Edible Apple

Thought it hasn’t even hit store shelves yet, Apple’s iPhone 5 may very well soon be Apple’s most successful iPhone model yet. Pre-orders for the device were zapped in just 1 hour, a wildly significant decrease from the 22 hours it took the iPhone 4S to sell.

Acknowledging the incredible demand for the iPhone, Jim Darlymple of The Loop received a statement from Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris who said, “Pre-orders for iPhone 5 have been incredible. We’ve been completely blown away by the customer response.”

These headphones can only be an improvement from Apple’s old headphones which were horribly uncomfortable and so un-ergonomic that they’d fall out of one’s ear at the slightest turn

You knew it was coming, folks. The good people over at Buzzfeed have somehow gotten their hands on an iPhone 10 prototype and man, Apple sure is taking the idea of a longer screen and running with it.

Sleek!

via Buzzfeed

Apple showed off the iPhone 5 for the first time this past Wednesday and though they introduced a number of new features – 4G support, a larger screen, an upgraded camera – one rumored feature wasn’t mentioned at all. Of course, I’m referring to NFC support.

Still, Apple does have its Passbook feature in iOS 6 which users can use to cash in on gift cards along with things such as airline boarding passes.

But why no NFC, you might be wondering.

Well, Ina Fried of All Things D caught up with Apple’s Phil Schiller who explained that Passbook essentially does what most users want without having to traverse through the sometimes murky world of merchant payment systems, credit cards, and security considerations.

It’s not clear that NFC is the solution to any current problem, Schiller said. “Passbook does the kinds of things customers need today.”

Schiller also touched on the iPhone 5’s lack of a wireless charging option, a feature which first debuted with the Palm Pre way back when. To that end, Schiller explained that “Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated.”

And lastly, Schiller addressed Apple’s new Lightning connector found on the iPhone 5. Of course in doing so the company did away with its legacy 30-pin dock connector which has been the de-facto standard for Apple mobile products since 2003. As was previously rumored, the reason for the switch was to save space to the extent the old dock connector limited the thinness of devices Apple could develop.

via All Things D

Damn, ya’ll. The iPhone 5 is hot. Whereas it took the iPhone 4S 22 hours to sell out once pre-orders opened up for business, the iPhone 5 was sold out in just 1 hour.

Yep. One hour after pre-orders went live tonight, Apple.com shifted shipping expectations from one to two weeks due to the overwhelming demand.

Demand for the phone caused problems on Apple’s website and several of the wireless carriers’ sites, as many users were met with error messages as they attempted to pre-order the new iPhone. There’s always plenty of hubbub around Apple product launches, though the pre-order launch of the iPhone 4S came and went without problems on Apple.com or carrier sites. It wouldn’t be surprising if this turns out to be an indication of what’s to come.

Exactly. What’s to come is a monster in the form of the iPhone 5. With 4G LTE and a much larger screen, not to mention a sleek new design, the iPhone 5 stands ready to be the most successful iPhone launch in history. In fact, dare we go so far as to call it a no-brainer that the iPhone 5 will easily sell more units than every other iPhone model combined.

And investors so far are loving it as shares of Apple are now up over 11 points with the stock trading at $694.11, having earlier reached an all-time intraday high of $695.86.

via TechCrunch

An interesting discussion over at CultofMac about the merits and potential dangers involved in downloading MacKeeper.

The complaints about MacKeeper are all over the shop: It’s a virus. It holds your machine hostage until you pay up. It can’t be completely removed if you decide to delete it. Instead of speeding up your computer, it slows it down. It erases your hard drive, deletes photos, and disappears documents. There are protests about MacKeeper’s annual subscription fees. Zeobit is slammed for seedy marketing tactics. It runs pop-under ads, plants sock-puppet reviews and encourages sleazy affiliate sites, critics say.

But what’s really strange is that MacKeeper has been almost universally praised by professional reviewers. All week I’ve been checking out reviews on the Web and I can’t find a bad one.

All the reviews praise the software for being well designed and easy to use. Macworld magazine calls it “a gem.” TUAW gives it a favorable review. Dave Hamilton of Backbeat Media, a Mac industry veteran, recently talked it up at Macworld Expo. None of the professional reviewers complain of slowed-down machines or deleted data.

Check out the full story over here. It’s rather interesting.

An interesting little expose into the behind the scenes happenings at InCase ahead of the iPhone 5 announcement:

Now, gathered in one of the company’s conference rooms at its headquarters in San Francisco, the team was taking in the details coming in from the nearby launch event and trying to figure out how they would impact the cases they’ll be making for the iPhone 5. “There’s the connector and speakers,” someone said. “Where’s the headphone” jack? “Is it two speakers in the bottom instead of one microphone,” asks iPad and MacBook product manager Tim Ahn.

For the design team, the key things to consider were how to ensure that the cases don’t affect the way the iPhone 5’s camera and flash work, and that users are able to access all of the device’s ports. At the same time, they needed to be sure that Apple’s new EarPod headphones, as well as Incase’s own headphones, and that of third-party manufacturers, fit properly. And, the cases need to stylishly accommodate Apple’s new Lightning 9-pin connector, a significant change from the 30-pin connector every iPhone, iPad, and iPod dating back to 2002 has used.

