Case-Mate published a page today featuring iPhone 5 case designs and pulled it just shortly after. If the case designs are the real deal we may be seeing an overhauled design for the iPhone 5 after all.

Case-Mate recently claimed to have inside info regarding the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S. (Which we are still a bit skeptical about.) As we get closer to an announcement we typically see a lot of case leaks but they don’t typically come from a manufacturer as reputable as Case-Mate.

I’m personally hoping these cases are legit as the iPhone inside the case appears to be a drastic change in design and form factor. It appears to be similar to the iPad 2. Real, fake, or really fake?

BGR

Boy Genius Report is claiming that the upcoming iOS 4.3.2 update should fix some of the connection woes Verizon iPad 2 users have been experiencing. The Verizon iPad 2 models seemed to be the only models affected. A dependable source has told BGR that the update should be available within the next week or so. It should also address a few WebKit vulnerabilities as well as a fix for some FaceTime issues certain users were having.

Hopefully this update will fix some extremely frustrating problems. Any of you Verizon iPad owners having 3G connectivity issues? Anyone having those FaceTime issues? How bad are they?

Boy Genius Report

BGR scored a huge round of iPad app screenshots and a look at the on-device iPad App Store CoverFlow (above).

There also seems to be a shot of what iPhone apps look like in the iPad App Store, including a camera-based app? (Spotted by Boxcar’s @jdg)

UPDATE: MacStories (via 9to5Mac) has posted a video showing what it’s like to browse the App Store on the iPad simulator. Embedded after the break!

Browsing the iPad App Store: A Video from Federico Viticci on Vimeo.

The Boy Genius brings the iPhone 4.0 hype with some leaks about Apple’s next-generation iPhone OS — confirming some of what we’ve heard before with some new tidbits to light our imaginations:

• Global multitouch gestures, leveraged from similar iTablet OS
• Background apps/Multitasking
• UI enhanced for easier, more efficient navigation
• iPhone 3G/3GS only (and presumable 4th gen iPhone later in June)
• Will put iPhone way ahead of smartphone market, more like “full-fledged computer”
• Apple people “really excited”
• New but nebulous syncing for contacts and calendars

As with anything, especially Apple-related anything, we’ll never know for 100% certain until Steve, Phil, or Scott hold it up on stage at “Come see our latest creation” but, yeah, we can’t wait for next Wednesday either…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The Boy Genius claims, based on info from a source who’s proven reliable before, that we haven’t gotten an iPhone OS update recently (oh, hai still missing iPhone 3.2!) because:

there’s too much tablet-related code/references in the OS and Apple obviously didn’t want that to leak.

He’s also heard that multitouch gestures for the iTablet/iSlate are “out of control”, it’s got a super-fast ARM processor that runs the iPhone OS kernel, is model K48AP, and is pretty much an “iPhone on steroids”.

If this pans out, being so closely linked to the iPhone will no doubt disappoint Mac OS X tablet enthusiasts, but benefit the iPhone in terms of leveraged development and shared features.

Either way, we can still only expect it when we see it…

BGR, citing sources of the shinobi-kind, has posted a couple of screen captures showing the Settings for the digital Compass enabled via debug menus in iPhone 3.0 Beta 5.

We’d heard rumors of a digital compass being included in the next generation iPhone — widely speculated for a WWDC 2009 introduction this coming June — but it’s nice to actually see some confirmation.

Google Maps integration is a no-brainer, but could Apple figure out more ways to leverage this? Could 3rd-part developers?

So yesterday we linked to Zach Epstein’s story over at BGR, the one about an internal Rogers briefing call that claimed Vancouver would be enjoying some 4G LTE at 50Mbps+ just in time for the Winter Olympics.

Rogers contacted us almost immediately to say the story was inaccurate and the call never happened, and we contacted Zach who was gracious enough to get back to us, reaffirming the story. Now the BGR has kicked it up another notch, posting audio from the supposed call online.

Real? Fake? A “leak it so we sound innovative but deny it so if it doesn’t launch we had coverage” tactic? Take a listen to the recording and tell us what you think…

There are no demos available in the App Store, we know this. No try before you buy, no download now, pay later. According to Erica Sadun at Ars Technica, even mentioning demo in your verbiage, like beta, will get you a swift kick in the rejection button. Free “Lite” versions are the only way to go.

Zach Epstein over on the Boy Genius Report wonders out loud why Apple, in its infinite usability, can’t create a mechanism where Apps get downloaded free, and then expire after a short period of time unless you decide to buy and keep them.

So, does Apple really not know how to handle App Store demos yet? Or do they suspect, as TiPb does, f that demos would kill the $0.99 novelty App (and CrApp) impulse-buy business dead? After all, how many would really not tire of the gags before the demo period expired?

I’ll fess up that the Lil John “YEAH!” “OKAY!” “WHAT!” travesty App would never have eaten my $0.99 had there been a demo! What percentage of Apps you’ve bought, do you think having had a demo period wouldn’t have made sure you didn’t buy instead?