iPhone 5

Verizon won’t charge iPhone 5 owners for unwarranted cellular data usage

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 1, 2012

The nation's #1 carrier Verizon Wireless today officially confirmed it won't charge iPhone 5 customers for any unwarranted cellular data usage stemming from flawed carrier settings on the device. In case you didn't know, Apple has quickly identified the issue and delivered a patch to iPhone 5 customers on the Verizon network.

The affected customers feared Verizon would charge data traffic incurred as a result of the bug on their monthly statement. This is certainly good news, especially coming from a carrier who overcharged the government for voice and data communication services and earned its notoriety for incurring mystery fees on people without data plans who visited web pages that were supposed to be free...

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Analysts: Mapgate not affecting insatiable demand for the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 1, 2012

With last Friday's addition of 22 new countries, the iPhone 5 is now available in 31 major markets but many would still be hard pressed to buy one due to dwindling stock both in the United States and in other countries around the world. By all accounts, the iPhone 5 demand is off the charts, Mapgate be damned.

Matter of fact, quite the opposite is happening: demand for the iPhone 5 is surging as mapping woes don't appear to slow sales (though customer satisfaction ratings did take a hit). Looks like that CEO apology was a pre-emptive maneuver to smartly protect the brand in the long haul...

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Carrier update for iPhone 5 pushed to Verizon subscribers

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Have you noticed Verizon cellular data usage increments on your iPhone 5 while connected to Wi-Fi? If so, then you definitely want to apply a recently released carrier settings update, which was issued to Verizon subscribers to fix the issue.

The update will change the Verizon carrier settings from 13.0 to 13.1. Although, under most circumstances, cellular data should not be used while connected to a Wi-Fi network, that appears to be exactly what has been happening for some customers.

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Facebook Messenger refreshed with chat bubbles, iPhone 5 support, Favorites

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2012

Facebook's standalone chat client called Messenger has been updated yesterday to version 2.0. In addition to bug fixes and support for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5's taller four-inch display (so you can see more messages with less scrolling), the app comes with the handy new Favorites feature and the interface has been tweaked around chat bubbles. I also weigh in on why you'll want to keep the chat app and the full-blown Facebook client both running on your device...

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Breakdown of iPhone 5 pricing across 25 localized Apple Stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2012

We know from before that countries like Russia, India and Brazil sell the most expensive iPhones in the world, both in relative and absolute terms. While the iPhone 5 is yet to launch in these markets (Apple plans to have the gizmo available in 100 countries across 240 carriers by year's end), with today's addition of 22 new countries the iPhone 5 is now officially available in 31 major territories around the world.

One thing becomes readily apparent just glancing at Apple's localized online stores: the iPhone 5 prices vary depending on the region, based on local policies, taxes and other factors influencing price calculations...

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Google updates Gmail app for the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Google's been on a roll these days. They brought as the official YouTube app and the awesome Chrome browser, have improved Google Contacts sync in iOS, are working on a standalone Maps app and Street View on the web and will soon launch an interesting traveling companion app called Field Trip. Plus, Google's nice Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad is getting better with each iteration.

And earlier this morning, a minor update went live bringing support for the iPhone 5's taller four-inch dispay, so you can see more of your messages in the list view and more content in the message view without needing to scroll quite as much. Another benefit of the taller display: typing gets easier as the virtual keyboard in landscape mode is a bit wider.

Also, this...

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Sony/ATV reportedly nixed Apple’s music-streaming plan

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

It isn't news that Apple wanted to create a streaming-music service that would compete against Pandora. But now we are learning the back-story of why the idea was nixed - and it is a familiar refrain. According to a Friday morning news report, music publisher Sony/ATV wanted larger royalties for its songs...

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Sharp: we removed bottleneck in supplies of iPhone 5 displays

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2012

The struggling Japanese electronics giant Sharp confirmed Friday that it is making "adequate volumes" of displays used for Apple's iPhone 5, Reuters reports. Sharp's statement arrives just as Apple has rolled out the device to 22 more countries this morning. The ongoing supply constraints continue to affect availability of the iPhone 5, which still shows 2-3 week shipping times on Apple's international online stores. Furthermore, some international carriers stopped taking iPhone 5 pre-orders due to low supplies...

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The iPhone 5 goes on sale in 22 more countries today

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Making good on its promise, Apple today is rolling out the iPhone 5 to 22 new countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The iPhone 5 originally launched on Friday, September 21, in nine major markets, including the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Apple's self-imposed goal is to have the new phone available in over a hundred countries across 240 carriers by year's end...

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The iPhone 5’s A6 processor can dynamically vary its clock speed for performance

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The A6 chip which debuted on the iPhone 5 earlier this month can do some pretty clever tricks, stemming from a heavily customized ARMv7 design. Benchmark data suggests that the A6 can dynamically overclock itself to up to 1.3GHz and downclock to just 500MHz, depending on workload.

This is nothing new in chip design, of course (just ask Nvidia or Qualcomm). But given that Apple designs its chips in-house based on ARM and Imagination Technologies blueprints, it shows just how far along Cupertino is versus companies that use off-the-shelf chips which are not as power or performance-efficient as the A6...

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Ahead of tomorrow’s launch, some global carriers stop taking iPhone 5 pre-orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 27, 2012

With less than 24 hours until the second phase of global iPhone roll-out, some carriers have stopped taking pre-orders for the device due to low supply. Over in Slovakia, carriers Slovak Telekom and Orange Slovakia stopped taking pre-orders amid widespread supply constraints, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Furthermore, I've just checked with the nine global Apple Stores that currently sell the iPhone 5 and nearly all of them still quote 2-3 week delivery estimate, suggesting that Apple is selling iPhones as fast as it can make them. Folks around the world are obviously getting fed up with the iPhone...

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