Rumors about Apple ditching the current 30-pin dock connector in favor of something smaller are nothing new. Reports surfaced last month suggesting that Apple would bring the change to its upcoming iPhone iteration, presumably called the iPhone 5.

Many purported iPhone 5 part leaks followed thereafter that indeed apparently featured a smaller charging port in the dock connector position. And now, technology news website TechCrunch has jumped into the ring, claiming that the next gen Apple iPhone would sport a smaller port with 19 pins.

Although the form factor and actual size are still unknown, TechCrunch has independently verified that Apple is working on adding a 19-pin port, replacing the current 30-pin port, to the new iPhone. It is a move that will surely send shocks through the iPhone accessory ecosystem, said the TechCrunch report.

The information was reportedly leaked by three independent manufacturers, who all agreed the 19-pin dock port is in the works and many accessory manufacturers are facing an uneasy few months as they wait for official news of the standard to be announced.

According to iDownloadBlog, Apple wants to switch to smaller 19-pin dock connector from the existing 30-pin dock connector, introduced with the iPod in 2003, because of size constraints more than anything. Recent reports suggested that the Cupertino tech giant was trying to squeeze a larger screen and LTE compatibility into the next iPhone, on top of making the handset 20 percent slimmer.

As The Verge noted, though it's still to be seen whether this particular rumor about a mini dock connector proves to be true or not, the evidence is certainly mounting.

Will iPhone 5 Outshine Samsung Galaxy S3?

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Terry Gou of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, has reportedly made some interesting remarks that have raised many eyebrows.

Speaking at Foxconn's annual shareholders meeting Monday, Gou advised investors not to buy the new Samsung Galaxy S3, claiming that the device would be put to shame by none other than the Apple iPhone 5.

Here're excerpts of a report in the Tuesday edition of the China Times, courtesy of Focus Taiwan:

Gou also urged consumers to wait for the launch of Apple's iPhone 5, saying that the new model would put Samsung's Galaxy III to shame.

With Hon Hai's marketing and manufacturing strengths and Sharp's key technologies, the two will be able to defeat their arch-rival Samsung, the chairman said.

A report in Redmond Pie pointed to another facet of the issue by dating back to 2010 when Samsung informed an EU court of price fixing amongst four Taiwanese companies. According to the report, Samsung was exempt from investigations beings a tainted witness, but the Foxconn CEO still seems to be holding a grudge over the ordeal and is using Apple's unannounced smartphone as a big stick with which to beat Samsung.

It doesn't matter whether Gou has already seen the next iPhone or is simply acting as a corporate cheerleader. For a clear-cut comparison between the two smartphones and decide which one to win, the yet-to-be-released iPhone 5 needs to be out there in the middle facing its archrival, the Samsung Galaxy S3.

As per the rumor-mill goes, the features that are most likely to be incorporated in the upcoming handset include a 4-inch Retina display, an A5X Variant chip, 1GB RAM, iOS 6, 4G LTE technology, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, improved Siri, liquidmetal casing, an 8 megapixel (or even higher) rear camera, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting and a much-improved battery life.

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