The new iPhone 5S is expected to be unveiled in less than two hours at Apple’s media event being hosted at the Cupertino, Calif. Town Hall auditorium. Banners resembling the media invite have been put up at the gate entrance. It shows colorful circles with Apple logo in the middle.

iPhone 5S keynote event will go live at 10:00 AM PT. This years media event theme is, “This should brighten everyone’s day.” It is widely believed that Apple will announce iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C at today’s keynote event.

According to various rumors we’ve published in the past iPhone 5S will retain the same design as the iPhone 5. The highlight features in the hardware could be new fingerprint sensor, dual-led flashlight and new A7 processor. The camera sensor is rumored to have new slow motion recording feature. A patent filing we reported on yesterday also suggested that the home button fingerprint sensor could also feature NFC for contactless financial transactions.

Apple is also expected to announce the all-new low-cost iPhone 5C model which will have a polycarbonate body with the same design and tech specs as the iPhone 5. A special media event scheduled for September 11 for Chinese media could suggest deal with China Mobile to carry iPhone 5C on its network. With over 700 million subscribers, a deal with China Mobile could prove to be a huge win for Apple.

In addition to iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, Apple will share updates on iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks release date. Are you excited about today’s event? Will you be upgrading your iPhone based on the rumors about the iPhone 5S? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

China Mobile is looking to make its mark in the LTE market, with an announcement from the company noting that it is planning a major LTE push to improve its network and implement it more broadly.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is looking to spend $7 billion in order to improve its LTE network, setting up a structure to support the iPhone 5. Currently, China Mobile’s data speeds aren’t known to be the fastest and despite the company not offering the iPhone, there are a number of devices in use on the network.

This is similar to T-Mobile USA which does not officially offer the iPhone but allows users to unlock them and operate them on its network. Although recent reports have been suggesting that China Mobile will, in fact, offer the iPhone 5, the company did come out and say that there has been “no progress” on negotiations with Apple.

While China Mobile has been in talks with Apple for years over a potential deal to offer the iPhone, Chief Executive Li Yue said that there had been “no progress” to report. In January, Mr. Xi met Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in Beijing and discussed cooperation, raising expectations that China Mobile would soon begin offering the iPhone.

China Mobile would be a key partner for Apple, which faces fierce competition from Samsung Electronics and other rivals offering smartphones powered by Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

It is unlikely that the iPhone 5 will remain off of China Mobile’s network for long, as it is common that Apple will eventually strike deals with major carriers that could potentially benefit them. China has been a major source of revenue for Apple, with the company experiencing heavy sales of its products in the region. Just last month, an analytics report suggested that iOS and Android devices were expected to hit 246 million units in the one month alone.

{Via MacRumors}

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning the release of two new iPhones this summer. Kuo claims that Apple will release iOS 7 in June, followed by the iPhone 5S and a cheaper iPhone in July, both of which are expected to have fingerprint sensors, likely something similar to the fingerprint login feature on HP computers. This means that all of Apple’s iPhone related refreshes will be done by the end of the summer and the company will have introduced new features not seen in other smartphones.

This will leave time for Apple to release an updated iPad and iPod lineup in the fall. China Mobile and Apple are also reportedly working together to hash out a deal, which would add a TDD (time-division duplexing) version of the iPhone. TDD is the current standard used by China Mobile although there are several other versions out there as well.

We expect Apple will introduce its new iPhones and iOS7 in June, and start shipping the new iPhones (5S and low-cost model) in the FDD version in July. Both dates are earlier than last year’s roadmap. We attribute this to: (1) an effort to avoid repeating the fatal mistake of last year of the delayed iPhone 5 launch, which gave competitors room to grab market share; and (2) the new iPhones this year are mainly designed on the basis of the current iPhone 5, which suggests development time could be reduced.

Kuo also notes in his research report that both the cheaper iPhone and the iPhone 5S will have the ability to run LTE. This is not surprising when considering that Apple is looking to move away from 3G, moving its iPad lineup into LTE territory in recent months.

