That was pretty conclusive for James Isabel, at The Appera. Isabel dismissed the rumor that WWDC will focus only on the software, iOS 5, but not the iPhone 5 hardware. He wrote, “I doubt this is a simple software reveal judging by the magnitude of people they’re inviting. I’m betting on iPhone 5 [insert excited emoticon here]. Also, even though Steve Jobs is on leave, I’d expect him to be at the keynote on June 6.”

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Plus there’s the TV casting post at Craigslist. MacRumors noted that it appeared Wednesday, May 25, but apparently only for a couple of hours, seeking male and female actors for a commercial for “iPhone 5” to be filmed in L.A. with payment, oddly, in British pounds sterling. MacRumors couldn’t find any online information on the contact or production company. The site noted that it was similar to a casting call in New York in April. Real? A mistake? A hoax? Who knows? Who cares?

ITPortal admitted that it didn’t know if the casting call was genuine, but couldn’t resist adding that if it was genuine, “then the iPhone 5 could indeed be launched at WWDC 2011.”

“On the other hand,” according to GizmoCrunch, “it could just be the work of Apple PR to build up hype for the phone which is not expected to launch this summer.” Creating hype for iPhone 5 must be the world’s easiest job, because thanks to ITPortal, GizmoCrunch and a zillion other websites, Apple PR doesn’t actually have to do anything.

iPhone 5 is cleverly disguised to avoid being seen

That’s what GizmoCrunch concluded after reading TechBuffalo’s exclusive account of how the iPhone 4 was secretly brought to Verizon’s network. That would be the “insider” account based on one, repeat one, source “close to the action.” No one referred to the “iPhone” but the “Acme”; it was being tested six or seven months before the actual release; employees had to sign a four-page non-disclosure agreement, and enter a unique PIN every 12 hours to confirm they still had the phone, and so on.

Even though TechBuffalo’s story never mentions “iPhone 5,” GizmoCrunch sees a connection: The Verizon iPhone was being tested at Verizon stores and in the field, but “due to the fact that [the Verizon iPhone] resembled the AT&T version it went unnoticed.”

(It’s not real clear how that would work, between two Verizon employees: “Hey, watcha got there?” “Oh, it’s the Acme.” “Really? Gee it looks just like the AT&T iPhone.” “I didn’t notice.” “Oh, me either.”)

Unfazed, GizmoCrunch optimistically asks, “So what does all this mean as the Verizon iPhone 5 release date nears?” And they have an answer. “For one, it could mean that the Verizon iPhone 5 is already undergoing field testing and may be under our very eyes.”
But someone has seen the iPhone 5 and taken a photo of it, with another iPhone 5

Winner of the Most Convoluted Rumor of the Week goes to iFan, which on Monday published a picture, from a Chinese website, of what purported to be a “white iPhone 5’s backplate with even more evidence of the [previously rumored] separation of the camera and the flash components.”