As we have previously noted, Just Mobile sells a variety of premium accessories primarily for Apple products that are made out of aluminum. These designs and materials are similar to what Apple makes for its own products, so Just Mobile’s accessories are popular items for fans of Apple’s product design. For the past few weeks, we have been testing out some of Just Mobile’s latest iPhone accessories: the AluFrame and the AluCup Grande. You can find our full reviews below:
Earlier this month we reported that Apple had changed its developer marketing guidelines after years of only allowing images of the black iPhone in marketing material. Since Apple’s new lineup of iPhones features a number of new colors for the device for the first time, we noted that Apple tweaked its guidelines to allow other colors of the device, including white and certain iPhone 5c colors. Now, Apple has updated its guidelines once again, this time specifically excluding the gold iPhone 5s from the list of colors allowed in photography and video marketing material (via MacRumors):
Feature only the most current Apple products in the following finishes or colors: iPhone 5s in silver or space gray, iPhone 5c in white or blue, iPad Air in silver or space gray, and iPad mini in silver or space gray. If multiple Apple products are shown, display them in the correct relative sizes.
You’ll notice that it’s also not allowing certain colors of the iPhone 5c (only blue and white are listed), so gold specifically doesn’t seem to be the issue. As it did previously, Apple provides downloads of iPhone images for developers to place their screenshots on and use for marketing purposes. Those downloads are limited to the iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 5s in Silver/white and Space Gray, and the iPhone 5c and iPod touch in black and blue models.
It’s unclear Apple’s reasoning for not allowing the gold model of the iPhone 5s and certain colors of the iPhone 5c. It could possibly be due to Apple’s desire to keep the popular colors unique to its own marketing material, or perhaps Apple thinks screenshots do not show as well on certain colors as they do on black and silver models.
A secondiPhone 5S stock-tracking web app, this one available in all countries where the new handset is sold, has provided a few stats showing what people are searching for.
60 percent of people searching www.stock5S.com are looking for the gold model, with silver and space gray coming in at 20 percent each. The most highly-sought model is the 16GB gold model at 30 percent, followed by 32GB gold at 17 percent.
More than half are searching for 16GB models, almost a third looking for 32GB and just 14 percent wanting 64GB.
Note that these numbers don’t necessarily reflect actual demand: they are the models being sought for in-store pickup by those who have so far been unable to find them in-store. If 32GB Space Gray handsets are widely available, for example, fewer searches would be made online for those.
“Dear, you don’t need to sell your kidney for the new iPhone,” one of the ads said.“Instead of paying 5288 yuan (the retail price of the 16-gigabyte iPhone 5S in China), you only need to spend 35 yuan to make your iPhone 5 look like a golden iPhone 5S in seconds.”
The report notes that online retailers through taobao.com have sold thousands of gold iPhone skins in less than a month, and there is certainly no shortage of similar options through Amazon and other online retailers.
The new gold iPhone is in limited supply at most retailers around the world, and even Apple’s own retail stores have had extremely limited supply of the model compared to other color options since the device’s launch on September 20.
As noted by WSJ, the gold iPhone 5s is considered somewhat of a status symbol in the country with local Chinese media often referring to the gold 5s model as “Tuhao Jin” or “local tyrant’s gold.” Expand Expanding Close
With Apple’s new gold iPhone 5s getting the most attention of any of the new colorful iPhones it released earlier this month, Samsung wants you to know that it isn’t copying Apple with its new gold Galaxy S4.
In a blog post on its official Samsung Tomorrow blog titled, “Golden History of Samsung Phones,” the company makes a point of noting that it announced the Gold Galaxy S4 on August 27th and launched it in stores on September 8– over a week before Apple’s gold iPhone 5s launch. It also showed off some gold phones it’s made dating back to 2004.
