A new iPhone will arrive in September and the long-awaited and still-mythical iPad mini will reach consumers one month earlier, sometime before the month of August is finished.

That’s the latest report out of the far east today, as Digitimes dishes the newest insights from Pegatron and Foxconn, two Apple manufacturing partners who reportedly have their orders to prepare for production.

To mainly focus on Apple’s orders, Pegatron has also internally decided to downsize its SI motherboard department and to shift resources to Apple’s orders. Since Asustek has been reducing its motherboard orders to Pegatron, while gross margins are also rather low, the shifting in resources is expected to benefit Pegatron in its operations, the sources noted.

Artistic approximation of the next-generation iPhone

The Korean publication ETNews threw out a “welcome to the future” Apple rumor today claiming Apple will use “liquid metal” technology in the next-generation iPhone.

“According to industry sources, the next flagship phones of the companies are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquid metal for iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts. The new phase of the rivalry is because neither one of them can get a decisive edge over the other solely with its OS and AP specifications, features or design,” — ETNews

According to an article in the Maeil Business Newspaper a Foxconn employee leaked information claiming the new iPhone will be released in October.

According to the article, the newspaper contacted the chief of human resources at Foxconn’s facility in Taiyuan, China to ask about hiring and future iPhone production plans. The employee than disclosed that the company just received an order from Apple for the iPhone 5 ahead of an expected launch date “around October.”

This morning we reported Apple has now begun internally seeding a prototype next-gen iPhone with the the A5X chip that debuted in the new iPad and 1GB of RAM. Based on his recent trips to China and Taiwan, Topeka Capital Market analyst Brian White, who as of this morning has Apple’s price target at $1,001, has shared some new details of what he described as “the buzz around the new iPhone 5″. According to White (via Barron’s), he expects a “sleek” new iPhone to launch in the December quarter. He also expects the device to sport a new 4-inch display and include 4G LTE capabilities.

White sets his price target based on an expected August or September unveiling of the product claiming the launch “could be extraordinary, dwarfing previous launches and driving the stock closer to our $1,001 price target.” According to the report, Apple is expected to start component production for the “iPhone 5″ in June.

With one iOS device update out of the way for 2012, Apple is working on updates to the iPhone and iPod touch. While these updates are expected, we’ve learned some details about this new iPhone and iPod touch.

First, the new iPhone. Much like they did last year, Apple has internally seeded a prototype next-generation iPhone with the iPhone 4 design. The actual next-generation iPhone is specifically said to not include the iPhone 4/4S design, but Apple is testing these new devices in older casings to throw off leaks. The purpose of the prototype iPhone that we heard about is to test a variation of the “A5X” chip in an iPhone. The A5X processor in the new iPad was specifically built to drive the new Retina Display, so that chip wouldn’t make much sense in an iPhone.

Instead, the iPhone prototypes that we’re talking about have a variation of the A5X’s S5L8945Xarchitecture. Like the A5X-powered iPad, these new iPhone prototypes are packing 1GB of RAM. This prototype is labeled N96 internally, but we’re not sure if this internal codename will carry over to the actual next-generation iPhone. Again, this iPhone that we are describing is an internal-only unit built for testing the performance of a new chip in an iPhone, not an actual phone that Apple will produce.

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Do you remember all the way back to last week when a Foxconn HR/parking lot attendant told a Japanese news crew that the iPhone was coming in June?

Not so, says another un-named HR representative, reports Kokatu.

South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper begs to differ. According to a recently published article, the paper asked the head of human resources at Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory about the iPhone 5 release date. The human resources head apparently told the paper, “We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October.”

Apple’s Nintendo-DS like remote concept from 2010 patent

In their review of the third-generation iPad, AnandTech discusses the Apple mobile gaming market and one issue that seems to be arising now that iPads and iPhones are becoming faster, more powerful, and better devices for gaming: touch. The review notes how Android has the ability to be connected to physical game controllers, and that a gaming controller adds an important element to advanced gaming expieriences. With this in mind, Anandtech slips in a tidbit claiming that Apple is working on a physical gaming controller for iOS devices:

Although many casual Android/iOS games do just fine with touch, some are certainly better suited for some sort of a controller. While controller support in Android in its infancy at best, it’s more than iOS currently offers. I know of an internal Apple project to bring a physical controller to market, but whether or not it will ever see the light of day remains to be seen. As smartphones and tablets come close to equalling the performance of current game consoles, I feel like the controller problem must be addressed.

Another day another rumor from an industry insider saying the exact opposite of a rumor from another industry insider the day before.

Today, the rumor from iMore’s source claims Apple is scheduled to release a new 3.5” LTE iPhone in October. This contrary to reports yesterday that Apple was planning to release a larger screened iPhone with a display somewhere in the 4” category as early as this summer. This new rumor differs not only in the release window, and screen size, but also claims Apple is changing the dock connector. The new connections will be a “micro dock.”

Based on the purported photographic evidence shown above from Best Buy’s internal computer system, the company’s inventory clearly shows a Sprint iPad. Even more curious are the references to a Sprint iPad with two-year contract options.

According to the folks at Engadget who first published the pic, “the new iPad for Sprint has arrived in Best Buy’s internal inventory system.” But as the corresponding article warns, let’s not jump to conclusions and expect a major announcement from Sprint or Apple in the coming days.

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We’ve been told by an Apple Store source who has been reliable in the past that preparations are being made for a big Apple Store event which will culminate on Friday, March 16th.  Naturally, this points to an iPad 3 launch on the Friday just nine days after tomorrow’s announcement.  We’ve previously noted that an Apple Store in London at the world famous Harrod’s will open on that date as well as a new Store in Houston, Texas.