Now that Apple has officially unveiled the iPhone 5, it is no longer a collection of rumors and speculative suggestions. The sixth-generation iPhone is a fully functioning device which consumers all over the world will be able to get their hands on starting tomorrow, or possibly today, if any delivery companies happened to shoot themselves in the foot by delivering some pre-orders early. With more than two million pre-order units sold over the first weekend, there will be some happy faces tomorrow when the delivery man comes knocking on our doors.
As you are almost certainly aware by now, the brand-new iPhone 5 is releasing tomorrow, and with consumers already queuing in their droves to be among the first to get their hands on the device, rivaling companies are queuing up to take a pop at Apple's flagship.
Yesterday, Apple released the latest major update to iOS – iOS 6 – for the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S, new iPad and iPad 2, and iPod touch 4G. It comes with 200 new features – some game-changingly huge like the new Maps application – and other small ones like being able to send out tweets and Facebook updates from Notification Center.
After a massive defeat in U.S. court against Apple, Samsung is preparing itself to take Apple to court over its iPhone 5, which, according to current information, infringes upon almost ten patents. Check out the details after the jump!
iOS 6 has just been released to the public, and if you're just about to give the new firmware its first test on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you may be wondering what some of the key new features are. On the face of it, the home screen looks essentially unchanged, but Apple has brought in many significant upgrades and enhancements to its iconic mobile operating system. We've compiled a detailed video running through these improvements, which you can check out after the jump.
Although the big news today from Apple is the release of iOS 6 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, the Cupertino company has also taken the opportunity to release an update to OS X Mountain Lion, which moves up to 10.8.2. Given that the desktop department of Apple's two main operating systems now borrows many features of iOS, these simultaneous releases should be expected, and if you have upgraded to Mountain Lion, this is an update you most certainly won't want to miss.
iOS 6 was first announced a couple months back at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, otherwise known as WWDC '12, and with the iPhone 5 showcased last week in a well documented Yerba Buena-based affair, Apple also revealed the latest iteration of its famous mobile ecosystem would be landing on 19th. True to its word, the company has made the final version of iOS 6 available to download for the masses today.
There wasn't, perhaps, quite the palava last year when iOS 5 notched up an incredible number of betas before finally being released, but it's fair to say - as with any OS release - Apple has again found itself having to work tirelessly in order to ready iOS 6 for its scheduled drop date.
Further adding to yesterday's coverage, which showed images purported to be of a mockup of the iPad Mini, Andy over at GizChina has managed to get his hands on what looks to be an identical dummy model. Costing $13, the form factor representation of the upcoming Apple gadget has been doing the rounds on the Chinese market, and this is the first time we've managed to get an up close and personal look at what is believed to be the iPad Mini.
The announcement at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts saw the introduction of the iPhone 5 may not have brought about the additional surprises which we were hoping for, but it did bring a new Apple smartphone that seems to have once again captured the imagination of consumers. Critics took their usual stand of complaining that Apple had concentrated on making minor aesthetic changes rather than going down the route of innovation and announcing a truly revolutionary device. Consumers are the ones that matter, and with over two million new iPhones pre-ordered in just 24 hours, it looks like Apple will be onto another winner with the release.
