In the picture, we can see the China Mobile 3G logo in the upper right corner. The third number down, which is partially blacked out, is part of the serial number. The third digit, a 0, suggests the phone was made in 2010. The next digit, which appears to be a 5, would have the phone manufactured towards the end of that year, in either the 50th, 51st or 52nd week.

Additionally, the carrier name in the top left corner appears to be China Mobile, written in Chinese text. None of this is conclusive, but it does suggest a China Mobile compatible iPhone is coming to CM’s 3G network sooner rather than later.

Last month, Apple COO Tim Cook was reportedly spotted at China Mobile headquarters. Apple and China Mobile have been known to be working hand-in-hand to ensure future iPhones will work on China Mobile’s upcoming 4G TD-LTE network.

China Mobile is a strategic partner for Apple. It has a 70% market share in the world’s most populous country with more than 600 million subscribers. In November of last year, China Mobile began assisting customers who wished to use the iPhone 4 on their network, including in-store assistance cutting its full-size SIM cards down to micro-SIM size.

Update: As noted by the Shanghai Daily, China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou today reported that the carrier already had 5.6 million iPhone users on its 2G network as of the end of May, with 700,000 of those having been added during that month alone.

In a note issued early Monday, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore is telling clients to expect both — an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S.

“With Nokia and RIMM struggling,” he writes, “the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (i.e. $300-500 category) to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share.”

As Whitmore sees it, an iPhone 4S that is unlocked, priced around $349, and comes with a pre-paid voice plan would “drive significantly greater penetration” into an addressable market that has grown to include 1.5 billion potential customers in 98 countries, two thirds of whom prefer pre-paid plans.

Whitmore notes that while the market for prepaid smartphones is very small in the U.S., many other markets around the world have much higher levels of prepaid activity, and a cheaper iPhone would significantly lower the barrier to entry for those customers.

A cheaper (and in many cases smaller) “iPhone nano” has been the subject of many rumors over the years, although it is unclear just how Apple will be able pare down the current iPhone’s feature set to bring the unsubsidized pricing down to the $349 level suggested by Whitmore, or even lower price points as suggested in previous reports. Unsubsidized pricing for the iPhone 4 begins at $649, although the 8 GB iPhone 3GS still sold by Apple comes in at a much lower $449. With Apple’s iPod touch line starting at $229, there may in fact be some flexibility to put together a somewhat stripped down iPhone coming in at a price point in the $350 range.

Also unclear is the basis of Whitmore’s claim, whether it be concrete information obtained from Apple’s supply chain or mere speculation on what Apple “should” do.

A separate note issued yesterday by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty claims that Apple is set to begin ramping production of a new iPhone in mid to late August, suggesting that a launch might not occur until late September. Rumors have increasingly pointed to a September launch for the next iPhone, although many have been hoping that Apple will introduce it at an early September event in line with the company’s usual iPod-focused event.

- Wireless syncing has been enabled for Mac OS X computers

WiFi Syncing

In iOS 5.0 beta 2, wireless syncing is now available for the Mac. It requires iTunes 10.5 beta 2 and OS X 10.6.8 or Lion. You will see an option to enable wireless syncing when you connect your device to iTunes with the USB cable. It is recommended you perform your initial sync with a cable after restoring your device.

Wireless syncing is triggered automatically when the device is connected to power and on the same network as the paired computer. Or, you can manually trigger a sync from iTunes or from Settings -> General -> iTunes Sync (same network as paired computer required). Be sure your device is plugged into a power source when performing Wireless syncs.
If you find issues with apps, media and/or photos synced to your device, you can reset then resync. From Settings -> General -> Reset, choose Erase all Content and Settings. Then reconnect to iTunes and sync again.

In this beta, iTunes may incorrectly report Photos as “Other” in the capacity bar. Photo syncing otherwise works as expected.

iTunes 10.5 beta 2 and Apple TV Software beta 2 has also been released.

iFans has release notes. Summarized here:

- iTunes 10.5b2 can’t sync iOS 5 Beta 1 devices
- iOS5 Beta 1 devices can’t iMessage iOS5 Beta 2 devices and vice-versa
- WiFi sync now works with OS X computers; it has to be enabled in iTunes 10.5 beta 2 first
- OTA updates have been released, though none are currently available
- iCloud has a new logo in the Settings.app
- You can now backup to iCloud or the computer when setting the device up
- If no notifications are available, Notification Center shows the text “No New Notifications”
- Stock widget in the Notification Center is now off by default
- Stock wallpapers are back, but are the same that were in iOS 4
- General speed improvements, kills bugs that were present in iOS 5 beta 1

Will I be able to access iCloud services on the web?

