iPhone 5 to pack better antenna, 4-inch screen, NFC chip and out in Q3?

Another day, another rumour about the iPhone 5's support for Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The China Times says the touch-tech is definitely in Apple's next-gen handset, along with a 4-inch display and rejigged antenna design.

The newspaper's report claims that the iPhone 5 is now in 'trial production', and will sport a "metal chassis to improve antenna sensitivity" according to Google Translate. It also says the 4-inch screen will be scratch-resistant, but that the device will be available in the third quarter of this year.

New iPhones have traditionally gone on sale around July, so if the China Times is to be believed -- its sources are within the parent company of Foxconn, Apple's key manufacturing partner for the device -- this year's model could follow the pattern, or be shifted back a couple of months.

The latter would put six clear months between the iPhone and iPad, which might make sense, although it would also bring the iPhone into the same release window as the iPod touch. In any case, we'll plump for a July launch until told otherwise.

Anyway, the China Times report also backs previous speculation that the iPhone 5 will have the same dual-core A5 processor as the iPad 2.

Meanwhile, Google Translate's assertion that the article says "after each one related to more than 500 million pixels camera, but adds context aware system that contains the 'Internet of Things' system, the DPRK into a big purse patterns."

Well, quite. We look forward to Steve Jobs saying those words on stage at a keynote. More understandably, the report points to NFC technology being built in to the iPhone 5, complete with an electronic wallet presumably tied to your iTunes account.