Some were unreleased like special edition phones for the Olympics and one for Ocean’s 13, and Samsung notes that “this is definitely not a complete list of gold-colored products made by Samsung.” Expand Expanding Close
Conan mocked the gold iPhone 5s when it was originally unveiled, with ‘Raffi’ taking center stage in the video. Now, Raffi is back in Conan’s amusing take on the gold iPhone 5s shortages. As well as being highly entertaining, the parody does highlight a real problem with iPhone availability. Shipping times for the gold iPhone consistently stretch into the holidays at T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint in the US, with similar delays mirrored around the world.
Following the retail launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in Apple Stores and retail partners around the world today, Apple has provided a statement to AllThingsD calling demand for the new iPhones “incredible”. Apple also noted that the iPhone 5s is only available in limited supplies and sold out in many stores, lining up with what we first reported yesterday:
“Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5s models in some stores,”
Yesterday we reported that many stores were getting little to no gold and or silver/white units of the new iPhone 5s, and that most retail outlets would only have the Space Grey model available for sale. We’ve heard that is indeed the case today even at Apple’s own retail stores as most locations have an extremely limited number of gold iPhone 5s units.
This morning the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has instructed suppliers to increase production of the gold iPhone 5s by one-third, as shipping times for the device online have now been pushed back to October in most countries. That’s compared to the 7-10 days quoted for other colors of the iPhone 5s in most of Apple’s initial launch countries.
Following the release of the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, Microsoft has uploaded a video poking fun at the new Apple smartphones. The video pretends to be a “fly on the wall” during an Apple product development meeting, apparently attempting to make fun of the plastic materials and colors of the 5c.
The videos don’t exactly position Windows Phone against iOS, simply taking jabs at iOS without explaining any benefits of the Microsoft platform.
With the gold iPhone 5s a very poorly-kept secret, it’s no surprise to see other brands getting in on the action. Engadget has received photos from a previously-reliable source (Sina Weibo, who leaked the blue model) of a gold-colored HTC One.
It’s always next to impossible to judge the shade of a color from a photo, as angle and lighting can dramatically change the appearance, so we’ll have to wait to see whether this is something close to Apple’s champagne color or something more gaudy.
While many supposed parts leaks are fake, this one looks credible, and we suspect it won’t be the last gold smartphone we’ll see by the end of the year.
As we were expecting, Apple just officially announced its new iPhone 5S live on stage during its event taking place now on the company’s Cupertino campus. The new iPhone 5S largely retains the same glass and aluminum design as Apple’s previous generation iPhone, but it does include upgraded internals, and a new gold color option and fingerprint sensor that we previously reported. The new iPhone 5S comes alongside the announcement of Apple’s much rumored lower-cost, plastic iPhone 5C unveiled during the event earlier today.
The iPhone 5s includes a new A7 chip, which Apple notes is the first 64-bit chip in a smartphone, something we reported previously that the company was testing. Apple says the new chip includes 2x general-purpose registers, 2x floating-point registers, and includes over 1 billion transistors on a 102mm2 die size. A7 makes the iPhone 5s over twice as fast in terms of speed, according to Apple, and also provides a 40x increase in CPU performance and 56X faster graphics. The new iPhone 5s hardware will also support Open GL/ES 3.0 and will still support 32 bit apps.
Apple is also including a fingerprint sensor in the new iPhone 5s for a new security feature dubbed “Touch ID.” Embedded into the home button, the Touch ID capacitive sensor is 170 microns thin and will not only allow users to unlock their device, but also authenticate iTunes purchases. Apple says that all fingerprints will be encrypted, stored securely and never uploaded to iCloud or its own servers. It also noted the fingerprint sensor will be able to support multiple fingerprints with the same device
The new iPhone 5s also include a new motion co-processor called the “M7” that Apple says works alongside the A7. It’s able to measure motion data continuously, as well as measure gyroscope, compass, and accelerometer data.
M7 knows when you’re walking, running, or even driving. For example, Maps switches from driving to walking turn-by-turn navigation if, say, you park and continue on foot. Since M7 can tell when you’re in a moving vehicle, iPhone 5s won’t ask you to join Wi-Fi networks you pass by. And if your phone hasn’t moved for a while, like when you’re asleep, M7 reduces network pinging to spare your battery.
