Are You Giving, Getting An iPhone 5 For Christmas? How About An iPad Mini?

iphone 5 and ipad mini Apple’s late-set releases for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini were clearly positioned to reap big sales rewards for the Christmas rush. With that in mind, are the iPhone 5 and/or iPad Mini going to be under the Christmas tree this year? We wish you a Merry Christmas, iPhone 5 and iPad mini — and a Happy New Year! Two years and fours months (and three Christmases) after the establishment of this blog, we’re still talking about the iPhone 5. Who would have thought? uniea...

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iOS 6.0.2 Update Prompts Battery Drain Complaints From iPhone 5 Users

iOS 6.0.2 and iPhone 5 battery drain A recent update to iOS 6 was meant to target wi-fi issues experienced with the iPhone 5. The new patch, however, may have afflicted the new iPhone with iPhone 4S-esque battery drain issues. It’s deja vu all over again with respect to battery drain and the iPhone 5. After the iPhone 4S release was tarnished in 2011 with widespread battery drain complaints — and initial grumblings from early iPhone 5 adopters that Apple had not done enough to improve...

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Too Much Of A Good Thing: Apple Shares Blunted By iPhone 5 Supply Chain Shortages

apple-stock-iphone-5Having blistering sales would never been thought of as a bad thing for Apple. But supply chain strains caused by unprecedented iPhone sales are starting to take its toll on Apple’s stock prices. Because rumors of the iPhone 5 have been around for so long, we’ve had years to contemplate its arrival. In the interim, you’ll recall multiple surveys and polls that suggested the iPhone 5 would go on to become the most successful smartphone in the history of the market. Heck, there...

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Purple Flare Camera Problem On The iPhone 5: It’s Your Fault — Again

iphone 5 purple flareApple has released an explanation for the bizarre, frustrating “purple flare” problem associated with the iPhone 5's camera and flash, and once again, they’re blaming the problem on user error. If you ever buy a new iPhone and something doesn’t seem right about it, chances are it’s all your fault. Or at least that seems to be the prevailing explanation that Apple gives its customers whenever epidemic problems arise with its mobile devices. As far back as the iPhone 4, the “antennagate”...

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Metal Back(ache): Early Adopters Say Aluminum On iPhone 5

iphone 5 scratchedApple CEO Tim Cook highlighted the beautiful look and feels of the iPhone 5's sumptuous aluminum back. But with new users reporting that the metal scratches and dings easily, it looks like the metal-backed iPhone 5 is fated to be covered up by plastic iPhone 5 cases. While some have been frustrated with what the iPhone 5 did and did not deliver, many have taken some solace in the fact that Apple did follow through with the metal-backed rumor that has persisted over the past...

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50 Million iPhone 5 Sales By December?

Following in the steps of its staggering pre-order and launch sales, the iPhone 5 is said to be poised to sell 50,000,000 units by the end of December. Yes, that’s the right number of zeros. 50 million. Blogs like the iPhone 5 News Blog still have a b it of work left to do in terms of reporting on the iPhone 5: discuss whether the iPhone 5 turns out to live up to its hype, and to track its sales and success. While there is still plenty of conjecture as to whether the iPhone 5 will live up to its...

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Purported, New Earbuds For The iPhone 5 Emerge

Newly leaked photos of what are said to be the iPhone 5's earbuds show a new design. But is this just another fabricated ruse? I’m not sure if earbuds are much more exciting to talk about than dock connectors. In my opinion, Apple’s current earbuds are pretty great compared to the other crappy earbuds you get with even some of the higher-end Android smartphones. That being said, earbuds are a means to an end — much like a dock connector — and changing the earbud design isn’t something that I’ve...

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iphone 5 with nfc chip

Another round of purported iPhone 5 photos have emerged, depicting the small component initially identified as NFC-related, but panned by others as false, due to the iPhone 5's metal back. More fakes, or more glimpses? You want more salacious iPhone 5 photos? We’ve got ‘em! You’ll recall that just a few days ago we passed along some photos of purported iPhone 5 parts that were dubbed the “most comprehensive...

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iOS 6, iPhone 5 To Feature Most Wireless Mobile Computing Experience Yet

In a bid to eventually make the iPhone 5 and other iOS devices completely wire-free, iOS 6 is set to usher in even more wireless and wifi-free functionality. Although it doesn’t always get talked about in one article, a lot has been rumored about the iPhone 5 with respect to its move towards wireless connectivity. Building on the adoption of OTA updates, we’ve also heard about possible wireless charging, an upgrade of the dock connector (which could have wireless consequences for the transfer of...

