Apple’s next-generation iPhone may launch even later than September this year, as has previously been rumored on numerous occasions. Apple has stuck to a summer launch for each new iPhone model released thus far, but the February introduction of Verizon Wireless’ iPhone 4 and the imminent release of the white iPhone 4 do suggest Apple may deviate from its previous schedule. Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo cited supply chain checks in a note to investors on Monday, in which he suggests Apple’s iPhone 5 won’t enter mass production until September. This would make a September release highly unlikely, and would instead mean the new smartphone might launch in October or later. Ming-Chi also reiterates earlier rumors that the iPhone 5 will be an incremental update, and will feature Apple’s new A5 processor, an 8-megapixel camera and a Qualcomm radio like the one found in Verizon Wireless’ iPhone 4. Industry watcher DigiTimes recently issued a report calling any iPhone 5 manufacturing timelines to this point “baseless,” claiming Apple has not yet discussed the device or any production timing with its manufacturing partners.

While speaking at an event in New York on April 1st, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer may have accidentally let slip info regarding Apple’s next-generation iPhone 5. Apple has been rumored to be looking for a new camera module supplier for some time, and now it looks as though Sony may be that supplier. Stringer, while speaking to The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg on stage at Carnegie Hall, mentioned that Sony’s image sensor facility in Sendai was impacted by the recent catastrophe in Japan. He then went on to say that this would likely impact the timeliness of sensor shipments to partner companies, using Apple as an example of Sony’s Partners. Sony does not supply camera modules for any current Apple products. Should Sony in fact be supplying image sensors for Apple’s iPhone 5, the sensor in question is likely Sony’s new 8-megapixel Exmor R, which can be found in newer Sony Ericsson devices like the Xperia arc and Xperia neo.

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With the latest crop of 8-megapixel phones, one would think they’d become ubiquitous and 2.0, 3.2 and 5 megapixel cell phones will be a thing of the past. Casio has put their Exilim series into a phone with the W63CA (if they plan on sticking around, they really ought to come up with a cooler name). This sharp shooter boasts a 3.1″ OLED display with 480 x 800 pixels – imagine the clarity and vividness of that high-definition screen. That’s right people, Casio has managed to stuff the same resolution as the HTC Touch HD into a display over a half-ince smaller! Of course, the main attraction here is the camera itself with a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto-focus, face detection, anti-shake controls and a video recorder that records VGA video at 30fps onto a microSD card – perfect for YouTube. See it hit Japan in early November and the US, umm, never.

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