Today at an undisclosed location in Berlin, Germany, Mobile Nations' own Alex Dobie and Richard Devine got to see a near-final dummy unit for Apple's next iPhone (iPhone 5,1). Here's their report:

While the unit we saw was non-functional, we can confirm several aspects of the product's design, as well as how iOS 6 will look on Apple's next flagship smartphone.

Many of these are details we've previously reported from other sources, however today we can confirm them following hands-on time with the unit.

The iPhone 5 is approximately as wide as the current 4S, only taller, and sporting a widescreen display. There's a smaller home button underneath, and the Home screen now sports five rows of icons on account of the extra real estate. As iMore reported earlier, there's a new, smaller Dock connector down below, in addition to a 3.5mm headphone jack. The bottom face of the design is peppered with a large speaker grille, alongside those other components. Around the back, there's a brushed metal rear panel decorated with a shiny Apple logo.

Essentially, it looks like every leak we've seen over the past several months. The pictures we've seen from factory leaks and other sources are an almost exact match for the device we saw today.

While nothing with Apple is ever truly final until it's held up on stage, it does indeed look like we're in for a widescreen iPhone with a new dock connector and a redesigned chassis in just a few weeks.

As iMore first reported, we're expecting a Sept. 12 announcement and a launch in the first wave of countries by September 21, with the second wave to follow on or about October 5.

Image: GSM Israel News

We've seen case manufacturers put together dummy Apple products before, and while they're not always perfectly accurate, they can often be based on actual parts or specs smuggled out of the supply line. The above video was filmed at IFA 2012 and shows a quick hands-on with one such dummy, in this case an iPhone 5 by GSM Israel News.

Take it as an approximation of what the iPhone 5 might look and handle like, but don't take it as anything more than that.

The video shows the iPhone 5 dummy in an unmarked skin case. Once removed, it looks pretty much identical to the assembled parts leaks we've seen shown off previously, complete with iPhone identifier and markings on the back. It remains taller, with a 4-inch, 16:9 screen and a centered FaceTime Camera. And it remains primarily metal-backed, with RF-friendly glass sections above and below so it can connect to networks and other devices via cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The 3.5mm headphone jack remains at the bottom, and the new, miniaturized Dock connector is in full view. As is a curious little oblong between the rear, iSight camera and the LED flash.

Update: Our own Alex Dobie and Richard Devine have now had some hands-on time with the iPhone 5 dummy live at IFA 2012. They're two of the best in the business, and here are their hands-on impressions of the near-final hardware dummy.

Update 2: We've swapped out the Hebrew language video with the English version they've just posted. Enjoy.

September 12 is less than 2 weeks away.

Source: GSM Israel News

Walmart is currently testing a new in store Scan & Go pay system for use exclusively with the iPhone. The new system will allow shoppers to scan items as they go around the store, put them in their basket or trolley then checkout simply by scanning their iPhone at a special self-checkout counter; the news comes from a report by Reuters.

If the "Scan & Go" test by the world's largest retailer is successful, it has the potential to change the way people shop and pay, making the process more personal and potentially faster. Earlier this week, Walmart invited employees with Apple Inc iPhones to participate in a test at a Walmart supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, near the company's headquarters, according to a form on the Survey Monkey website.

The test comes months after Walmart said that it would add more self-checkout lanes at its Walmart and Sam's Club stores as it continues to look for ways to lower costs and prices for its shoppers.

The system works as a self-scanning system, shoppers go around the store as normal but instead of just dropping items into their trolley, they scan each item first with their iPhone first. Then they can put the scanned items straight into bags in their trolley or basket. When they have completed their shopping, they go to an express checkout and the app on the iPhone transfers the purchased item list to the checkout machine. Customers can then pay as normal using the usual checkout payment methods. As of yet, you can't use your iPhone to pay for your shopping but maybe it could be added in the future if Apple ever introduces NFC or an equivalent payment system to the iPhone.

Of course let's not get carried away with the thought that Walmart is investing huge sums of money to give customers a better shopping experience. Walmart also stands to gain massively if it decides to roll out the system across its huge number of stores. If more shoppers scan their own items and make their own automated payments, Walmart could save millions of dollars in cashier wages; it currently pays out around $12 million in cashier wages every second across its stores in the United States. This is probably not great news if you are a cashier for Walmart.

Would you consider using a system like this if you were doing a reasonably large shop at Walmart?

Source: Reuters

Nick Jr Draw & Play is an iPhone and iPad by Nickelodeon that lets kids can team up with Dora the explorer, Diego, Team Umizoomi and the Bubble Guppies to create amazing artwork -- and have fun! It features an easy to use interact with 8 different brushes for drawing and painting, 60 animated stickers, effects such as fireworks and magic wands, parental controls, and more.

