iPhone 5 Rumors and Features: Fingerprint Scanner and Improved Battery to Give Apple an Edge? (Leaked Photos)

A man shows a photograph he took on his iPhone of an Apple store in Beijing (Photo : Reuters)

While you will likely have to wait until September 21^st to get your hands on the iPhone 5, leaked photographs and informed speculation lift the veil off of the ever-elusive smartphone, signaling higher battery capacity and fingerprint recognition software.

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Fingerprint-Based Security

The iPhone 5 will likely be protected by integrated fingerprint security technology, reports TheNextWeb's Matt Brian. In his detailed account, Matt outlines Apple's speedy acquisition of AuthenTec, a security company whose clients includes Nokia and Samsung, among other industry giants. Apple has offered an IP agreement deal worth $20 million to use AuthenTec's patents, would could then be licensed for $115 million. In total, Apple has proposed to AuthenTec a price of $7.00 per share. 

The prospect of fingerprint technology compliments i06's Passbook feature, which would use digital payment to act as a "eWallet". Passbook also stores coupons, loyalty cards, and tickets.

Improved Battery

Leaked photos of the iPhone 5's battery reveal a metal design that is thinner than the iPhone 4S, a higher capacity battery, and a smaller dock connector. 9to5mac.com reports that the iPhone 5's battery capacity stands at 1440 mAh, up 10mAh from the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5's watts-per-hour measurement comes in at 5.45, an increase of 0.15 from the iPhone 4S.

In terms of LTE connectivity, the size of the battery is smaller than traditional LTE enabled phones, but it is possible that Apple has created more efficient technology. LTE remains on the table.