Apple is expected to hold an important event that will soon unveil its new iPhone 5S on September 10. Japan's Nikkei said sales of the device will begin September 20 in that country.
Then Chinese newspapers chimed in with a release date there of late November, due to China's verification process.
Here's what we've heard about prominent specs. First for the camera, probably the most important feature for the consumer is a better lens system for the camera.
The latest speculation on the camera claims it will get a larger f/2.0 aperture that would match the HTC One with dual LED flash.
If accurate, that aperture would be significantly larger than the iPhone 5 that way it is now. That means more light gets through, improving image quality and low-light performance.
Then there's the fingerprint scanner/reader in the home button. That technology is likely coming from AuthenTec, a fingerprint sensor technology company that Apple acquired last year.
The larger point is that the iPhone 5S' mainstream biometric technology, improving electronic payments and making it easier to get music and sensitive data from the Cloud.
Then, a 128 GB flash storage option is the freshest speculation. That seems like an overkill for most consumers but then again 16 GB seemed like a lot when the iPhone 3G came out, remember?
An updated A7 processor is also expected. If you recall, the iPhone 4S got the new A5 processor when it was released in October 2011.
The new iPhone 5S is also expected to feature new 3G/4G standard support. Versions of the 5S (and the 5C) may support China's 4G TDD-LTE standard.
That could mean a huge boost in market penetration in China and global market share for Apple. That support may also include China's TD-SCDMA at this point in time.
It's almost needless to say that there may be a gold iPhone 5S along with the standard black and white versions. The important point to remember is that it most likely won't be a garish gold but a more subtle champagne color.
Of course, we're speculating a lot here, but then again, there's been so many rumors whirling around of the iPhone 5S that it's getting harder and harder to separate hype from reality until the device is officially launched to the world.
In other mobile news
Google just scooped up a whole slew of patents from Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer otherwise known as Foxconn.
The decision is designed most likely to bolster Google's Glass headsets against potential competitors. In a statement obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Hon Hai described the patents sold as "Head Mounted Technology" that can create virtual images "superimposed on a real-world view."
No further details were revealed, and the price of the sale wasn't disclosed either. Hon Hai said that it doesn't know whether Google plans to use the patents for Glass, adding that the patents are "commonly used in aviation and tactical/ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming and video devices as well as training and simulation tools."
If protecting Glass is the goal and it seems likely, this wouldn't be the first time Google has tried to shore up its portfolio of wearable-computing technology.
Just last month, the company acquired a 6.3 percent stake in Taiwanese chip designer Himax Display, which produces components for Sergey Brin's high-tech headsets.
Similarly, Foxconn is widely believed to be the frontrunner to build Glass for Google – possibly in a new, stateside facility in Santa Clara, California – but Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou has dismissed such reports as "speculative."
Google buying up Foxconn's patents could strengthen the relationship between the two companies, but it could also make it easier for Google to take Glass to any number of other manufacturing partners without being stung by intellectual property issues.
But most importantly, the patents could also be used to swat away would-be Glass competitors. Chinese search firm Baidu is reportedly planning to horn in on Google's action, as is Meta, a startup founded by Columbia University neuroscience researchers that has recruited Canadian wearable-computing guru Steve Mann to help develop a commercial augmented-reality headset.
Or the move could be purely defensive. Glass is currently only available in a limited "Explorer Edition" intended for developers and wearable-computing enthusiasts, but Google is expected to release a version for the general public sometime next year.
By building its wearable-computing patent war chest now, Google may be hoping to avoid the seemingly never-ending patent battles that have plagued its Android business. Google didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.
In other mobile news
It's reported today that ZTE and Huawei have scooped up about 50 percent of the $3.2 billion worth of the infrastructure contracts to build China Mobile's TD-LTE network.
Ericsson and Nokia Siemens each landed about an 11 percent share of the project, while Alcatel-Lucent secured a 13 percent share of the project.
Datang Mobile Communications was also awarded a contract that accounted for about 10 percent of the total value of the project. The remaining 10 percent was split between three Chinese companies-- FiberHouse Technologies, Nanjing Putian Telecommunications, and New Postcom Equipment.
