How would you react if you learned that Apple planned to force users to upgrade their iOS devices by making the old ones explode after a set period of time, like secret documents in a James Bond movie? (Well, this writer would push away his old model iPhone 5 for one thing!).

While this may not quite be the case (at all), an iPhone 3GS user in Beijing is alleging that his smartphone suddenly exploded on November 13 while lying on his bedside table. Fortunately no one was hurt.

If you’re a hardcore gamer who has never quite gotten over the fact that your iPhone doesn’t have a D-pad, Moga has just made available for purchase the first iOS 7 compatible game controller, the Ace Power. But you might want to hold onto your money for now.

Word on the street (and by “the street” we mean Tim Cook himself) was that Apple might not have enough iPad Minis to see it through this quarter — with Cult of Mac even opining that, “Good luck getting one of these before Christmas.”

This morning Apple released its first major beta build of iOS 7 to developers since the release of iOS 7 in September. On the surface the update seems to be just a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements for a number of apps, but once you dig into the new software a little more there are a couple UI changes and new features that we’ve found.

Here are the new changes to iOS 7.1 that you might actually notice:

Today Sprint announced a limited time deal that gives students a full year of free cellular service with the purchase of a smartphone at any Best Buy location. The offer includes unlimited talk/text and 1GB of data per month, with the option to have unlimited data for $10 per month.

The typical two-year contract isn’t required, but Sprint is charing a “student activated price” that’s actually a little more than the full, unsubsidized cost of most phones.

Apple has just seeded the first beta for iOS 7.1. Registered developers can grab the update from the Developer Center. The beta release comes just four days after Apple published iOS 7.0.4 to the public that included a fix for failed FaceTime calls.

We’re still waiting for more info on the new goodies, but we’ll update you on new features once we’ve got it downloaded.

According to the release notes iOS 7 beta 1 includes a number of performance enhancements and bug fixes.

Here are some of the new things we’ve found so far:

Remember Apple Tracker, the web app that checked Apple’s inventory in order to help you find new iPhones and iPads in your area? Apple killed it off ahead of the iPad mini Retina launch , but now it’s back… just not on the original site.

Runtime stands out above other run-tracking iPhone apps thanks to its great design: it’s not – like most other apps – fugly as hell. It also use the iPhone 5S’s M7 MoCoPro to track you even when you’re walking.

Once I started iSpying in the crowded, bustling streets of Hong Kong, it was hard to stop. (Also, the IP lawyers must be seriously busy in these parts.)

These are some of my favorite finds of Apple-esque products and signs — minus the pics that didn’t turn out because my travel companions were trying to stop me from lagging behind or getting run over.

We’ll have more reporting from Hong Kong soon; a special thanks goes out to Truman Au for showing me around.

Day One, the beautiful journaling app for Mac and iOS, has just gotten even more beautiful on iOS 7, and added features to boot. I roll my own nerd journal, but if I used a journaling app it’d be Day One. Especially now it has M7 support.