The idea for Incase is to get as much data on the iPhone 5 as possible and then spring into action. A big part of that was finding out the specs for the new device so that the design and manufacturing teams could adapt the prototypes they’d crafted. “We’ll take all those style concepts that we vetted on the [iPhone] 4 and change the CAD designs to…fit the [iPhone] 5 from the information we know today,” Gatto said. “And then that information will b used to change the tools to create a product that’s sized for the 5. And that can take weeks.”

Check out the full scoop over at CNET.

So much for that failed social experiment. After two years Apple is finally closing the doors down on Ping come September 30.

Apple tried, but it turns out its customers weren’t interested in forming new social connections specifically around iTunes music. So, just two years after it was introduced, Apple is officially retiring its Ping social network. The service is shutting down on Sept. 30, according to a message posted Wednesday in the Ping section of iTunes.

Via Gigaom

Nicely said:

Look at the mobile landscape right now. There are two companies that are making any money in smartphones: Apple and Samsung. Or, put another way: Apple and the company Apple just won a billion dollar-plus judgement against for copying their smartphone designs. So while some may find Apple’s trick old hat now, no one else has figured out how to pull it off — except for the company doing a mediocre copy of the trick. I’d argue it’s because everyone is focusing on The Pledge and The Prestige, but Apple is the only one focusing on The Turn.

They’re the only ones photographing their assembly process with 29 megapixel cameras to ensure that a machine picks the exact inlet from 725 unique cuts. They’re the only ones who spend three years working on earphones. They’re the only ones who would go out of their way to try to re-design a device to look and act similar even though the bulk of it has largely changed.

That’s the thing — when people say they’re disappointed about the new iPhone, what they’re really saying is that they’re disappointed it doesn’t look that much different from previous version(s). But again, not only is that true, Apple went out of their way to make sure that was the case.

Engadget:

The phone itself doesn’t feel too much different than the iPhone 4 and 4S; yes, it’s a bit taller, but by keeping the width the same, you’ll utilize a very familiar grasp to hold it.

In typical Apple fashion, even the finest details have been worked over tirelessly. The metal feels downright elegant to the touch, and the same line we’ve said time and time again applies here: there’s no doubting the premium fit and finish when you clutch one of these things.

Slashgear:

Gripping it, your thumb is able to navigate the full length of the display without stretching, just as promised, and while it’s undoubtedly a light handset it doesn’t feel delicate. We loved the Retina Display in the iPhone 4/4S, but the iPhone 5 trumps both: it looks somehow crisper and cleaner, and it’s bright, even under the lights of Apple’s demo area. The anti-glare coating certainly helps there.

Telegraph:

The biggest change, literally, is the larger screen. Here, I’m thankful that Apple opted not to go wider. Samsung’s Galaxy S3 is too big for my taste and I think Apple is right to say that the width of the iPhone is right for the average hand. The taller screen means more apps in view, more web page to look at and full widescreen movies but doesn’t sacrifice comfort.

TechCrunch:

The screen is the real draw here and I’m really interested to see how it improves the experience in real-world conditions. Obviously you’re getting just a bit more real estate and the Lightning connector allows for far more room for battery and processor. Again, it’s far too early to tell right now, but if you’re looking for something in the sweet spot between monsters like the Galaxy S III and the arguably bordering-on-too-small (at this point) iPhone 4, this may be a good compromise.

Build quality is quite nice and the solid aluminum is quite unique and quite solid. Hopefully this will reduce some damage if it falls on a hard surface.

The Verge:

The 7.6mm, 112-gram chassis is incredibly sleek, and exceptionally light… it feels almost too light in the hand. This isn’t just in comparison to the relatively heavy iPhone 4S — sure, the iPhone 5 may not be the thinnest phone out there as Apple claims — but this feels incredibly light against smartphones in general.

The iPhone 5 is still a sturdy and solid-feeling device, despite the weight loss. The back is primarily a slab of machined aluminum — as are the sides — but just as we saw in the leaks there are two strips of glass along the top and bottom of the device. These strips feel identical to the glass that drapes over the entire face of the device.

Apple does a really great job with these.

Along with the iPhone 5, Apple earlier today introduced revamped models of both the iPhone 5 and the iPod Touch.

The new iPod Touch has a large 4-inch screen like the iPhone 5 and measures in at a very small 88 grams and just 6mm of thickness. Also included is a 5-megapixel camera with backside illumination, a hybrid IR filter, five-element lens, f/2.4 aperture, auto-focus, LED flash, and a sapphire crystal lens cover. Panorama is also included.

As for the Nano, it sort of looks like a mini iPhone. It has a 2.5-inch multitouch display and comes in 7 funky colors.

PC Mag adds:

An integrated FM tuner includes a live pause option, allowing you to pause FM radio or go back and listen again. Apple is also bringing video back to the nano, and will build a pedometer right into the device, allowing for Nike+ integration out of the box.

Apple will also integrate Bluetooth into the iPod nano for the first time so you can wirelessly stream your music collection.

All in all, a busy day for Apple!