In an official press statement released today, Apple has announced that the sixth-generation iPhone - known around the by its official name, the iPhone 5 - will be released to the South Korean market this coming Friday along with 50 additional markets going forward. Apple originally released the elongated smartphone on September 21st to the first batch of territories with subsequent releases hitting a number of other countries on September 28th and November 2nd. With the handset shifting over two million units in the first twenty-four hours of pre-orders going live, and five million units during the opening weekend, it's likely that the device will be positively received in new territories.
Whenever Apple release a new Mac or revamp their iOS device line-up with a new iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, it has become a tradition for the iFixit team to get their hands on the new hardware and deconstruct it bit-by-bit to take a look at the engineering that has gone into manufacturing the device and the individual components under the hood. The latest hardware to hit our shelves is the redesigned 21.5-inch iMac that landed last Friday, and as always the corresponding teardown reveals, the inner beauty of the machine as well as some rather bleak news for those who love to tinker with their hardware.
The global smartphone industry is an extremely competitive and tough industry to be a part of, and is one that takes constant innovation in order to stay ahead of the pack. Out of all the smaller segments that make up the global industry, the United States based market is probably one of the most lucrative for companies, and therefore one of the most important to be successful in. For the first time in their smartphone selling history, Apple has breezed passed Korean based LG Electronics to become the second largest mobile device supplier in the US according to recent figures from comScore.
It is a well-known fact that many of us have developed something of an attachment to our mobile devices. In fact, some smartphone owners could have their devices stuck to their hands permanently, and nobody would think anything amiss. But some folk – or at least, those with an affinity to Apple - have taken their love for their prized gadget a little further, using familiar Cupertino products as inspiration for child-naming.
Such has been the coverage of the iPhone 5 and subsequently, the iPad mini, that the small matter of the radically-redesigned iMac has slipped into the back of our minds. When Apple launched the smaller tablet last month, it also gave us a look at the all-new iMac, and although there was - to the disappointment of many - no Retina display, the new slender look seemed to go down with the on-looking tech world.
China may be the nucleus of Apple's very being in terms of manufacturing, but in terms of product releases, still generally has to wait until the United States, Europe, and much of the world has gotten its fill before seeing the likes of the iPhone and iPad. Today, the Cupertino company has released an official press statement, detailing the release of the iPhone 5 and iPad mini to the increasingly lucrative Chinese market, set to arrive in December.
The iPhone 5 has been available to the general public for just over seventy days, and although we have already seen some rough estimates of sales and user adoption, we should accept the fact that it has taken Apple over two months to get stock levels into a position to keep up with demand. In the United Kingdom, and in other several parts of Europe, we sometimes take it for granted that we can just walk into an Apple Store or visit the website and purchase an entirely SIM-free iPhone with no minimum contract, which is a luxury now afforded to American consumers across the pond directly from an Apple Store.
Apple is carving themselves a name recently as the company who delivers hardware and software to consumers in bunches rather than releasing things in dribs and drabs, which is something that has been evident with the recent iPhone and iPod releases as well as the two new iPads and new range of Macs. It should be common knowledge by now that the eagerly anticipated iTunes 11 has officially been released to the public and Apple have continued the multiple release trend by pushing up version 3.0 of their extremely popular Remote iOS app that lives on the App Store.
Today is a big day in Apple's software calendar, and as well as the small matter of a new-look iTunes 11, update 5.1.1 has just been released for the Apple TV. The little black box doesn't quite get the attention of some other iOS devices, but with continual rumors of a connected Apple TV on the horizon, it's hardly surprising so few have picked up the $99 set-top. Unlike iTunes, which looks vastly different from the old versions, update 5.1.1 isn't too much of a bump, offering mainly bug fixes, couples with support for iTunes Up Next with iTunes 11 or iTunes Match.
Apple just pushed out an improved version of its desktop media player / content hub, bringing the version number up to 11. It was originally presumed that iTunes 11 would drop alongside the iPhone 5, iPad mini or the 4th-gen iPad, but instead, it has been released after many delays which we’ve documented quite well here at Redmond Pie. As well as feeling a lot lighter than it has ever done, some work has gone into reshaping the look of the App Store, as well as iTunes itself.
