iOS Devices

Image: Forbes.com

There were already 42M iPhones in use on China Mobile‘s network even before Apple’s anticipated deal with the carrier to offer the handset officially, claims Chinese site SinaTech.

Up to now, China Mobile iPhone users in the network has reached 42 million, which has exceeded the U.S. AT & T and Verizon combined sales of the two operators …

42 million is a huge number, especially when you consider that none of them were subsidised: all had to have been purchased at full price. If true, you can see why the potential for subsidised handsets in China is massive … 
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iPhone 5s schematic, click to enlarge. 5c below

Apple has updated it guidelines (PDF) for case manufacturers to include specific requirements and schematics for the iPhone 5s and 5c. As expected, the 5s schematics are similar to the iPhone 5 since the outer shell is largely unchanged.

The 5c design is more distinct from the 5, because while the internal layout is nearly identical, the exterior plastic casing is very different. See below for the 5c’s schematics.

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Hardcore iPhone fans in Japan already queuing for the 5s and 5c going on sale on Friday weren’t going to be put off by a mere typhoon (hurricane) warning: they continued their vigil outside Tokyo’s Ginza store. Apple Store staff opened the doors at 7.30am, shortly before the typhoon hit, to bring customers inside, reports Kotaku.

They were allowed to bring in their wet possessions, rest in the Apple Store theater until 10am, and were even given bottled water. “I was so moved how Apple treats its customers,” said YouTube user AppTaylor

Video below the fold … 
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One of the cornerstone features of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5s is the Touch ID fingerprint scanning system. The feature allows an iPhone 5s user to unlock their iPhone or authenticate iTunes/App Store/iBooks downloads with the touch of their fingerprint on the device’s Home button. During the hands-on time with the device following Apple’s September 10th presentation, Apple demonstrated Touch ID with Apple employees carrying around iPhone 5s units that are programmed to their distinct fingers.

But come September 20th, Apple will have more than just a couple hundred journalists wanting to test out Touch ID: they will have millions of customers rushing into their hundreds of stores worldwide. With fingerprints being an authentication solution personalized to every individual, Apple needs an effective way to allow customers to test out Touch ID in its chain of retail stores. With millions of customers, it will be difficult for Apple to keep Touch ID testing restricted to devices showcased by Apple employees in the stores, and Apple has a solution…

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With the iPhone 4S launch nearly two years ago, Apple introduced the Siri voice control system to its customers. At launch, Siri was a gimmicky feature at best, being released with bugs, a highly-computerized voice, sluggish content loading, and unreliable servers. In addition, Siri of 2011 was short on user compatibility, only launching with knowledge of English, French, and German. Apple certainly did not deny the early issues with Siri: the company launched the product in “beta,” a tag that has remained on the software ever since.

Since 2011, Apple has been slowly improving the service. In early 2012, Siri gained support for Japanese, and with iOS 6 in late 2012, the service added support for several new languages and capabilities. With iOS 7, Siri has been given a redesigned user-interface, new functionality, and all-new voices. Many of the server errors and lengthy processing time issues that riddled the product in its early days have now disappeared; and it seems that Apple agrees. With the upcoming launch of iOS 7, it appears that Apple will finally be taking Siri out of “beta.”

Late this past week, Apple updated its Siri webpages to drop all references to the product being in beta. Prior to this past week, the bottom of the Siri informational page read:

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We have our first sellout!

Following pre-orders going live today for Apple’s new iPhone 5c, shipping times for the yellow, unlocked model of the device have just slipped from the expected delivery date of September 20 to “available to ship by 9/25.” That’s only for the 16GB model of the device, as all other colors and models are currently still listed as arriving by the previously announced Sept. 20 release date.

The device is also currently listed as shipping in 1-2 weeks on Apple’s Hong Kong website and in Canada all models and colors of the iPhone 5c are shipping between Sept. 20 and Sept. 24.

Apple is currently accepting preorders for the new iPhone 5c in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, and Singapore, and previously announced that the device would begin shipping alongside the new iPhone 5s later this month on September 20. Apple is still listing a delivery date of Sept. 20 in all other launch countries for the iPhone 5c, but we’ll keep you updated if shipping times slip in other countries.

Other than Apple, a number of its carrier and retail partners are also accepting for preorders for the iPhone 5c starting today, but Apple isn’t making preorders available for the iPhone 5s before its release.

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While it appears there will not be any preorders available for the iPhone 5s, many retailers and carriers are announcing their iPhone 5c pre-order plans. Starting tonight at 12:01 am Pacific Time tonight, you’ll be able to place your pre-order directly with Apple and have it delivered right to your door on the 20th – as long as you’re able to beat out the other customers (potentially millions) to the punch.

As a result, it may be better to work out a pre-order with a carrier or retailer as the demand could be much more sporadic, as it has been in past years. On the other hand, these outlets usually receive less stock and Apple supplies their own stores more quickly than they do for third-parties. We’ll be watching the shipping times as these pre-orders roll out so check back frequently.