The new chip will work with new CoreMotion APIs in iOS 7 that will allow developers to identify user movement. The first to take advantage of the technology is Nike with a new app called “Nike+ Move”.
Battery life: Apple says the new iPhone 5S will get 10 hours of 3G talk time, 8 hours of 3G browsing,a nd 10 hours of LTE and WiFi browsing. You’ll also get around 250 hours standby and 10 hours of video, according to Apple.
The iPhone 5s packs in a new camera system with a dual LED true tone flash, a new five-element lens designed by Apple, a F2.2 aperture, a sensor with a 15 percent larger active area, auto stabilization, and bigger 1.5 micron pixels. The camera also includes a new burst mode that will continuously take photos a rate of 10fps, and the 120fps slow mo mode that we reported about back in July. Head below for iPhone 5s pricing and availability: Expand Expanding Close
As Apple’s iPhone 5S event approaches, some new details about the new device’s internals are emerging. Clayton Morris has claimed on Twitter that the iPhone 5S’s A7 processor is “running at about 31% faster” than the iPhone 5’s A6 chip. The iPhone 5’s A6 chip is dual-core, and it seems like the iPhone 5S will also remain dual-core.
However, there could be a major differentiator: 64-bit. We’ve independently heard claims that some of the iPhone 5S internal prototypes include 64-bit processors.
It’s unclear if 64-bit will make the cut, but it’s been in testing. We’re told that the 64-bit processing will assist the A7 chip in making animations, transparencies, and other iOS 7 graphical effects appear much more smoothly than on existing iOS Devices…
As Apple’s September 10th event iPhone event approaches, we’ve learned some additional details and have independently heard some of the already-floating around information regarding the upcoming announcements.
We’ve long been expecting Apple to launch an iPhone 5S at this upcoming event, an iPhone that looks almost identical to the iPhone 5 but with improved internals. For past iPhone “S” upgrades, like the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S, Apple has retained the same design and colors as the previous models. Black and white units in both of those cases.
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But, we’ve heard, 2013 will be a bit different. Color will be a differentiator. Much like the much-rumored plastic iPhone will see Apple expand its color palette for iPhones, the iPhone 5S will move beyond the black/slate and white/silver options offered for the iPhone 5…
Following several recent reports claiming that Apple was preparing to introduce a new gold color option for the next iPhone in addition to multiple color options rumored for a new low-cost iPhone, today MacBoutic (via Engadget) posted images allegedly showing the gold-colored back casing for the device.
Yesterday KGI’s Mingchi Kuo was the first reliable source to report that a next-generation iPhone would include “golden casing” alongside a new 128GB option. Previously, less reliable sources claimed also claimed that Apple had a gold iPhone in the works. Kuo also added that the next-generation iPhone will include “a sapphire home button with fingerprint sensor,” something we’ve heard several times in recent months.
Curiously, the source of today’s photos says it “deliberately blurred the “Apple” logo and the words “iPhone” on the back” of the device.” It’s worth pointing out that we have no way to confirm if these are the real deal (we’ve certainly seen a lot of fakes floating around), and it’s easy to get your hands on color conversions that typically don’t include the Apple logo and other iPhone markings. Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s next two iPhone models will be named iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, according to a report from Japan-based Macotakara. With repeated reports and rumors of the next-generation iPhone retaining the same design as the iPhone 5, the “iPhone 5S” name has long been claimed and regarded as the name of the new flagship iPhone. Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPhone 3GS retained the designs of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G, respectively.
However, because of Apple’s surprise naming scheme for the third-generation iPad (The new iPad), an outright claim of the name “iPhone 5S” may be important to some interested in the upcoming device.
As for the “iPhone 5C,” this name gained attention when purported packaging materials for the upcoming, lower-cost, plastic iPhone surfaced in photos online. It is unclear what the “C” in “5C” could stand for, but speculation and logic points to the “C” standing for “color.” Like recent iPod touch models, this plastic iPhone is rumored to come in a series of colors…