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iPhone 5 In September, iPad Mini In October

iphone 5 and ipad miniA new report appears to reconcile the release schedule for the long-rumored iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, with the former arriving in September and the latter in October. Over the past few weeks of mass production rumors concerning the iPhone 5, it has been difficult to reconcile the rumors that the iPad Mini would be co-released along with the iPhone 5 in September. In addition to the fact that Apple rarely presents two new, differing hardware products on the same announcement stage,...

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“Most Comprehensive Assembly” iPhone 5 Leaks With Purported NFC Chip

The first purported sightings of NFC hardware have shown up on what it being touted as the most complete leak of the iPhone 5 yet. Could iWallet really see full implementation in 2012 after all? The summer of 2012 has featured part after part of the purported iPhone 5 coming out in drips and drabs. One of the most conspicuous absences in these photos, however, has been the inclusion of chips, which would ostensibly give us a much better view of what to expect from this year’s iPhone. A...

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September 12th iPhone 5 & iPad Mini Announcement: Fact Or Fiction?

It’s amazing to me how the form factor and features of the iPhone 5, the advent of the iPad Mini, and the September 12th announcement date that will herald them all into existence, are all not a foregone conclusion for the tech media — and have been for some time. Perhaps it is simply that the media and tech users have reached some kind of psychic breaking point in their wait for the elusive iPhone 5, and that the tacit acceptance of these rumors as facts is some kind of variant on Stockholm Syndrome:...

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iPhone 5 Front Panel & Screen Leak Looks Like Previous Parts

iphone 5 with serial numbersWe’re being treated once again to what is said to be a glimpse of the iPhone 5, depicting the screen and panel at close range. Unlike some of the more recent sightings of leaked iPhone 5 parts that have come from Asian-based parts resellers and repair facilities, we now have a sighting of the purported “long body” iPhone 5 from a website called Ubreakifix.com. I agree with MacRumors, who says that “The parts don’t appear to be particularly revealing. We’ve seen similar...

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El Cheap-o iPad Mini Cases Finally Show Up Along El Cheap-o iPhone 5 Cases

ipad-mini-el-cheap-case-1 Plenty of iPhone 5 flotsam and jetsam is floating around the rumor mill, but where is all of the iPad mini junk? Now, some el cheap-o iPad Mini cases have surfaced. But does this really prove anything? Ah yes, the iPad Mini. Much like the abominable snowman, chupacabra, or bigfoot, it has been long speculated on, sometimes sighted (as in within Cupertino’s secret labs), but at present, nothing has really been seen in the Apple rumor mill pipeline — until now. According...

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The Fakest-Looking Part Of The Purported iPhone 5

If the glimpses of the purported iPhone 5 units that we’ve seen thus far are all fakes, then they are the best fakes we’ve seen to date. But there’s one angle to these supposed sightings of the New iPhone that look off to me. The more and more we hear about iPhone 5 sightings, parts, “proof” in the iOS 6 beta code, and beyond, consumers, the media, and even case designers are increasingly believing the hype. The feeling is that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the fact that so many of these...

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Report: iOS 6 Accommodates Rumored Longer iPhone 5 Display

Skeptics of the purported iPhone 5 prototypes have suggested that the longer display and stretched aspect ratio would cause mayhem in the app world. But new evidence shows that iOS 6 can accommodate the elongated screen. Among people who are skeptical of the iPhone 5 sightings first released by 9to5Mac, there tends to be two camps: the “I don’t like it” camp” and the “it cannot be done” camp. Those in the former group are acting on personal preference, and imagining that Apple would not dare elongate...

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Kicking The Google Habit: iPhone 5, iOS 6 To Drop YouTube Support

iphone 5 and iOS 6 with no youtube supportIn the wake of Apple dropping Google Maps from iOS 6 and replacing it with its own in-house technology, new news that YouTube native support will be dropped as well. Will iOS be Google-free by 2013? News broke yesterday that the native YouTube app for iOS 6 will be going the way of the do-do. The statement from Apple was posted originally on The Verge: “Our...

