You can now order your iPhone 5s

Ok folks, the time has arrived. Those in one of the 9 initial launch countries can now order your iPhone 5s handset. Just as promised, the Cupertino company began accepting online orders for its new flagship smartphone right around midnight this morning.

It appears that some users are still seeing Apple’s ‘We’ll be back’ poster on Apple.com, but the Apple Store app is up and running. Remember that carriers are also accepting online orders, so it’s worth checking out their websites if you have trouble getting in…

Apple takes US store offline ahead of iPhone 5s launch

Apple has taken its US web store down as it prepares to begin selling the iPhone 5s. The handset will be available for online order starting at 12:01 am Pacific Standard Time tomorrow morning, and in stores at 8 am.

AT&T also seems to have taken a majority of its site down, and replaced it with a countdown splash page. Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile sites seem to be working fine though, and they will all be selling the 5s online...

iFixit gives the iPhone 5s the teardown treatment

Though we’ve still got a good 10 hours or so before the iPhone 5s officially goes on sale here in the US, the handset has already landed in Australia and other countries. And from what we're hearing , stock is extremely limited.

But wouldn't you know it, the folks over at iFixit managed to snag one, and have already started their teardown ritual. And you know what that means: hi-res photos of the new A7 chip, Touch ID sensor and more coming up...

iOS 7 vulnerability allows anyone to bypass Lock screen

The highly-anticipated iOS 7 update just started hitting iPhones and iPads yesterday, and already a major vulnerability has been discovered. Just like iOS 6.1 before it, the exploit involves a sequence of touches that allows a user to bypass a device's Lock screen.

The bug isn't easy to reproduce, but I was able to replicate it on my iPhone 4s. And despite having a passcode, it gave me access to a number of apps that contain personal data like photos, email, text messages, and both my Facebook and Twitter accounts...

Logitech teases first iOS 7-compatible game controller

In addition to its new design, and new features, iOS 7 includes a number of new tools for developers to take advantage of. And one that we're really excited about is support for third party game controllers.

Games in iOS 7 will be able to tie into Apple's Game Controller framework, allowing for the universal use of authorized 'MFi' devices. And today, Logitech and others began teasing their first MFi gamepads...

Apple Stores start being prepped with colorful iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c displays

We're just a few hours away from the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launch here in the US, so it is not surprising to see Apple starting prepping its stores with colorful and somewhat original displays.

These displays are pretty original, if you ask me. From what I can tell, they're made of hundreds of little balls, brought together in a rectangular shape, and made of different colors...

Google makes Quickoffice mobile productivity suite free, gives away 10GB extra Drive space

There was a time when my mobile productivity used to depend on mine accessing, reading and editing Microsoft Office documents on the go. Over time, I'd found Quickoffice to be the most comprehensive mobile replacement for Microsoft's productivity suite so you could imagine I wasn't too happy after Google acquired the company in June of 2012. I was afraid the search giant would, for competitive reasons, call it a day and simply fold the team.

A few updates later, Google's made Quickoffice a free download on iOS and Android devices. The software integrates with Google's Drive storage and lets you edit Microsoft Office documents across your devices in their native form, without having to convert the files to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides...

Target offering 16gb iPhone 5c for $79 with 2-year contract

If you're still in the market for an iPhone 5c, you might want to check out Target at some point tonight or tomorrow. The retailer is advertising that it will be offering the 16GB model of the handset for just $79.

Of course, that price comes with a two-year carrier contract. But it matches Walmart's pricing, which is one of the lowest we've seen for the smartphone outside of Sprint's $100 off promotion for new customers...

Poll: what iPhone 5s color would you pick?

Apple's new iPhones go on sale tomorrow at 8am at Apple and carrier retail stores across the United States and ten major international markets - among them, for the first time on launch day, China. Early signs of severely constrained supply led analysts to project a blockbuster opening weekend.

With nearly a third of customers already on iOS 7, some folks have cunningly obtained a new iPhone by virtue of installing the free iOS 7 update. To all you power users out there who happen to be in the market for a new iPhone, your choice couldn't be simpler: the sleek, fast, 64-bit, fingerprint-reading, top-of-the-line iPhone 5s.

If you count yourself among this club, your First World Problem comes down to the choice of color. So, what finish would you pick if you were buying an iPhone 5s?

Instagrids makes your Instagram profile unique

Have you ever checked out someone’s profile on Instagram? In the upper left corner is the user’s profile picture. Posts, followers, and a personal note is next to that. And then, there is a grid with all of the user’s pictures. What if that grid was made up of a bunch of images that made one big one?

Instagrids does that. Instead of focusing on individual pictures that a person uploads to their Instagram feed, this app uploads segments of a full picture, making your profile grid display the whole picture…

My family cares about taking a good picture, not a megapixel count

In an interview with USA Today, Craig Federighi illustrates what I believe is the essence of Apple:

"Look at the camera space, companies are chasing megapixels but the pictures often look horrible because of their tiny sensors," says Federighi. "My family cares about taking a good picture, not a megapixel count. We carry that through to all the decisions we make about our phone. What experience is it going to deliver? Not what number will it allow us to put on a spec sheet."

This is the thinking behind everything Apple does. And this is why my mom has an iPhone.