Below you will find all of the current announcements, but you should definitely also take a look at how to get the most money for your current iPhone:

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Radio Shack will begin offering pre-orders for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5c tomorrow in its chain of retail stores. The pre-ordering will begin at the time of store opening. The company will be offering every available color (red, blue, pink, green, and yellow). Additionally, each color will be available on Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and AT&T.

At 12:01 Pacific Time on Friday morning, Apple will open up its pre-orders on its online store. The iPhone 5c will officially go on sale on Friday, September 20th. Also on September 20th, Apple will be launching its iPhone 5s, but that higher-end device will not be available for pre-order through Apple or Apple’s other retail channels.

Earlier today, we noted that Walmart will be also offering pre-orders for the iPhone 5c. Walmart will be offering significant savings on the devices.

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Apple parody videos are nothing new, but they often highlight how normal consumers look at new product launches and in many cases beyond upgraded internals to more superficial features like hardware design. Apple’s new colourful iPhone 5c lineup seems to be getting somewhat overshadowed by the new gold color option for the iPhone 5s, but its new iPhone 5c cases are also receiving a less than great response, mostly due to their appearance to crocs and lack of attention to detail. Head below to check out some of the other parody videos that have hit the web since Apple’s new iPhone announcements. 
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Besides the main 64-bit A7 processor in the new iPhone 5s, Apple has included a dedicated motion co-processor called the M7. The chip powers many of the sensor technologies in the iPhone, such as the accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope in order to move the weight off of those technologies from the phone’s main chip. This, in turn, will make the new iPhone more efficient for both performance and battery life for the user.

Apple briefly explained some of the consumer-facing abilities of the M7 motion chip, highlighting that the chip could greatly enhance fitness apps such as those from Nike. But, just like with the new iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner, Apple’s ambitions for the M7 are greater than those discussed earlier this week. According to a source with knowledge of the chip’s development, Apple plans to tightly integrate the chip with its own Maps service in the coming years.

On its official website, Apple presents a brief teaser of what the M7 can do, highlighting a feature in the iPhone 5s (which was not discussed during the keynote presentation):

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Walmart has announced that it will be offering both of the new iPhone models in their 16Gb versions, the 5c at $79 (a $20 saving) and the 5s at $189 (a $10 savings). Walmart offers the phones on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

What’s interesting here is that Apple Stores usually do price matching so it might be worth a try after waiting on line on launch day. Best Buy will also price match often, so this could trigger markdowns all over … 
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Photo: mashable.com

Apple is expected to become the market leader in Japan, with the iPhone 5s and 5c forecast to make up 40 percent of all new contracts on Japan’s DoCoMo carrier, reports Nikkei (via CNET).

The 40 percent figure is believed to be the quota that Apple and DoCoMo agreed on, the report said […] This development marks a tectonic shift in DoCoMo’s strategy and the Japanese phone market in general. Domestic phone suppliers like Sharp and Fujitsu are expected to suffer as a result … 
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AnandTech dug into the FCC filings for the new iPhones to reveal that the iPhone 5s battery offers approximately 10 percent more capacity than its predecessor, while the 5c battery offers a more modest 5 percent gain. That’s a different size battery (5.96Wh vs 5.92Wh) than we’d seen in supposed 5s prototypes … 
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Via the Wall Street Journal, an Apple spokesperson fleshes out some of the finer details surrounding the fingerprint sensor and Touch ID.  To use Touch ID, it is mandatory to also set up a passcode. This acts as a fallback in case the fingerprint sensor fails temporarily or experiences a permanent hardware fault. iOS may necessitate a passcode under some other conditions, as well.

Only that passcode (not a finger) can unlock the phone if the phone is rebooted or hasn’t been unlocked for 48 hours. This feature is meant to block hackers from stalling for time as they try to find a way to circumvent the fingerprint scanner.

By having the sensitive data expire fairly quickly, Apple is hoping that hackers will not have enough time to decrypt the data and have it still be useful. However, the time is long enough that it should not inconvenience users very often.

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Not only did the iPod (Rasputin) Classic not die as predicted (again) today, Apple is wrapping the ‘old man of the iPods’ up with its Apple Care Plus plans along with the more popular iPod touch. According to the updated iPod support page, Apple customers can now purchase an additional year of coverage for the iPods as well as phone support beyond 90 days and most importantly, two incidents of accidental damage coverage (+$29 service fee) for $59 here.

Previously, only regular AppleCare as available to iPods and was grouped in with Apple TVs.

Apple also raised AppleCare+ fees today on iPhones from $49 to $79 and also launched in Europe.

Update: We have also learned that out of warranty replacements for the iPhone 5 (and presumably 5s) will be priced at $269, an increase of $40 over the past year. This inflated cost may make it easier for iPhone owners to justify the up-front cost of AppleCare+.

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Joining the new “Space Gray” iPhone 5s, the 32/64GB versions of the iPod touch, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle can now be ordered in new color as well. This might indicate that the iPod line won’t be seeing any update this season/year, since Apple is going through the effort to add the additional color.

The iPod touch sports a 4-inch Retina display, but it is still powered by the A5 chip (the A7 chip was just announced today for the iPhone 5s).

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