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iPhone 5 Display Report Complicates September 12th Announcement

Some tech media heavyweights have given the nod to the September 12th iPhone 5 announcement as being the real deal. But does a report today from Reuters regarding iPhone 5 display shipments call that date into question? On Tuesday, Charles Moore outlined a new rumor that Apple is gearing up for an iPhone 5 announcement on September 12th, which was later supported by other tech media outlets. I had a chance to run the date by Sam Levin of App Minute and our correspondent for covering Apple events,...

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“We Don’t Need Your Stinkin’ 19-Pin!” New Rumors Of An 8-Pin iPhone 5 Dock Connector

If the unbridled joy and fervor of the 30-pin dock connector being reduced to the newfangled 19-pin variety, then get ready for an even tinier, 8-pin dock connector for the iPhone 5. Or so the rumor mill tells us. For the remainder of this rumor cycle, I’m going to have to write about the dock connector with a little bit of mirth, since it seems like we’ve already spent far too much time discerning about the iPhone 5′s dock connector. Sure, a new dock connector will have implications, but fretting...

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With The iPhone 5 Features And Release Date Fully Exposed, Is There Anything Left To Speculate On

Apple’s future iPhone releases used to be the closest-held secrets in the consumer technology sector. But this year, the tech media claims to have all the answers for what the iPhone 5 will look like and when it will be released. Is cagey Apple and its secretive iPhone release a thing of the past? If you listen to the iPhone 5 rumor mill these days, it would appear that the new iPhone has been figured out: we know exactly what it will look like, the dimensions of the display, the new 19-pin dock...

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Apple Mulls Stake In Twitter

Twitter and AppleIf there’s anything Apple has not been good at, it’s social media. While Google finally seems to have figured out in own place in the social media niche with the highly Google Search-oriented Google+, Apple has struggled to craft its own branded social media experience. Building off of iTunes, Cupertino hoped that Ping could be their answer. But for as popular as Apple’s on-demand music e-commerce platform may be, it has not proven to be well-suited for a social media integration...

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GS3 Sales Swell, But Is There Really A One-On-One Android Contender For The iPhone?

The tech media has pitted the GS3 against the iPhone 5 all year. But considering its modest sales compared to the iPhone, why are we still having these GS3 vs. iPhone conversations? I was recently talking to one of my contacts in the consumer electronics accessories market, and it was interesting to hear why so few custom cases and accessories exist for even the better-selling Android and Windows smartphones: “they just don’t sell well 0— why would we build cases for them? We know the iPhone...

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GS3 Sales Swell, But Is There Really A One-On-One Android Contender For The iPhone?

The tech media has pitted the GS3 against the iPhone 5 all year. But considering its modest sales compared to the iPhone, why are we still having these GS3 vs. iPhone conversations? I was recently talking to one of my contacts in the consumer electronics accessories market, and it was interesting to hear why so few custom cases and accessories exist for even the better-selling Android and Windows smartphones: “they just don’t sell well 0— why would we build cases for them? We know the iPhone...

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Pegatron Reported To Be Producing iPhone 5 Units; New Dock Connector Rumor Goes Mainstream

More and more iPhone 5 production rumors abound, putting the new iPhone in line for an announcement and release similar to that of the iPhone 4S in 2011. Meanwhile, those persistent rumors of the smaller dock connector have seeped into the mainstream media. It was just about this time last year that we started to hear about the likes of Foxconn and Pegatron getting busy with iPhone 5 production rumors. Little did we know at the time that we’d end up with the pedestrian iPhone 4S. But if the...

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Verizon Weighs In [Again] On iPhone 5 Release Date

The second Verizon CEO in as many years has made a prediction about the iPhone 5 release date, taking a guess that it’ll be released “sometime in the fourth quarter.” Are you impressed? If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Verizon CEOs of late have a knack for injecting themselves into the iPhone 5 discussion, even if they have very little of substance to say. You’ll recall that last year, then-Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams made news when in one breath he referred to the 2011 iPhone as “iPhone...

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Verizon Weighs In [Again] On iPhone 5 Release Date

The second Verizon CEO in as many years has made a prediction about the iPhone 5 release date, taking a guess that it’ll be released “sometime in the fourth quarter.” Are you impressed? If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Verizon CEOs of late have a knack for injecting themselves into the iPhone 5 discussion, even if they have very little of substance to say. You’ll recall that last year, then-Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams made news when in one breath he referred to the 2011 iPhone as “iPhone 5? and...

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