Yes. Web access to iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Find My iPhone will be available at icloud.com this fall.

Apple also confirms that the existing iWeb publishing, Gallery, and iDisk services from MobileMe will not be making the transition to iCloud. Some of these functionalities will, however, be replaced and/or enhanced with the already-announced photo and cloud services in iCloud.

All existing MobileMe services will continue to be available through June 30, 2012, although some such as syncing of Mac Dashboard widgets, keychains, Dock items, and System Preferences will become unavailable if users transfer their existing MobileMe accounts to iCloud before that deadline. Other MobileMe services not transitioning to iCloud such as iWeb publishing, Gallery, and iDisk will continue to be available until June 30, 2012 regardless of whether users maintain their existing MobileMe accounts or transition them to iCloud.

Current iPhone 4 owners can look up exactly when their warranty is up can do so at Apple’s Support site, simply by entering their iPhone serial number on Apple’s website. That online form will tell you exactly when your warranty expires.

That date is notable as its the last chance customers are able to purchase AppleCare for their iPhone 4. For $69, AppleCare extends the original iPhone factory warranty to two years total and includes unlimited phone support. The one year anniversary is more notable this year as Apple has not introduced a new iPhone to take the iPhone 4′s place.

While the merits of any extended warranty are always up for debate, if you’re interested, the process to buy AppleCare can be done entirely online, as long as the original factory warranty hasn’t expired. In the past, Apple has been known to offer warranty coverage to users for a limited time after the factory warranty expires, but generally not for more than a few weeks.

While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S — an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals — BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone. We have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case, though.

BGR‘s claims contradict a number of other reports that have claimed that Apple’s next iPhone will appear nearly identical to the iPhone 4, with most improvements confined to the internals of the device. Several reports have also suggested that the new iPhone won’t appear until the September-October timeframe, in line with the company’s iPod-focused media event traditionally held around that time.

While BGR has demonstrated solid sourcing for Apple’s iOS updates and offered some accurate information from Apple’s retail store operations, the site has been less accurate with other recent claims. Recent misses include Back to School promo details and claimed MacBook Pro details.

The Taiwan-based PCB companies, which are shipping products for iPads and iPhones, have seen disappointing orders for these devices in the second quarter, the sources said. Orders thus far for June show no signs of a rebound, the sources indicated.

These companies reportedly supply parts for iPads and iPhones and expect orders to pick up significantly due to the expected launch of the next generation iPhone (“iPhone 4S”) in the 3rd calendar quarter.

The lower demand is presumably related to the iPhone 4 which was released last year. By all accounts, demand for the iPad 2 remains high with another report indicating that Apple is expecting continue sales growth in the 3rd quarter for the iPad.

“We’re living in a post-PC world,” proclaimed Apple iOS honcho Scott Forstall during his stint onstage at the keynote presentation of his boss, Steve Jobs, which is now available on Apple’s website.

Apple contribution to that purported post-PC world is Forstall’s baby, iOS, and he was more than happy to detail 10 new features that will appear when iOS 5 is released into the wild this fall. The new version will run on the same array of iOS devices that qualify for iOS 4: the iPhone 3GS and 4, iPad and iPad 2, and the 3rd and 4th-generation iPod touch.

1. Notifications

Notifications in iOS today are interruptions more than helpful notifications: a modal dialog pops up to tell you, for example, that a text message has arrived – and when you tap it to dismiss that modal dialog, it’s gone forever.

In iOS 5, however, a new Notifications Center screen will gather missed calls, voicemails, text messages, push notifications from the App Store, and other such alerts. Sliding your finger down from any screen will bring up the Notifications Center, and swiping across a notification will take you to the relevant app.

2. Newsstand

A new addition to the App Store will bring together a raft of available magazines and newspapers to which you can subscribe – “Most of the major publishers of magazines and many newspapers,” said Forstall, mentioning National Geographic, Spin, Vanity Fai, The New York Times, Popular Mechanics, Wired, The New Yorker, and others.

The beauty part of Newsstand is that the publications to which you subscribe will – like those subscribed to using Amazon’s Kindle – be pushed to your device in the background. A new Newsstand app will contain all issues in a bookshelf graphic, with their most-recent cover displayed.

3. Twitter

Twitter has been honored with deep integration into iOS 5 – so deep that you enter your Twitter username and password into iOS 5′s Setting app, and that account info will be shared by any app that has been Twitter-enabled.

Apple has Twitified a number of its iOS apps – Camera and Photos, for example. Take a photo, tap the Share button, choose Tweet, and you’ll see a thumbnail and be able to type in your Tweet, complete with a character countdown. You’ll also be able to tap to add location info, should you so desire.

