Skip to Content

iPhone 5 appears temporarily on Cincinnati Bell website (Updated)

by Steven Sande Oct 1st 2011 at 3:45PM

TUAW reader Cory L. sent us an image today that he had captured from his web browser while perusing the i-Wireless prepaid cell phone section of the Cincinnati Bell website. The screenshot shows a placeholder for an iPhone 5 with no image and no "Add to basket" purchase button.

A quick look at the site now shows that the placeholder has been removed. There are some fascinating things about this -- first, Cincinnati Bell is a regional carrier in the US, not a major carrier like AT&T or Verizon. Second, the website is for a pay-as-you-go program. Finally, the specs that are listed for the phone show an 8MP camera, 4G speeds (Cory notes that Cincinnati Bell's network uses HSPA+), and a 4" screen. Those specifications align with most of the previous rumors that we've heard about the device.

Whether or not this all means something will be determined on Tuesday, when Apple will hold its iPhone event in Cupertino. Be sure to join us on Tuesday beginning at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT for our liveblog of the event.

Update: Another reader, Randy K., sent in another screenshot from the same site. This one shows a low-cost iPhone 4S device with different specifications than the rather expensive iPhone 5 shown above.

Update 2: A different website is claiming that only the iPhone 4s will be announced, based on strings that were allegedly found in a pre-release beta of iTunes. A source close to TUAW revealed that no such text strings were found in any of the recent beta releases of iTunes.

While we're excited about the screenshots shown here, it should be noted that as with all information that appears ahead of a new product announcement, they should be not be considered as reality until such announcements are actually made ... or not.



View Tags
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

38 Comments

Filter by:
Brian Akaka

So this turned out to be a PR stunt?

October 04 2011 at 4:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dale

I have the version of the iTunes beta that allegedly contained the strings. The beta *was* pulled and reuploaded after the site reported on the strings. If you know where I would look in the .app file for these strings, I can tell you what I see.

October 03 2011 at 6:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
QSilver

Isn't the time period leading up to a major Apple announcement just so much fun?!?

October 02 2011 at 9:21 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
carlow

Fake, u can do it with Google chrome, or some HTML editor... ¬¬

October 02 2011 at 2:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
macserv

Seeing the 4S there is kinda cool, assuming it's real... it represents Apple purposefully making an entry into the mid-range market, which is traditionally dominated by Android handsets eagerly snatched up by those who want a smartphone experience, but can't lay down for the high-end Apple phones. The 3GS has also done well in this space, but it kind of fell there... it fell there because it was the older high-end model. The 4S is brand new, and targeted at that space. It should sell like gangbusters.

October 02 2011 at 1:15 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Shannon Doherty

At this point I just don't care until Tuesday.

October 01 2011 at 11:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Doug

I am pretty sure Cincy Bell has about as much knowledge of the phone or phones about to be released as any reader on this blog.

October 01 2011 at 11:51 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
james

It could be that they are just placeholders - based on rumors put out by sites not unlike TUAW. If that is the case, it makes sense that all the listed specs match rumors.

October 01 2011 at 9:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ImperialX

Well, according to arn from MacRumors and myself, the strings can definitely be found.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=13442061&postcount=9

Just saying.

October 01 2011 at 9:25 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ImperialX's comment
dd0723

I'm sorry, but anybody with xcode installed can modify those strings. go ahead, try it yourself....

October 02 2011 at 11:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
llsethj

A different website is claiming that only the iPhone 4s will be announced, based on strings that were allegedly found in a pre-release beta of iTunes.

Oh it is like that huh?

October 01 2011 at 8:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.