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Rumor: 3 Apple iPhone 5 prototypes include 1 with slide-out keyboard

Rumor: 3 Apple iPhone 5 prototypes include 1 with slide-out keyboard

One Taiwanese Web site is jumping into the iPhone 5 rumor fray with the claim that Apple is testing an iPhone prototype that has a slide-out keyboard.

The lack of a physical keyboard is one of the last remaining gripes many have about Apple’s revolutionary iPhone. Many longtime BlackBerry users refuse to switch to the iPhone due to their apparent love of tiny keyboards. But all this could be moot should this rumor pan out.

AppleInsider has the scoop from tw.apple.pro after an extremely thin translation. Using Google Translate myself, I can’t discern much more than AI did, but it appears as though Apple.pro is suggesting that one iPhone 5 model may have a concealed keyboard that would slide out when needed.

The site also suggests that the iPhone 5 will retain most of the design of the current iPhone 4, but have upgraded insides like a faster processor and an improved camera.

Apple.pro also echoed rumors that the iPad 2 will be thinner and will include a front-facing camera.

According to AppleInsider, Apple.pro seems to have a fairly good track record concerning Apple’s parts manufacturers. The site published articles about the white iPhone 4’s front panel, the iPhone 4 battery, the redesigned 2008 MacBook, and the new iPod Nano’s touch screen this past summer.

Of course, only time will tell what Apple has up its sleeves for the iPhone 5 and beyond. Would you buy an iPhone with a slide-out keyboard? What about the rumored iPhone Nano?

[Thanks: http://reviews.cnet.com]

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