Rumor Mill

Short and sweet: Someone "found" a disguised iPhone that's newer than whats currently out there. This is Gizmodo's look at it (condensed part for those behind a firewall)

http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone »

While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of the final phone, it's clear that the features in this lost-and-found next-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically different from what came before. Here's the detailed list of our findings:

What's new

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What's changed

• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

The fact that Gizmodo hasn't been sued yet makes it suspicious that this phone was actually "lost" (hello AstroTurf)... but it does seem like an honest chance at the next phone (Although still... rumors and speculation... and still chance of being a fake or decoy)

Nothing here that makes me pine to stay with Apple and not switch to Android.

Front facing camera? Meh.
Camera flash? Meh.
Faster proc, bigger hard drive, better screen? Gee, big surprise...
Noise cancellation? Meh as well. only thing I didn't expect, and while nice not exactly something to get wet over.

Another solid phone, that the Apple faithful will flock behind.

Me? If this is the next iPhone... I'll be using Android this fall.

Only other thing... is I *REALLY* hope AT&T's full line of Android phones isn't like the Backflip (Yahoo Android? yeah... f-you)... otherwise I'm going to have to either switch for the Evo or plunk down scratch for N2 this fall.