iPhone 5 - page 11

iPhone theft has become a huge problem in places like New York City and San Francisco.  District Attorney George Gascón is on a mission to curb smartphone theft by having manufacturers implement a kill switch once a phone has been reported stolen, but that’s proven more difficult than Gascón imagined.

During his crusade to get answers from manufacturers, Gascón talked with Apple’s government liaison about getting a kill switch added to the iPhone, but was told that might not be possible because the next two iPhones were developed while Steve Jobs was still CEO at Apple.

As you already know, I swing more or less caseless when it comes to iPhones and iPads. I cover the iPad’s screen with a Smart Cover, and have a dedicated jeans pocket for the iPhone. But once in a while eI need something more rugged, and that’s when I reach for X-Doria’s Shield, a multi-layer case which adds minimal weight and bulk but quite a good bit of protection:

A “confidential presentation” that outlines the upcoming product plans for a manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, suggests the iPhone 5S could launch in June this year. Most rumors have suggested the device wouldn’t arrive until this fall, around 12 months after the iPhone 5, but an accessory manufacturer with direct links to Foxconn is confident it’ll be here much earlier.

Earlier this week, T-Mobile announced that it will finally begin selling Apple’s iPhone next month, almost six years after the device first made its debut in the U.S. When you buy an iPhone 5 on T-Mobile, it will come with support for AWS bands, so that it can be used on the carrier’s LTE network.

Existing iPhone 5 handsets already in circulation don’t have this, but it can be enabled on the AT&T and unlocked models. And if your iPhone 5 is jailbroken, you can enable it yourself. Here’s how.

The cellhelmet for iPhone 5 is the world’s only case that comes with one year of protection against accidental damage. If you drop your iPhone and it breaks while inside the cellhelmet, its makers, cellpig, will have it repaired or replaced for free — all you pay is the $50 handling fee.

That’s how confident cellpig are in the cellhelmet’s ability to keep your iPhone protected. The case itself costs $49.99, which is a little costly when you compare it to other iPhone cases of its kind. But because of the accidental damage cover, it negates the need for a dedicated insurance plan, so you’re still saving yourself a small fortune in the long run.

The cellhelmet is made from a polyurethane plastic that covers the back and sides of your device, while providing access to all of its buttons and ports. It has a matte finish that promises not to attract lint, and it’s available in eight different colors.

Hey, T-Mobile is finally an iPhone carrier now! Not only that, they’re a pretty competitive one, offering you an iPhone 5 for just $100 down and $20 a month over 24 months in what the nation’s fourth-largest carrier is calling a “no bullshit” plan. If you buy an iPhone 5 at T-Mobile, you can leave at any time as long as you pay off your device; otherwise, your service is provided month by month.

Sounds pretty great, but how competitive is T-Mobile’s new iPhone plan compared to the competition really? We compared the cheapest T-Mobile iPhone 5 plan you can get against the 24 month cost of getting one from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Cricket, Virgin Mobile and Straight Talk. The result? T-Mobile is one of the cheaper plans around… but it’s not the cheapest.

It’s only taken just under six years, but T-Mobile has finally reached a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone. The iPhone 5 will be one of the first devices available on T-Mobile’s new LTE network, launched today, and it’ll be available to purchase for a $99 up-front fee starting April 12.

If you don’t live near an Apple Store but can’t wait a few days for an iPhone to be shipped to you, then we have some great news. Apple has started a promotion that will offer customers free next day shipping on all online iPhone orders.

The Speedtest.net app is undoubtedly the quickest and easiest way to test your broadband and data speeds on your iOS devices — and it’s completely free. And thanks to its latest update, it’s better than ever before. The app now has a brand new look which supports the iPhone 5’s larger display (finally!) and a number of new features.

Apple has warned developers for nearly a year that apps should not use UDIDs, and that they will be rejected in the future. A deadline has finally come on UDID apps, as Apple just announced they will reject any apps that use UDIDs starting on May 1st.

Another stipulation on Apple’s deadline, is that all apps must support the iPhone 5’s 4-inch display too. Here are the full notes on the deadline:

Martin Hajek — a designer who specializes these days in mocking up rumored Apple products with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy — has turned his talents to a new arena: mocking up how the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S4 measures up, size-wize, to the iPhone 5.

Apple’s suppliers are to begin shipping components for the next-generation iPhone by the end of May, ready for the handset’s launch during the third-quarter of 2013, according to sources in the supply chain. As suspected, the device won’t be a major upgrade, the sources claim, but rather a “slightly enhanced” version of the iPhone 5 that’s likely to be called the iPhone 5S.

Meet Trygger, a new polarizing lens for the iPhone 5 that was born on Kickstarter and aims to provide you with better smartphone snaps. The device clips onto your handset in an instant, then removes unwanted glare and reflections and makes your images sharper and more vibrant. 

According to some (questionable) reports, Apple will finally offer the iPhone in various different colors later this year. But rather than waiting to see whether or not that actually happens, why not take matters into your own hands. A number of third-party iPhone 5 replacement parts are now available to purchase, and they come in all sorts of pretty colors.