In all, China Mobile hopes to deploy a little over 200,000 base stations in 2013. Infrastructure vendors have been awaiting China Mobile's new contracts, as spending on networking equipment has slowed recently due to the fact that projects in the U.S., Japan and Britain have largely been settled.
News of the contracts comes as China Mobile and Apple are reportedly nearing a deal for the wireless carrier to offer its customers a new iPhone. Up until now, Apple hasn't supported TD-LTE technology in its phones, but it looks like that's about to change soon.
China Mobile's approximate 740.1 million subcribers make it the largest wireless carrier in the world and represents a considerable growth opportunity for Apple, as well as the infrastructure providers and equipment vendors.
In other mobile news
AT&T is flying high these days, with a new partnership with Delta Air Lines, and it's taking Nokia's new Lumia smartphones along for the trip to 42,000 feet up in the air. And things should look good for both companies, it is hoped.
Delta Air Lines has signed a multi-year agreement with AT&T for custom mobility services, devices and support for Delta’s new, in-flight, mobile point-of-sale (POS) application, according to a press release.
Under the specific terms of the agreement, AT&T will equip more than 19,000 Delta flight attendants with Nokia Lumia devices powered by Microsoft Dynamics mobile POS platform on Windows Phone 8, with a Delta-specific customer experience developed by Avanade to operate over Wi-Fi and AT&T’s 4G LTE Network.
Sounds too good to be true? We'll have to wait and see. Avanade will provide Delta with ongoing support, maintenance, and application enhancements until mid-2016.
The devices will allow Delta flight attendants to sell food, drinks and other items to air passengers, as well as seat upgrades and other goods.
AT&T said it will be equipping Delta Air Lines' flight attendants with Nokia Lumia 820 devices, but the company says the agreement will see the airline's crew expanding to the newest Nokia devices over the next three years.
In other mobile news
It is said that London's Oxford street has Europe's largest concentration of Wi-Fi hot-spots. Almost 24 percent of them are openly accessible to the public.
That's according to a new report that also places Britain behind the United States in terms of free wireless connectivity.
Across the U.S., about 32 percent of Wi-Fi access points offer free web browsing to anyone who wants it, compared to only 16 percent of those in Europe.
Britain falls between the two countries at 24 percent, but the trend towards giving away free internet access risks undermining attempts to make users pay for it.
The numbers come from Devicescape, which has been busy war-walking European cities as a prelude to launching an international version of its Wi-Fi leaching technology.
Devices with the Devicescape software installed automatically connect to any free Wi-Fi point offering decent speed, bypassing the pesky landing page to provide instant access, but only if such access points exist in the first place.
Free Wi-Fi connectivity is spreading rapidly in Britain, even if some users are billed for it. For example, AT&T customers are grateful to be able to roam onto The Cloud in the U.K., totally unaware that almost all The Cloud's hotspots are free to use these days and thus fall into Devicescape's database.
Devicescape makes much of its crowd-sourcing connections result in a point being dropped from its database, which is built automatically when a user finds a decent free connection, though it needs seeding first which is why the company has been war-walking around Europe.
Mobile operators are keen to use Wi-Fi, but anyone who's tried to get a BT Openzone connection working with Vodafone credentials will know how cumbersome the process can be.
The instant-connection standard Passpoint should make that much easier, but access points aren't expected until next year even if Apple's iOS 7 supports it now, and even then it's unlikely small retailers will get involved.
Passpoint will let one roam seamless into a Wi-Fi network, but it will also let one's operator bill the user for Wi-Fi usage (presumably at a discounted rate) and thus financially reward the hotspot owner.
Wi-Fi providers will be keen, but Devicescape reckons Passpoint will only appeal to the big chains while its network links up every coffee shop and corner store-- eleven million of them in the U.S. alone.
Passpoint also identifies the user, so the wireless operator can provide value-added services such as additional content without having to resort to a cellular connection, but that's of unknown value for the moment at least.
Devicescape will be announcing the successful seduction of a U.K. operator in the next week or two, providing a launch platform, while Passpoint is at least a year away from wide-scale deployment.
Technically speaking, the solutions can happily co-exist, but with such divergent business models, it's difficult to see users embracing both.
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