You’ll also be able to Tweet Safari articles, Forstall said – presumably URLs – as well as videos from YouTube, businesses and locations from Maps, and materials from other Twitter-enabled apps, without needing to go to a Twitter app. You’ll also be able to download Twitter-account photos to add to your contact list.

4. Safari

Safari has been given a facelift in iOS 5. The Safari Reader feature in the Mac OS X version of Safari, for example, will be available in the iOS version, and tabbed browsing has been added to the iPad version.

A Reading List feature has also been added – which appears to mimic some of the capabilities of the current iOS app, Instapaper. You’ll be able to access your Reading List, uh, list from your other iOS and Mac OS X devices, as well.

5. Reminders

At first blush, the new iOS app Reminders appears to be yet another app to tell you what you’re scheduled to do when, but with one interesting twist: you can set reminders to be location-specific.

For example, as Forstall explained, you can set up a “geofence” around a location, and when you leave that area, it can provide a reminder. Think, for example, of telling Reminders that you need to make a phone call when you leave work. Once you’ve left your office, a reminder can pop up to tell you to make that call.

6. Camera

After somewhat amusingly referring to the iPhone 4 as being “widely regarded as having one of the best cameras on a mobile phone,” Forestall introduced some enhancements that might make it arguably at least as convenient as some other phones’ cameras.

For example, in iOS 5 you’ll no longer have to unlock your iPhone, navigate to the Camera app and launch it before you can take a snap – you’ll double-click the Home button, a camera icon will appear on the lock screen, and you’ll use the volume-up button to take a photo. As we said above: “What took you so long?”

You’ll also be able to lock focus and exposure by keeping your finger on a chosen spot in the preview image. Also, the Photo app has been enhanced with such additions as crop, rotate, red-eye reduction, and one-click image-enhancement capability as in iPhoto.

7. Mail

As with Mac OS X Lion, the iOS Mail app has been given a once-over, adding such long-needed capabilities as bold, italic, and underlining; control over indentation; flagging; the ability to search for text through all your messages, both on your phone and on the server; dragging addresses between fields; and access to a system-wide dictionary that’s new in iOS 5.

Another system-wide enhancement that Forstall used Mail to introduce is an optional thumb-typer’s keyboard for the iPad, which groups keys on either side of the display for easier access. This split keyboard is also repositionable on screen.

There’s also help for enterprise customers, namely added support for S/MIME.

8. PC Free

In iOS 5′s “post-PC world”, the need to control many of your iOS device’s settings have been taken away from your Mac or Windows PC and migrated to the device itself. You’ll now be able, for example, to create or delete calendars or mailboxes on you iOS device, and not have to do so on your Mac.

Software updates can also be done on iOS devices – and, thankfully, they’ll be delta updates, meaning only the portion of the app that has been updated will need to be sent over the air, thus speeding updates.

“Now, if you want to cut the cord,” Forstall said, “you can,” referring to the ability to now own an iOS device without own a PC to which to connect it.

9. Game Center

The Game Center app has received some polish, such as adding photos to profiles, comparisons of achievement points among friends, and seeing friends of friends. You’ll also be able to see recommended friends, and get game recommendations.

Support for turn-based games has also been added to the core of iOS, so developers don’t have to create that functionality themselves anymore.

10. iMessage

A new app and service called iMessage is Apple’s effort to slip a knife between the ribs of the aging SMS/MMS, and to add messaging capabilities to the iPad and iPod touch.

iMessage can also provide delivery and read receipts, and – like many IM apps – it adds a notification when the person on the other end begins typing. iMessages can be sent over both 3G and Wi-Fi, and are sent encrypted.

Notifications of iMessage messages, like other push-notification messages, aren’t modal, so they appear in a field at the top of the screen and can be accessed when the recipient wants to access them. Photos and videos can also be sent with iMessage transmissions.

In addition to his Top Ten, Forstall also discussed “more than 200 new user features,” including AirPlay mirroring to display your iPad 2 screen on you Apple TV–equipped big screen, automatic background Wi-Fi sync to iTunes, and improved multitasking flick-to-switch-apps gestures

He also outlined some bennies for developers, including the addition of the Mac OS X Core Image framework, plus enhancements to Xcode such as improved tools and simulator. His mention of these enhancements came right before he told his WWDC crowd that the SDK would be given to them immediately so they could play with their new toy during the rest of this week’s conference. ®

Update: It’s worth mentioning that limera1n is a bootrom exploit that Apple can’t patch on the iPod touch through firmware alone. The real test of the Dev Team’s wits will be an untethered jailbreak for the iPad 2.