Thank you all for entering into my Back-to-School Bamboo iPhone case giveaway! I could give this long speech, but let's cut to the point!

And the winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway Kevin, I will contact you early this week to arrange shipping.
Like I said before, this was the first giveaway that I did on my blog. I really enjoyed talking to people when they entered and meeting new followers as they found out about the giveaway. I had fun! I'll definitely have to do something again like this soon... Stay tuned!

Image: Mashable

Yesterday was, what was known as, the iPhone 5 Keynote at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. However, in addition to the iPhone 5, Apple also unveiled new iPods, a revamped iTunes and brand-new earphones, called EarPods that will ship with every Apple portable product.

I could write this lenghty piece about everything that happened yesterday, however Mashable did a fantastic job of live-blogging the entire day--complete with quotes, pictures, polls, and more--so why reinvent the wheel! It was great to follow along with yesterday while I was at work but if you're not trying to watch the extremely long keynote then scrolling through the live blog would be a great resource.

But if you want to spend a few hours watching it then more power to you! Apple posted a recording of the September 2012 Keynote, it can be viewed in its entirety here.

What did you think about the announcements? Did the event live up to the hype? I was expecting more of a wow factor with the iPhone 5 but I was pleasantly surprised with the updates to the iPods. I'm curious what everyone else thought!

It's time for us die-hard T-Mo customers to face the music and move on if we ever dream about owning a fully functional iPhone. According to this leaked T-Mobile employee training memo, it looks as though the phone carrier will not be graced with the new iPhone 5.


T-Mobile is training its employees to "sell against the iPhone" with special emphasis on the date of September 21, which has been the rumored release date of the long-awaited iPhone 5 (does T-Mo have inside information or are they just speculating like the rest of us?). This doesn't actually come as a surprise to any one, however those of us who have still stuck with T-Mobile were hoping for a miracle.

For quite some time now T-Mobile has offered its customers the ability to use an unlocked iPhone and it looks as though they will continue to provide the microSIM cards needed to support T-Mo service according to TmoNews.

Is the effort to compete against the iPhone a little too late? Shouldn't T-Mobile focus on what they CAN offer their customers rather than what they CAN'T? No one is going to go into a T-Mobile store wanting an iPhone and expecting someone to sway them in another direction... especially on the day of the (expected) launch of the iPhone 5. T-Mobile has some great phones and (I can't believe I'm saying this) there are other great phones besides the iPhone, so why are they so hung up on this one?

I do have to admit that I have been using a factory unlocked iPhone 4 for over a year on the T-Mobile network and I am less than satisfied. Despite not being able to send picture text messages to anyone that doesn't have an iPhone, not having visual voicemail, and only being able to access the 2G network, I am still the happiest I have ever been with T-Mobile in the 8 years I've had service with them. It's this realization that has lead me to believe that is was not T-Mobile that caused me to fight with them weekly over the entire duration of my contract, it was the phones that caused me to be unhappy.

I went to T-Mobile 8 years ago to live out the Sidekick dream, I moved from one crappy SK model to the next, until some T-Mo rep in shining armor told me about a wondrous land called Android where I could run free with a cute little green fellow to lead the way. I tried several models and was still unhappy. Androids are great, I just don't have the patience for them. My life is complicated enough and I just wanted something simple. Straight forward. At any cost!. I'd loathed iPhone users out of pure envy until I finally realized I could have one too!

I am waiting for my contract with T-Mobile to expire so I can move on to greener pastures... pastures that include the highly anticipated iPhone 5. I thought there might be a chance they were able to get a deal with Apple for the new device, however this training memo crushes any hope of that. I'm thankful T-Mobile has been so accommodating to those of us who have iPhones on their network now but it's time to live the dream.

What new features are you expecting to see in this new iPhone model? Let me know in the comments...

Other posts on this blog about the iPhone 5:

• Rumors & Concepts Roundup (May 2012)
• New iPhone Concepts (June 2012)

As the long-anticipated announcement for the iPhone 5 on September 12 nears, the rumor mill is working over-time. And although I love hearing about all the thinner screens and missing buttons, I rather see the concepts creative geniuses all over the world are coming up with.

These design concepts are so beautiful and functional, I can't help but hope that one day I might own one.

Spider-Like iPhone

Edge-to-Edge Screen


iPhone Pro


Although these contenders are beautiful, it looks like this one might be the top contender:


What do you think? Which are you looking forward to?

Today Apple announced the time, date, and location for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference.


This year WWDC will run from June 11 to June 15 in San Francisco, with the all-important keynote taking place on June 11 at 10:00am PT. Historically WWDC is known for the announcement of iOS and OS X software updates but it is also known for the dramatic unveiling of Apple hardware products.

Some of the more noteworthy previous Apple announcements made at WWDC:

• 2003: iLife
• 2005: Intel Transition
• 2006: Mac Pro
• 2008: App Store
• 2009: Unibody Macbook
• 2010: iPhone 4

Although nothing is official yet and everything is purely speculation, here are a list of all my favorite iPhone 5 rumors and concepts:

A better camera, bigger screen, and sans home button (via unwir3d)

Metal back made of a lightweight metal, possibly aluminum, there have also been rumors of Liquidmetal, a futuristic substance that’s as easy to mold, lightweight like plastic, but as strong as aluminum (via DMA Central).

Tear drop shape? An already thinner iPhone will taper as it nears the bottom (via digitaltrends).

iPhone 5 shaped like the Magic Mouse (via CiccareseDesign)

A clear iPhone? Possibly...

Other rumors include:

• Redesigned look - As the concept images above say, we're guaranteed a redesigned look for the newest iPhone model.
• Larger screen - This one is almost guaranteed, along with an edge to edge screen. The common rumor is that we should see a increase to a 4 inch screen.
• Near-field communication (NFC) - This technology has been rumored for some time now. It would allow users to make payments iwth their handset just like they do now with credit cards. Some Androids already have NFC but NFC adoption is still low and could be years away from gaining in popularity. Would Apple waste their time with this? Or could it be Apple that will bring NFC to the mainstream?
• 4G connectivity - Another long-standing rumor. But who knows? In the past, Apple has been slow to connectivity changes. Afterall, Apple did wait a full year to jump on the 3G bandwagon. There's a greater possibility Apple will wait until carriers have opened more 4G networks.
• Liquidmetal - Several rumors state that several components of the iPhone 5 will be made out of a super-strong metal alloy called Liquidmetal that are extremely lightweight.
• Additional carriers - iPhones have been about exclusivity but will they branch out to include other carries? Perhaps Tmobile due to its large 4G network?

What other rumors have you heard? Which are your favorites? And which can't you live without?