[W]e expect the product differentiation between iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 will be: (1) computing power, with iPhone 5S to run on the faster A7 application processor; (2) the camera, with iPhone 5S being equipped with Smart Flash, ensuring photo quality using white or yellow flash according to lighting conditions; (3) iPhone 5S will have a fingerprint chip under the Home button, improving security and usability; and (4) the low-cost iPhone 5 hybrid casing of fiberglass and plastic will make it lighter and slimmer than general plastic casing and easier to make in various colors. However, we still think it will be heavier than iPhone 5S, which will have an aluminum casing. Thus, even form factor will be an area of differentiation.

Kuo has a solid track record, having accurately reported on a number of Apple product releases and refreshes. His claims about a TDD iPhone and China Mobile are likely based on previous reports, considering that major sources such as WSJ and Bloomberg have also reported that this is likely.

{Via MacRumors}

Earlier today, a report from CapitalVue reported that Apple and China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier have struck a deal to bring the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 onto their network. China Mobile reigns supreme above other carriers in the world, such as AT&T, Verizon with a whopping 600 million customers.

A Chinese language site, ccidcom.com picked up the story and mentioned that the story came directly from Associated Press although that claim was not proven. If this claim turns out to be true, the iPhone 4 will be on China Mobile’s networks by October and will likely receive LTE 4G with the introduction of the iPhone 5.

China Mobile’s network currently operate on a TD-LTE standard. China Mobile could help the iPhone grow in the smartphone market. Apple COO Tim Cook was spotted at China Mobile headquarters last June, supporting the idea that a deal was in the works at the time. It has now been reported that the deals are finalized and the iPhone will indeed be arriving on China Mobile’s networks.

This seems to be a deal very similiar to the deal struck between Apple and Verizon, where AT&T was the only network offered until the iPhone 4. The same can be seen for China Mobile, which is very popular and sought after; the iPhone could recieve a greater market share by adding China Mobile to it’s carrier chain in China.

Currently, Apple only operates in China under the network of China Unicom but multiple networks in one country could definitely grow Apple’s smartphone market share.

{via MacRumors}

The subject being discussed today is the market share of Apple’s iPhone vs the myriad of smart phones running Android. When those figures are examined we have Apple losing 1.3% of US market-share in the three months ending in July. Over the same period, according to ComScore, the number of smartphones running Android grew by 5%. Some say that in as little as a year and a half Android will have overtaken the iPhone in the marketplace. That may be so, but it is not really a fair head to head comparison that is valid whilst the iPhone 4 is still being clamoured for on networks where people’s only option is an Android based device!

The main problem Apple faces is simply that is has not put the iPhone on enough big carriers, as we all know. Android is actually only available on 59 carriers world-wide, as opposed to 154 for the iPhone. But of the 59 carriers that Android is on there are both cut price Android phone models being sold as lost leaders, and some of the largest wireless carriers with the most consumers; Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) Germany, NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) and China Mobile.

Apple are surely aware of this, and the recent reports that you’ve read here about the possibility of an iPhone expansion to Verizon or T-Mobile seem to be something Apple needs to consider more urgently to keep its advantage over Android.

Apple’s rumored recent deal with Qualcomm seems to be an indicator of a step in that direction. And all adds up to at least some new North American networks in the iPhone 4’s not too distant future…

Still waiting for an iPhone on your preferred network? Or given up and gone Android? Let us know in the comments…

Application Stores are to mobile phones what social network web sites are to the internet; everybody has one these days but only a minority of them are good. The strengths of the iPhone App Store are threefold. One, Apple was the first to have one. They created the notion of small, highly specialized applications easily accessible for little or no money. The mind share captured by being the first in line is unmeasurable. Everyone else that opens one seems to simply be tapping into a “me too” mentality that causes people to largely discount them.

Second, the App Store is backed up by quality, well engineered hardware. The implication of an application store unified among all of these providers is that they’ll try to create one that fits all their phones; some good, some bad. The iPhone is a single, quality platform that gives developers a single line of expectation to develop from. Can you imagine trying to create an application that has to support 20 different platforms?

Lastly, for better or worse, the iPhone App Store is run by a single entity with complete control over the process. Will all of these providers acquiesce to a single authority for any approvals process? What happens when one company decides they like something and another doesn’t? People may gripe about Apple’s tight grip on the App Store but it’s that tight grip that keeps things moving. There is no death by committee attitude at Apple.

It will be interesting to see how this new initiative fairs in the next 12 months. Will it flourish through cooperation or languish because of recrimination? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

By: Erin Peterson