The initial iPhone 5 pricing was part of what made T-Mobile’s big new “no-contract” phones push so attractive. Now the carrier is changing the rules: it requires a $149 down payment. Read more »
It may not be the iPhone 5 they buy — the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S may prove more attractive — but that’s OK. Read more »
By the end of March, Apple was selling more iPhone 5 devices as a share of iPhones than in December. But at the same time, the share of older model phones it is selling has never been higher. Read more »
With a special promotion beginning on Friday, the carrier is hoping to give potential customers even more reasons to switch from a competitor to their new contract-free iPhones for sale. Read more »
The Linkase for iPhone 5 boasts up to a 50 percent boost in Wi-Fi signal strength thanks to a small electromagnetic waveguide extension. Does it work? See for yourself in these mobile speedtests where Wi-Fi is usually terrible. Read more »
On this week’s mobile call in podcast, we recap all of the T-Mobile news: no contracts, the iPhone 5 and a new LTE network. Then we hit your questions about running Linux on a Chromebook and which is the best keyboard for Android. Read more »
GigaOM’s coverage of T-Mobile’s “uncarrier” event can be found here. Read more »
T-Mobile may have focused on finally getting the iPhone 5 at its UnCarrier press event, but the company also let slip that the Galaxy S 4 is coming around May 1 for the same $99 down plus monthly payments over time. Read more »
Sorry iPhone 5, HTC One, and BlackBerry Z10: Samsung’s new Galaxy S 4 looks to take the performance crown based on early benchmarking tests: Geekbench 2 scores on the GS4 are nearly double that of the iPhone 5. Read more »
I’ve owned every iPhone model to date. Here’s my experience going from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5, including what I’ve liked, what has not met my expectations and what I’d like to see in a new version. Read more »
The main feature Mophie improved with the Juice Pack Air is the size of the embedded lithium battery, which will fully recharge the iPhone 5′s battery. Read more »
The FT says Apple’s manufacturing partner isn’t hiring any more workers for a month because of lowered iPhone 5 demand. But Bloomberg got a spokesman to offer a different explanation. Read more »
Both the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S outsold Samsung’s Galaxy S III juggernaut, which after five months of availability, sold 15.4 million units during the fourth quarter. Read more »
Since iPhone 5 is different in shape and weight compared to the iPhone 4S, the latest Juice Pack battery pack has had to adapt. Read more »
LTE devices drove Verizon’s fourth quarter. It activated 7.3 million LTE devices in three months and sold 6.2 million iPhones. Half of those iPhones were Apple’s newest LTE-enabled model. Read more »
While a 50 percent cut in demand does sound big, at least one Apple analyst is urging perspective with regard to Apple’s typical fiscal second quarter sales. Read more »
Straight Talk, the $45 a month no-contract provider that resells wireless service from major U.S. carriers, has finally embraced the iPhone 5. Walmart is selling the phone with Straight Talk service and $25 a month no-interest financing. But there’s one major caveat to the deal. Read more »
Some of Apple’s gain appears to be RIM’s loss as Blackberry sales dropped off at both carriers. The remaining pickup by Apple may have come from new customers, or from upgrades from Android devices, which lost share year over year between mid-October and late November. Read more »
Many of the biggest stories in the connected consumer space occurred mostly offstage in 2012, from Apple’s new media services to policymakers in Washington. Overall, the past 12 months have laid important groundwork for significant advances in the connected consumer space. The year 2013 should be eventful. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
News footage outside of Apple Stores in China on Friday showed very small or non-existant lines and some investors assumed the worst. But it turned out that those early reports didn’t indicate lack of demand at all. Instead, Apple had its biggest China launch weekend yet. Read more »
News coverage showed Apple Store lines in China on Friday were small to non-existant on the first day of the device’s launch in the country. But let’s not forget the steps Apple has taken in improving crowd control after January’s iPhone 4S launch. Read more »
Apple dropped the YouTube app from default inclusion in iOS 6, and Google had only issued a replacement native app for the iPhone and iPod touch. But Google is finally giving the iPad some love too. The app has also been fine-tuned for the iPhone 5. Read more »
Apple is loading up inventory of the iPhone 5 to meet the expected outsize demand of the holiday cycle and hitting big, important markets like China, South Korea and Brazil before the end of the year. Read more »
The iPad and iPad mini that will be for sale in China are strictly Wi-Fi only — no cellular option yet. They hit the shelves on Dec. 7. The iPhone 5 will be in stores in the country a week after that. Read more »
China’s Telecommunications Equipment Certification Center says licenses to carry the device have now been approved for two carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom. That’s a good indication that Apple’s most important product is about to go on sale in one of its most critical markets. Read more »
Looking to add a second screen experience to a single device? Check out popSLATE, a new iPhone 5 case with a 4-inch e-ink display on the back. The Indiegogo project is looking for $150,000 in funding and pledges start at $79 for the innovative case. Read more »
Cumulative Android sales started surpassing that of iPhones in 2010, but as Apple improves its handset, it often gets a sales boost following each model launch. Thanks to iPhone 5, that boost was enough to beat out Android sales in the U.S., but not overseas. Read more »
China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu said “the phone should be by early December if not sooner,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The uncertainty is due to the device winning regulatory approval in China. Read more »
Foxconn is having trouble assembling the iPhone 5 — still. If it’s so complicated that what Apple considers the best contract manufacturer on the planet can’t figure out a way to produce it that keeps up with demand, it’s worth wondering if perhaps Apple designers overreached. Read more »
That Apple plans to fill orders in those two populous countries at the same time that it’s still weeks behind fulfilling orders in the U.S. and elsewhere leaves little hope that Apple will catch up on backorders anytime soon. Read more »
The refresh of the entire mobile lineup and most of the Mac lineup and Apple’s decision to ramp production on all of these products at almost the same time has costs, CFO Peter Oppenheimer explained in a call with investors. Read more »
AT&T and Verizon are sold out of the iPhone 5 and have weeks of backorders to fill. But Sprint, according to analysts, has plenty of 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 units on hand. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: rare photos from inside Foxconn, Apple’s forced public apology to Samsung, why Apple would buy Color, more stores coming to China, and a possible iPhone 5 keyboard software glitch. Read more »
Verizon activated 4.5 million LTE devices in the third quarter, an increase of 1.3 million over Q2. While the iPhone 5 was introduced only 10 days before the close of the quarter the new LTE-powered Apple phone contributed to that growth. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: The iPhone 5 is really hard to build, Apple pops up at the presidential debate, pricing an iPad mini, and the ITC investigates Apple. Read more »
Apple stole the spotlight in the third quarter with the release of its iPhone 5, Amazon pursued the tablet market aggressively with a new line of tablets, and Microsoft prepped to launch Windows 8 and the highly anticipated Surface tablet. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The iPhone 5 is a few weeks old but according to one mobile advertiser, it’s already getting more mobile web traffic from the iPhone 5 versus Samsung’s Galaxy S III, which launched in June. There’s still an Android win here if you look deep enough. Read more »
While Apple SVP Phil Schiller reportedly gave the brush off to a customer who complained about the easily scratched iPhone 5, Apple apparently took action anyway. A new report says Apple is pressuring Foxconn with stricter quality control standards. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Apple Maps a little too accurate in some cases, Apple’s response to iPhone 5 purple haze, a new consortium for advancing HTML5, iPhone 5 expansion and more. Read more »
On this week’s audio podcast, Matt shares two weeks of using an iPhone 5 while Kevin tries to sway Matt to buy a Galaxy Note 2, a high performing 5.5-inch Android phone that runs all day (and more!) on a single charge. Read more »
