Sprint may have iPhone 5 by Oct 15, internal memo suggests

An internal memo suggests US carrier Sprint may have Apple Inc.'s new iPhone 5 as early as October 15, an enthusiast site reported. SprintFeed.com cited an internal memo advising Sprint employees that the period of September 30 to October 15 has been blacked out due to a major phone release. "For those of you who don’t know what they mean by 'blacking out,' it means they’re not allowing time off requests during this specific time period," it said. It also said that while the memo did not mention any phone in particular, another smartphone - the Epic 4G Touch - is already out of the bag. "Everything here suggests the iPhone making its highly anticipated debut on the Now Network. Looking at the referenced time period, we’re pretty sure that this 'big' unnamed device will hit between the blackout dates. This would allow time for employee training, release date preparation and finally the aftermath of sales," it said. SprintNow added that with Sprint’s variant of the iPhone likely to have unlimited data, "the next four to five weeks should be very interesting." A separate article on tech site Mashable said its best guess for the iPhone 5 launch will be October 7. This said this would line up with a Boy Genius Reports article indicating iPhone 5 preorders; and a 9to5mac.com report that Apple Stores have begun iCloud and iOS 5 training, hinting at an imminent launch. — TJD, GMA News