A new rumor suggests that the iPhone 5 will have an aluminum back to replace the iPhone 4′s glass back. Along with the new chassis, there will also be a redesigned antenna that does away with the external design in the iPhone 4. You might remember that this issue led to Antennagate.

The new antenna will put the iPhone’s antennas back into the Apple logo, similar to the way the Wi-Fi iPad housed its antennas. There was even a patent that turned up recently that suggested Apple was working with Apple logo antennas for the iPhone, so this makes sense. I guess we will find out soon enough.

4G is the big thing right now and everybody is hopping on the bandwagon. Everybody except Apple that is. An analyst from Telecom Pragmatics, Sam Greenholtz, says that the iPhone 5 will be launching later this year, and will not have any LTE radios and also that the iPhone 6 (to be released in 2012) will be the one supporting LTE.

Another analyst says that when Apple locked down the specs for the iPhone 5, they didn’t expect this level of hardware competition. That does sound believable. But if past iPhone launches are any indication, the exclusion of 4G this year might be on purpose. Well, we will see how it all plays out.

If you want to turn your iPhone into a very tiny laptop, here ya go. Mobile Fun has just released the TypeTop Swivel Bluetooth Keyboard for the iPhone 4. This case for the iPhone 4 will protect your Apple phone, and also give you an additional Bluetooth keyboard for your typing needs. I’m guessing you hate touchscreens if you are digging this.

The case allows you to prop the iPhone 4 up just like a laptop and type your documents and emails. The case can also swivel and tilt in almost any direction. The keyboard features a built in battery, so it doesn’t drain your phone. The TypeTop Swivel Mini Bluetooth keyboard for iPhone 4 is $56.

Apple as well as others are considering upgrading the audio on tracks to get close to master-level audio quality, according to sources. The heads of Labels are negotiating to bring the underlying bit depth from 16-bit to 24-bit. This would bring the audio quality from CD-level to the same detail as the master tracks from the studio.

Interscope-Geffen-A&M head Jimmy Iovine at the HP webOS event briefly confirmed a push towards 24-bit audio through music stores and hinted that Apple and others might have to upgrade the iPhone, iPod and other devices for the extra depth.

Remember the latest rumor about Apple working on a smaller iPhone? Well, according to the New York Times, that ain’t happening, though Apple has looked at the possibility of a cheaper model. Earlier rumors had Apple developing a prototype of a smaller and cheaper iPhone, 1/3 smaller, or 1/2 as small depending who you believe, but the Times is now claiming that “Apple is not currently developing a smaller iPhone, according to people briefed on Apple’s plans who requested anonymity because the plans are confidential.”

Anyway, a smaller device would not necessarily be much cheaper to make and it would be a pain to use besides. Developers might have to rewrite their apps too. So no smaller iPhone just yet.

We’ve heard many tales of exploding devices over the years. Some seem to be a clear hoax, while others are plausible. Now someone is claiming that an iPhone 4 blew up on them. The story goes like this. The user noticed that the phone became extremely hot while his wife was holding it, the battery of the phone had swollen, dislodging the back panel and catching on fire.

His wife then dropped the phone on a table where it left some burn marks. It also burned the user’s hand and set off the fire alarm. The owner says that he went to the Apple store to get a replacement, but it isn’t clear what happened next.

With the release of a new version of the iPhone, we always hear rumors that Apple is working on a smaller version of the iPhone, and right on schedule we have more of these rumors. Bloomberg is reporting that Apple will be releasing an iPhone Mini this year.

Normally, we would laugh, but what Bloomberg is saying makes a lot of sense, since a smaller iPhone would open up a new market for Apple, which they will need with all of the tablet competition. The new iPhone Mini could retail for $200 without a contract, which would open up the iPhone to a budget market. It is supposedly one third smaller than the existing iPhone with no home button.

