iPhone 5

iPhone supply shortages happen almost every year, but with the iPhone 5 they've been compounded by quality assurance concerns -- namely chips and scratches occurring at the factory before the devices are as much as opened by customers. A nameless Foxconn executive has some thoughts as to why.

Love them or hate them, every year Blendtec tests out its latest power blender against the latest tech toys. Normally we don’t have to wait very long for the latest iPhone to get the treatment; last year it was on launch day and the blending managed to upset quite a few folks who couldn't get their hands on one for whatever reason. This year we have had to wait a few weeks since launch and it’s done a bit differently to normal. Blendtec has pitted the iPhone 5 against the Samsung Galaxy S3.

The tech world has been ablaze with complaints relating to the iPhone 5 lately. Everything from Apple maps to scratched phones straight out of the box. Are we making a big deal out of nothing? Saturday Night Live seems to think so.

Despite problems with Maps and complaints about the new Lightning connector, there is increased demand for the iPhone 5 than the iPhone 4S this time last year, a new survey finds. Conducted by 451 Research and ChangeWave Research, the survey of 4,270 primarily North American consumers, the survey shows that despite the attention given to these issues by the press, they barely seem to concern customers. In all, 32% of those surveyed said that they were likely to get the iPhone 5, up from 22.5% for the 4S a year ago. Of those unlikely to buy the phone, 61% responded that their current phone was good enough.

Today EE (formerly Everything Everywhere) announced that all 700 of the Orange and T-Mobile stores will be re-branded as EE by the end of the month to coincide with the 4G roll out. The news arrives along with some special EE staff training that is happening at the NEC in Birmingham where 12,000 internal staff and 3000 partners will learn about the new brand.

The iPhone 5 is the thinnest, lightest iPhone ever, but the iPod touch 5 is almost 2-dimensional. Everything comes at a price, however, and so while the iPod touch 5 is even thinner and lighter than the iPhone 5, it doesn't have anywhere near as good internals. If you don't care about that, however, if all you want to do is scratch the surface and find more surface, then here's how the iPod touch 5 compares to the iPhone 5 is close up. And for good measure, we'll throw in some iPod touch 4 and iPod touch 3 action as well.

The decision to go with aluminum in the latest iPhone 5 is now being blamed for the poor availability and shipping times. The iPhone 5 has been on sale for just over two weeks now and Apple is still quoting availability for new devices at the time of writing of 3-4 weeks. According to a report by Bloomberg, the reason for the slow availability is all down to quality control problems with the aluminum used in the banding around the iPhone 5 and the back cover.

App.net (ADN), an alternative to Twitter that seeks to better balance the needs of the platform owners with developers and users, saw substantial growth in the last couple of weeks. This is partly due to the arrival of popular clients -- for end users the interface is the app, after all, and familiarity is a huge feature. In addition to attracting attention, these clients reduced the learning curve and the stress level often associated with platform change. ADN also lowered the cost of their service. Initially ADN cost $50 a year for a non-developer account, which was a substantial barrier to entry for anyone but the geekiest of geek users (#227, at your service). While $50 is less than some people spend on fancy caffeinated beverages each month, it still feels like a big up-front expense for something that may or may not provide a significant return. ADN dropped the yearly price to $36, but what's more, they introduced a new $5 monthly option. $5 a month is actually $60 a year, which is more expensive than it was previously, but far more people will be willing to give ADN a chance at $5 than $50, as any substantial period of time beyond a few days blurs towards the amorphous. It's a lower up-front cost, and hence, lower up-front risk.

It's objection handling at the product level, and it's smart business. It's something Apple has been doing going on a decade, and something they're doing especially well with iOS devices right now.