4 with a plastic backside, A4 processor 8GB hard drive (possibly smaller) and same old 5MP camera – to replace the ageing 3GS and tackle the budget phone market.

The iPhone 4S, with the updated specs outlined above with the same design as the iPhone 4. This seems the most likely, we’ve seen evidence of the iPhone 4 with new internals (battery and processor) circulated around the internet.

And the Fabled iPhone 5. With a brand new tapered design, aluminium back, 4” screen, NFC enabled and possibly a redesigned “touch enabled” home button. The evidence for this new design is leaks from case makers, we’ve not seen one blurry cam shot of the new design, in fact we have been so desperate to see the new design, Mac Rumors went ahead and got a professional to mock up images based on the leaked case specs.

There has been increasing evidence pointing to only one iPhone being released tomorrow and it’s looking increasingly likely to be the iPhone 4S. I know fans (including myself) will be disappointed if this is true, but really the new processor and the inclusion of a voice assistant will be more than a worthy upgrade.

I think Apple will keep the iPhone 3GS as a low cost model, iPhone 4 for mid range, and iPhone 4S as the normal, High end, model.

To Sum it up

One thing we can be sure about tomorrow is there will be an iPhone announcement of some sort.

Likely to see:

• High (4S), Mid (4), and low (3GS) priced iPhones
• Updated iPod touches (with a white variant)
• Review of iOS 5 features
• iOS release date
• iCloud release and price points
• Facebook iPad app

What we might see:

• The Death of the iPod Classic
• Facebook Integration with iOS 5
• iPhone 5
• Voice assistant in iOS (hopefully not restricted to the new hardware!)
• Steve Jobs
• Widgets for Notification Centre

What do you think we’ll be seeing from Apple tomorrow?