As usual, the folks at iFixit have torn apart a new gadget. This time it is the Verizon iPhone 4. Of course they found the expected differences, but they also found that the phone has a slightly lighter battery than its counterpart, that the mechanical vibrator has been redesigned and moved from the top right corner to the bottom right of the phone and that the phone has a Qualcomm baseband chip.

The chip is a Qualcomm MDM660 chip that supports HSPA+ data rates up to 14.4 Mbps, and is the same chip used in the Droid Pro. So the chip technically supports both GSM and CDMA, although Apple has decided not to take advantage of that capability for whatever their reasons are.

If you like to get all science-nerd on your skin, check this out. Handyscope is an optical attachment that transforms your iPhone into a dermascope. That’s what a dermatologist uses to examine your skin. The gadget uses its own app, which lets your iPhone multiply its magnification power.

You’ll be able to check out your zips or other skin irregularities. The handyscope is scheduled to arrive in February when the app can also be purchased at the Apple app store. I wouldn’t recommend it for hypochondriacs.

The iPhone is a hot commodity even after all this time. Apple is making a ton of money on it, smugglers too. When they can get away with smuggling the goods anyway. An Israeli women was caught at Ben-Gurion International Airport, while attempting to smuggle 44 iPhone 4 smartphones under her clothes. Apparently they were everywhere, including her stockings.

The woman, who is in her 60s, was returning from London when one of the airport’s full-body scanners detected the load of smartphones that she was hiding under a traditional Georgian outfit. Officials had also noticed that she appeared to be walking with difficulty, which is what made them notice her in the first place.

Last week there was word that the elusive White iPhone 4 had appeared on the inventory system of Vodafone Germany, and now it looks like the white iPhone 4 has also turned up in AT&T’s inventory. When last we heard from Apple on the subject of the white iPhone 4, they said it would be available in Spring 2011, so I guess we can expect the white iPhone 4 to go on sale very soon.

Seems like Apple wants to sell the white iPhone 4 to customers before they announce the new iPhone 5, and that announcement is expected in May, so we think the white iPhone 4 will finally be available soon and we can put this whole issue to rest.

There is hardly a day that goes by where we don’t have an iPad or iPhone rumor. Here is today’s. Apple’s overseas manufacturing partners will apparently start production of the iPad 2 next month, while they will also be building the fifth-generation iPhone in May.

Take this with the usual grains of salt until we have something more concrete. One thing is for sure, no matter when they start production, it won’t be soon enough for Apple fans.

The new verizon iPhone 4 has a slightly different design than the original iPhone 4, which seems to have fixed the iPhone death grip issue, but now the original iPhone 4 bumper case will not fit the Verizon iPhone. And so Apple has released a new universal bumper case to fit both phones.

The main difference on the Verizon iPhone 4 is that the mute switch sits slightly lower than on the original iPhone 4, so the new bumper design makes sure that it will work with both versions of the iPhone 4.

We knew that Apple wanted faster mobile graphics for the next iPad and iPhone and we have some more details about its choice. The company is now said to be using the SGX543MP2, specifically the dual-core version. The new video is estimated to have about four times the performance of the current SGX535.

This speed increase would be welcomed along with the rumored 2048×1536 display resolution of the next iPad and could enable the kind of higher quality movie playback that would keep Apple competitive against it’s foes. It would most likely support 1080p video decoding in hardware.

Here’s some good news from Apple. Apple has now dropped the price of the last generation iPhone, the iPhone 3GS to $49 with a new two year mobile contract. This goes along with the recent price drop from AT&T on the iPhone 3GS and comes just as we are expecting Verizon Wireless to announce the Verizon iPhone, so this is AT&T’s chance to lock customers into a new two year contract before Verizon starts selling the iPhone.

We aren’t sure if Verizon will be selling a version of the 3GS as well as the iPhone 4, but we suspect that it will just be the iPhone 4 and we won’t see another iPhone available on the network until Apple launches the next iPhone.