It's a new day and there's a new Apple iPhone 5 launch date, now probably at the beginning or middle of August.

The new report comes from BGR (Boy Genius Report) which states that Apple's next rendition of iPhone 5 will sport a radical new design. The August launch will be a break from tradition as Apple has usually released its key devices on scheduled events like WWDC and iPod refresh.

If BGR's report comes true, then Apple will break its tradition of launching devices at key events. However, this year Apple has already parted from the tradition by not releasing iPhone 5 at WWDC event on June 6 - an event associated with iPhone release. Apple also surprised the media this year by announcing its agenda for WWDC prior to the event -- quite a departure from its secret ways. Apple had announced before hand that it will showcase iCloud, iOS 5 and Mac OS X at WWDC.

It was until now taken that Apple will use the iPod refresh event in September to launch the iPhone 5. But latest reports trashed this assumption citing that Apple at WWDC had mentioned that iOS 5 will be released in fall. And since iPhone 5 is expected to come pre-loaded with iOS 5, Apple cannot release the iPhone 5 on September 7. Fall extends from September to November and Apple had not specified the exact date of iOS 5 release at WWDC.

As long as Apple delays the release of its iPhone 5, it would only strengthen its Android contenders. Apple recently revealed its nervousness about Samsung's product profiles by filing a patent lawsuit against its Korean supplier charging it of copying its iPad, iPhone and iPod designs.

However Apple has another foe in the waiting - HTC. The Taiwan-based phone maker bore the brunt of Apple lawsuits last year. HTC had launched its stellar products like HTC EVO 4G and HTC Droid Incredible last year. And although Apple has directed its ire against Samsung, HTC has a line-up of superphones which can break Apple's hold over the smartphone market.

Apple iPhone 5's rumored features include:

--A tear-drop design

--A larger 3.7-inch display

--Edge-to-edge curved glass screen

--A5 dual-core processor

--8MP camera

--Thinner case

--3D glasses-free support (Apple was given a 3D patent in December 2010 which relates to glasses-free 3D viewing technology. The patent was filed under the title Three-dimensional display system. )

--Voice-recognition feature

--Thunderbolt I/O (which allows users to connect up to 9 devices with a single cable)

The above set of features leaves one musing as to whether Apple can beat the top 5 HTC Android phones, whose features are as follows:

HTC EVO 3D

The glasses-free 3D capable phone from HTC allows users to capture 3D photos and videos and allows users to watch the content in 3D sans glasses. The phone has a 4.3-inch screen with 960x540 screen resolution. It is powered by a 1.2GHz Snaprdragon chip and features 1GB RAM. The phone has a 5MP 3D camera. Its stereoscopic camera captures videos at 1080p (2D) and 720p (3D). The phone is 0.46-inch thick and weighs 6oz.

HTC Thunderbolt

The LTE 4G superphone which was launched at CES 2011 has received rave reviews from tech pundits. The HTC Thunderbolt sports a 4.3-inch display with 800x480 screen resolution. It is powered by single-core 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon processor. It also comes equipped with an 8MP rear-facing camera which offers 720p video capture capability. Thunderbolt optimizes 768MB RAM and comes with 8GB internal memory. The phone weighs 5.7oz and is 0.5-inch thick. It feels a little big as it is 4.8-inch tall and 2.6-inch wide. The Thunderbolt runs on Android 2.2 or Froyo juice with HTC Sense UI. Android and Me recently reported that over-the-air Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update is coming to HTC Thunderbolt on June 30. The update will endow the phone with features like Skype Video, Gtalk video functionality, HTC Sense 2.1, enhanced GPS features and pre-installed Amazon Appstore. EVO 3D

HTC Sensation

Another superphone from the HTC camp the Sensation is in the league of phones like Samsung Galaxy S2. HTC Sensation has a 4.3-inch display with 960x540 screen resolution. The phone is powered by a thumping 1.2GHz Qualcomm chipset. It offers 768MB RAM and 1GB internal memory with support for microSD up to 32GB. The phone like others in its category features an 8MP rear-facing and a front-facing VGA camera. It offers 1080p video capture. Also the HTC Sensation adorns a curved screen. Another high-profile Android phones Nexus S also flaunts a curved screen profile. HTC Sensation is powered by Android 2.3 or Gingerbread with its own customized HTC Sense UI.

HTC Droid Incredible 2

HTC's first version of Droid Incredible was a super success in US and thus, HTC has released a second version of the phone aptly called Droid Incredible 2. The sequel to the Verizon phone packs in 4-inch display with 800x480 screen resolution. The phone is powered by Qualcomm's 1GHz MSM865 single-core Snapdragon chipset. The phone offers 768 MB RAM with 16GB SD pre-installed. Droid Incredible also sports an 8MP rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing cameras. It offers 720p video capture capability. The phone weighs about 4.7 oz and is 0.48-inch thick. Incredible Droid 2 runs on Android 2.2 or Froyo with HTC Sense.

HTC Holiday

The phone from HTC flaunts a super-sized 4.5-inch display with 960x540 screen resolution. It is surmised that it posses 1GB RAM however not much is known about the internal memory capacity. It is reported that the beast of a phone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Broadcom BCM4330 processor. It has an 8MP camera rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing camera. It is also assumed that the phone will run on Android 2.3 or Gingerbread. Company confirmation about the specifications is yet to come.