First Next-Gen iPhone Pictures Surface (Rumor)

A series of pictures have emerged on the Internet with their source claiming to have leaked the first real pieces of next-gen iPhone imagery. Leaked by a Hong Kong-based blog and picked up by the likes of Gizmodo and The iPhone blog, the pictures are described as being highly credible, an opinion Softpedia very much shares with them. Interestingly enough, though, the Google-translated umpcfever.com piece has apparently been removed in the meanwhile.

The blurry pictures depicting an iPhone OS 3.0 running on alleged next-gen hardware did not convince every commenter posting over at the above-mentioned tech-sites. However, the poor quality can signal that the imagery is likely not fake, but rather the work of someone who doesn't feel obligated to prove the genuine nature of the photographed object.

With that out of the way, picture highlights include an auto-focus feature improving the quality of the pictures taken with the new iPhone 3G, the new (rumored) digital compass, a CPU log, video functions and more.

Recently, Mac-focused site MacRumors picked up on a few reports coming out of Weiphone, a Chinese forum leaking a screenshot taken on what was called a “next generation iPhone.” In the screenshot, the device is listed as having a model number of “MB717LL,” which MacRumors dubs as “new” on the scene. The Chinese forum also provided the alleged hardware specs, which, according to the MacRumors report, include the following:

– 600MHz CPU Speed (up from 400MHz);
– 256MB RAM (up from 128MB);
– Digital Compass and FM;
– 3.2-megapixel camera with auto focus;
– 32GB size;

The Chinese forum has reportedly mentioned that no major changes were spotted in battery, screen and the external casing, although many believe the 2009 version of the iPhone 3G will look something like the matte-cased device pictured left.

The company behind the Mac operating system is expected to introduce this new iPhone 3G between June 8-12 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.