iPhone 5 rumours fuelled by accessories firm

In The Telegraph

The website was updated to show what are apparently cases for Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 5. The page was later removed, which served only to fuel the speculation from Apple-watchers.

The new case appeared to be designed for a device with curved edges, more like the iPod touch than the iPhone 4. It also appeared wider than the iPhone 4 and Case-Mate’s mock-up had an aluminium back.

What does this mean? Possibly nothing. This is the problem with iPhone guessing games, nobody really knows what anybody else knows. Has Apple tipped off Case-Mate about the dimensions of their new device or is Case-Mate guessing? We don’t know and neither of those companies is saying.

I spoke to someone at a Silicon Valley-based accessories company earlier this week who told me that, despite having a close relationship with Apple, they were not given any advance information about forthcoming products. That person, who did not wish to be named, said that the company took an educated guess and developed several prototypes, which would then be refined and put into production once Apple announced its product.

Is that true of all companies? Again, it is hard to say. Certainly, leaked accessories have in the past given clues about forthcoming Apple products but that doesn’t mean that Apple shares information with these companies ahead of release. Indeed, given the tales of secrecy within Apple, it’s hard to imagine that third parties are being let into the company’s secrets.