Since the iPhone 5 was released in late September, Apple’s online shipping estimates have had trouble catching up with demand. Earlier this week, Apple’s online store started giving an estimate of 2-4 business for new orders, and now Apple is finally showing the iPhone 5 as being in stock.

As the iPhone 5 expands to more than 50 new countries in the month of December, Apple has managed to stabilize supplies just in time for the holidays. Customers in several countries around the world, including the United States and Canada, will now have their iPhone 5 orders shipped immediately. Notably, the U.K. Apple online store is still showing a 1-3 business day estimate. Unlocked models in the U.S. are shipping in 1-3 business days as well.

Source: Apple Store

Since the iPhone 5 launched in October Apple has limited the number of unlocked iPhone 5s a customer can purchase to 2 units per transaction and only 10 units per lifetime.

Now that Apple’s stock of iPhone 5 units has caught up with demand, Apple has changed its policy on how many unlocked iPhone 5s customers can purchase.

Apple has announced today that the iPhone 5 will be launching in South Korea on December 7, followed by 50 additional countries throughout the month, including Brazil, Russia, and Taiwan. Add that to the 47 countries where it’s already on sale, and Apple’s latest smartphone will be in 97 markets by 2013.

Apple exerts more control over cellular networks than any other technology company on the planet. If a carrier wants to sell the iPhone they have to pay Apple a heft subsidy. Before getting the iPhone 5 to run on their LTE network, Apple has to come around and make sure it doesn’t suck before they enable LTE on the iPhone or iPad.

The reason behind Apple testing carrier’s networks before enabling 4G is pretty simple – Apple doesn’t want it’s users to have a crappy experience. But no other smartphone maker in the world has a policy where they get to test a carrier’s network before turning a feature on, it’s usually the other way around, and some carriers think Apple is getting a little too big for its boots.

Apple has issued a press release announcing that the iPhone 5, the iPad mini, and the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display will be arriving in China next month. Both iPads will be available on December 7, while the iPhone 5 will be available on December 14.

Apple loves to hide little surprises, or “easter eggs,” within its software — such as the memorable quotes inside its OS X icons, or the temporary date (Jan 24, 1984 — when the first Macintosh was unveiled) given to apps downloaded from the Mac App Store. A new one has been discovered that’s sure to please Lord of the Rings fans.

Typing a simple comment into Terminal reveals a Lord of the Rings timeline that Apple has hidden in OS X. Here’s how to access it.

The iPhone 5 is now available for purchase unlocked at an unsubsidized price on Apple’s U.S. online store. Customers should also be able to pick up an unlocked iPhone 5 in U.S. Apple Retail stores as well. Pricing starts at $649 for the 16GB model.

It typically takes Apple a couple months before it starts selling a new iPhone model unlocked. Today a new option has appeared in the online store for selecting an unlocked model without a two-year carrier contract.

When Flexibits launched Fantastical on the Mac back in May of 2011, I started actually using iCal to make sense of the hectic mess that is my daily schedule. Fast forward to today, and Fantastical is an app I still can’t live without. I was ecstatic when Flexibits sent me an early copy of Fantastical for iPhone to try out, and I’m pleased to report that it is everything you would expect and more. Apple’s Calendar app just got dethroned again.

So, I sold my iPad mini WiFi today, in hopes I could head to my local Apple retail store and pick one up. My friend was headed down to the store to pick hers up, so I figured there were plenty in stock. Just to be safe, I gave them a call to check on the availability of the 16G model LTE that I wanted to purchase.

The local Apple rep that picked up the phone said that they were out of stock, and did not know when new ones would be available.

I hopped onto the Apple Store app, in hopes I could fool the system, and order one for store pickup, anyway. Sadly, I was unable to get the app to allow me to buy one for in-store pickup; I could only get it to send me one via mail, with a 2 week shipping date.

Then I got crafty.

AirPlay is one of Apple’s killer features in iOS or the Mac. As long as you have an AirPlay-compatible speaker or, better yet, an Apple TV in range, you can automatically stream video or audio to another device, all without pairing first.

Now according to a new report, Google wants to not only launch its own bonafide AirPlay competitor, but one-up AirPlay by offering true second screen capabilities to customers using Android devices with their Google TVs.