One of the things I really like about Nick Jr Draw & Play is that when you draw on a coloring book page, it forces you to stay on the lines without also automatically filling everything in for you. For example, in the screenshot above, once I start coloring in Dora's hair, all of my strokes made (without lifting my finger) were kept inside the outline of Dora's hair, even if my finger went outside of the lines. This is such a great feature for kids since staying in the lines when coloring on an iPad is much harder than with coloring with real crayons on real paper.

Nick Jr Draw & Play is packed with many different artistic options for your kids. The mediums they can draw and color with include chalk, crayons, markers, pencils, spray paint, and paint brushes. There are also stickers, animation buttons, greeting cards, and more for your child to get creative with. They can also choose to start with a blank canvas or one of the drawing from the coloring book that feature many Nickelodeon characters from the shows Dora the explorer, Diego, Team Umizoomi and the Bubble Guppies.

When you child first plays Nick Jr Draw and Play, s/he will be guided through a animated tutorial that teaches them how to use it. Personally, I think it's not necessary as everything is pretty intuitive, especially for kids. Luckily, there's an option to skip it. Unfortunately, even if you skip the tutorial, it will start over the next time you launch the app and there isn't an option to disable it in the settings.

The good

• Easy to use interface with 8 different brushes for drawing and painting
• Colors stay in the lines when you color
• Dora the explorer, Milli, Geo and Bot of Team Umizoomi, and the Bubble Guppies coloring pages
• 60 Animated Stickers
• Fireworks, Splatter Tops, Magic Wands and Surprise Blocks to create amazing effects in your pictures
• eCards
• Picture ideas to help jump-start your child's imagination
• Animated Tutorials
• Airplay
• Sharing for parents via email and Facebook
• Parental Controls

The bad

• Tutorial cannot be disabled and plays every time you launch the app
• Separate purchases for iPhone and iPad instead of universal
• Can only undo one action

The conclusion

Nick Jr Draw & Play is a great iPhone and iPad app for kids to draw, color, and create with their favorite Nickelodeon characters. At first I was skeptical that it was going to be a little lame because Nickelodeon knows that kids would ask for it because of the characters, but I realized very quickly that I was wrong. Nick Jr Draw & Play is filled with features that are sure to keep your child entertained over and over again.

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Over the last week we've seen a couple of amusing new commercials from Virgin Mobile (above) and Sprint (below) touting their unlimited, un-shared data plans. Virgin goes so far as to suggest you arrange a "happy accident" for your old, non-iPhone.

Accidents happen. But when they lead to you getting a new Virgin Mobile phone, we call them "Happy Accidents". Get the best phones on awesome plans only with Virgin Mobile. A Higher Calling.

Sprint just wants you to "say no to sharing".

Don't let shared data divide your family. Say no to sharing and yes to Sprint with Truly Unlimited(sm) data, text and calling to any mobile. No throttling, no metering, no overages. All while on the Sprint network.

Both are in response to tiered data plans, and new sharing plans, on America's biggest networks, AT&T and Verizon. Of course, Verizon, and to some extent AT&T, both have LTE data speeds, which might be useful come September 12.

So what do you think of these two spots? Do they make you want to defenestrate your BlackBerry, Android, or feature phone and grab an un-shared, unlimited data plan, on America's smaller, and much, much smaller networks?

Apple might have already won $1 billion dollars in one U.S. lawsuit against partner/rival Samsung, but they've still got others pending, and they've now added Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note devices to the list of products they claim infringe Apple patents. Reuters' Andrew Longstreth reports:

In February, Apple alleged that at least 17 Samsung products infringe its patents. In a court filing made in San Jose federal court on Friday, Apple added four more products to the list of allegedly infringing products that have been released beginning in August 2011 and continuing through this month.

Here's the amended rundown, via Jerry Hildenbrand of Android Central:

The additions are the Galaxy S3 (Galaxy S III), the Verizon specific Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note, and the Galaxy Note 10.1. These devices will join the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, the Galaxy S II, the T-Mobile Galaxy S II, the AT&T Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Nexus, the Illusion, the Captivate Glide, the Exhibit II 4G, the Stratosphere, the Transform Ultra, the Admire, the Conquer 4G, and the Dart on the smartphone side, and the Galaxy Player 4.0, the Galaxy Player 5.0, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets.

The patents Apple is claiming are being violated are:

• '647 (Data detector)
• '721 (Slide-to-unlock)
• 172 (Word completion)
• '604 (Universal search)

In lawsuits, like any form of business dealing, it's not unusual to go in asking for the moon, figuring you're going to have to settle for less. Any company that bothers to sue is going to sue big. Depending on Samsung, all of it could disappear in one software update. Depending on the judge, it might get whittled back down before trial. Depending on the jury, it might get whittled down further in the verdict.

That's if Apple and Samsung don't settle first. But in the global game of Apple vs. Samsung patent chess, we're still position pawns and trading pieces. And Google is still sitting safely beside its castle.

Source: Reuters via Android Central