Apple iOS 5 Beta Replaces Physical Buttons With New Control Panel Feature

With its highly anticipated iPhone 5 rumoured as only a few months away, Apple has given developers a new beta version of its iOS 5 revealing a slew of new details about the mobile operating system.

The details were first reported by Apple blog 9to5Mac. The post revealed that one of the new iOS's biggest changes will be a new control panel allowing users to navigate the device without the use of physical buttons.

The demo showed the control panel being accessed with a swiping motion from the corner of the screen.

As well as a dedicated "Device" shortcut, the new interface will also reportedly house a home button, similar to the physical button on the current iPhone 4.

The Device icon was shown to forward the user to on-screen equivalents of all the physical buttons used by older generation iPhones and iPads -- volume, lock screen etc.

The post also revealed that the new iOS will allow the user to manually rotate and lock the device's screen.

The beta's release adds to the growing number of Apple fans speculating that the company's forthcoming iPhone 5 will be a purely touch-screen device.