As a reader of Cult of Mac, I’d say it’s a safe bet that you have a whole bunch of 30-pin docks around your home. And that those docks have been rendered useless by Apple’s evil insistence on equipping all of its new devices with smaller, tougher, easier to use Lightning plugs.

Now, we bring good news. With just €13, you can resurrect your pointless plastic paperweight.

The iPhone’s user interface is getting old and Apple isn’t innovating fast enough, according to Thorstein Heins, CEO of BlackBerry. Yes, the same BlackBerry which just released the BlackBerry Z10 (several months late) in a last ditch attempt to save the company from going under because of the iPhone.

Heins admits that Apple “did a fantastic job” with the iPhone and its iOS operating system, but he believes the company is now falling behind, giving Android and the new BlackBerry 10 OS a chance to beat it in many areas.

In response to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 announcement last Thursday, Apple has updated the iPhone 5 pages of its website to remind visitors why people love the iPhone. “Loving it is easy. That’s why so many people do,” the landing page reads, before going on to list all the reasons why the Cupertino company’s smartphone is so popular.

If you didn’t hear the news already, Samsung announced their new flagship phone last night, the Galaxy S 4. It looks a lot like the Galaxy S 3. It’s made of plastic. Has a huge screen. And it comes with some weird software features you might use, but probably won’t.

We were on hand last night to test out the Galaxy S 4, and while it’s an impressive phone, it leaves the door open for companies like HTC and LG to capture the Android crown.

Here’s a video comparison of the Samasung Galaxy S 4 next to the iPhone 5:

This photograph of a Foxconn line worker working on what appears to be a yellow iPhone 5 is doing the rounds, with the suggestion being that Apple slipped up and accidentally leaked an upcoming colored iPhone on their System Reliability page.

I have no idea if Apple will colorize the iPhone 5S, but I can comfortably say that Apple’s not that stupid, and isn’t going to leak a photo of an upcoming product on their own website. That’s not a urine yellow iPhone 5S: it’s an iPhone 5 with a yellow protective coating to keep the bezel from being scraped or chipped during manufacturing.

The PopLock is a new iPhone 5 case from NutKase that does more than just protect your beloved smartphone from scratches and scrapes. Its built-in, pressure sensitive kickstand pops out with just a push, allowing you to stand your iPhone for FaceTime calls and watching movies.

The stand is also designed to be a clip, which lets you fix your iPhone 5 to almost anything that’s sturdy enough to hold it, such as a computer monitor or an air vent in the car. The PopLock is made from a durable polycarbonate that promises to absorb shock, and it provides you with access to all of your ports, buttons, and cameras.

The case is available in grey and black, and it’s priced at $22.99. Here’s what I think of it after testing it for a few weeks.

There has been an ungodly amount of talk in recent months about how Apple is losing its edge to Samsung. Even some of Apple’s most faithful analysts have said that Samsung is more innovative now than Apple, but is that really true?

In the Cult of Mac chat room this afternoon, we found this video of Gene Munster saying Samsung is innovating faster than Apple. Some of us agreed with him, while others didn’t. What followed was a great discussion of what innovation really means, and whether Samsung is beating Apple. Rather than composing it into an article, we’re just going to post our chat and see what you guys think. Does Samsung really innovate faster than Apple now?

Tony Stark is essentially Marvel’s answer to Steve Jobs, if Steve Jobs looked like Robert Downey Jr., was kidnapped by the Taliban, had a nuclear reactor installed as a replacement heart, and built himself a set of power armor.

In every other way, though, the two are exactly similar, which is what makes it natural that Steve Jobs’s greatest creation — the iPhone — is now capable of “suiting up” in Tony Stark’s greatest invention, the Mark VII power armor.

Dropping your iPhone is a horrific experience. You don’t know if your precious slab of glass and metal is going to shatter or just walk away with a few scratches. If you’re the type that is always dropping your iPhone, you should consider paying $20 for this iPhone 5 tether.

Our Killian Bell tossed around words like “terrific” and “impressive” when he reviewed the Nuu MiniKey for the iPhone 4/S two years ago. Now, the little backlit Bluetooth keyboard-case has almost arrived (it drops March 15) for the iPhone 5, with a whole slew of improvements.

The Beamhaus Pocket is a premium leather sleeve for the iPhone 5 that’s “inspired by old baseball mitts, broken-in leather jackets, and long-loved boots.” It’s made from hand-selected leather from the Horween Leather Company, the oldest tannery in the United States, and it’s built to provide your iPhone with complete protection from everyday scratches and scrapes.

On the front of the Pocket, there’s a little pouch that’ll hold up to three credit cards — according to Beamhaus — plus a large cutout at the bottom that allows you to access your Lightning connector and hear your speaker. The Pocket is also lined with suede, which aims to prevent your shiny iPhone 5 from getting damaged as you slip it in and out of the case.

The Pocket is available in black and tan, and it’s priced at $59.99. Read on to find out whether it’s worth it.