In our modern world everyone certainly wants to send and receive wireless data as fast as they can, and NASA is no exception. NASA has confirmed that they will be testing a prototype laser communications system called OPALS (Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science) this October from the International Space Station (ISS).

The thing about the OPALS system is that it can transmit laser beams that are a 100 times narrower than radio waves between Earth and space. This will allow higher data rates.

NASA will be carrying out the tests from the ISS by sending video data via one of the OPALS lasers to a ground receiver located in Wrightwood, California (a distance of 250 miles). They will be doing the tests for a period of three months with each test beam lasting two and a half minutes.

But don’t expect such a communications system from your wireless carrier. Besides the data rate, the reason that they are using laser is that they won’t have to use any bandwidth being used by others. And the transmission will be very secure since to intercept the sent info one will have to be directly in the beam of laser. And also although the system sounds simple NASA says that it should be very precise as it will be like “trying to use a laser to point to an area that’s the diameter of a human hair from 20-to-30 feet away while moving at half-a-foot per second”.

Just in case you didn’t know, back in January Russian astronauts aboard the ISS transmitted data using laser to Earth.

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Apple certainly has to make sure that the sixth generation iPhone is something different, since most iFans were not too happy about the 4S. It appears like the device will indeed be different, coming with a LiquidMetal casing and the earlier rumored LTE support to keep up with the times, if the new rumors are to be believed that is.

According to Gene Munster, analyst for Piper Jaffray, Qualcomm is getting ready to supply the LTE chipset for the next iPhone and the device will possibly be launched this October. Nothing unbelievable about that launch date as it is a year after the iPhone 4S’ announcement.

But what’s more interesting is the info that the upcoming iPhone might be housed in a LiquidMetal casing. In case you are imagining the iPhone in liquid state, LiquidMetal is an alloy of titanium, nickel, copper, zirconum and other metals. If this material is used for making the casing, it will give you the feeling of glass but will be physically tough and also resistant to wear, scratches and dents. Which means those iPhone repair stores which are sustained solely off broken iPhone screens may have a tough future.

Since objects made of LiquidMetal can be formed with a process like injection molding, it is possible to make different physical forms. We are expecting a unique unibody casing.

A new design will always be welcomed as the current iPhone design has been here for nearly two years. And Apple has the exclusive rights to use LiquidMetal in electronic products; their first product was an iPhone SIM card ejector tool. Many other manufacturers are already into new materials for their phones, but the iPhone 5 (or the new iPhone or maybe iPhone T1000 or whatever it will be called) will be more attractive with the benefits of LiquidMetal.

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This comes by way of AllThingsD.com, a tech blog that falls under the News Corp. umbrella… and you know how good those guys are at digging through voicemails their sources to get at the heart of a matter. This is in stark contrast to most other reports that are saying the next iPhone will be released in September, just in time for the back to school rush. The increase in staff seemed to support that notion too.

As far as the rest of the rumors go, they’re all over the map. Some say that Apple will stick with the current 3.5-inch Retina Display. Others say it’ll get bumped to 3.7-inches and others still are pointing toward a 4.0-inch display. We’ve seen all kinds of leaked cases that indicate major, minor, and no changes to the overall form factor and design. We’ve seen some with tapered shapes and others with the same block shape as the iPhone 4.  The most interesting of the recent iPhone 5 images from Gizmodo shows a mashup of the iPhone 3GS beveled edges with the unibody design of the iPhone 4; they’re so sure about it that Jesus Diaz has gone and made a bet.

And so, as is the case with all things Apple, we’re still in the relative dark about what to expect out of the iPhone 5. Steve, can you kindly put all these rumors to rest and just cross the stage in a black turtleneck sooner rather than later?

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