iphone 5S and 5C selling hits Nine million in one Week

Apple sold nine million iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S smartphones last weekend and pushed iOS 7 onto 200 million devices.

The colourful new iPhones went on sale on Friday, and we popped in and had a look at the queue. It is now Monday. In the time between then and now nine million iPhones went into people's hands and up to their ears. This might mean that some people are disappointed, as according to Apple's CEO, hardware is already selling out.

"This is our best iPhone launch yet - more than nine million new iPhones sold-a new record for first weekend sales," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone."

Last year in its first weekend, the Apple iPhone 5 sold five million units.

As well as moving all those phones, Apple also placed its updated mobile operating system iOS 7 on 200 million devices. This is a record for the firm.

In the UK, the iPhone is available from EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4U and assorted other Apple resellers.

The new iPhones are the most colourful ones that Apple has released, and the iPhone 5S comes in gold, silver or space grey hues. The iPhone 5S 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models cost £549, £629 and £709 SIM-free, respectively.

More colourful still is the iPhone 5C, which comes in blue, green, pink, yellow and white colours. There are only 16GB and 32GB sizes on offer for the iPhone 5C, and they cost £469 and £549 SIM-free, respectively.

iOS 7 Lockscreen Bug Dicovered

 Just 72 hours after release the first significant security risk of Lockscreen bug has been discovered in Apple iOS 7.

The bug occurs because, by default, the Control Center functionality is set to be available even when the screen is locked. Although full access is not possible, a thief could take control of the camera including the photo reel and post to linked social networks.

Although the bug only manifests if a very precisely timed sequence of key presses is performed, the fact that this information is now in the public domain means that a patch will be required quickly. In the meantime, users can disable the feature, and the associated security risk, by simply disabling the option for Control Center in their lockscreen.

Mobile security firm Lookout has revealed that it has managed to use the bug to access the timer, calculator and contacts list, though we can't imagine the first two being any huge threat to personal data.

Whilst acknowledging that concern is warranted in the ongoing battle to keep personal information private, we should emphasis that this is a somewhat convoluted security risk, relying as it does on a number of criteria being met.

We do wonder, however, whether Samsung will perhaps want to claim a patent on this lockscreen bug, given that its Android phones were similarly afflicted earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, venture capitalist IO Capital has put a bounty of $10,000 for the first hacker who can "reliably and repeatedly" break into an iPhone 5S by lifting fingerprints. Since the prize was announced, the hacking community has been adding its own prizes, including copious amounts of alcohol and bit coins.

iPhone 5S vs Samsung Galaxy S4 specs comparison

APPLE AND SAMSUNG have been fighting for the number one best-selling smartphone title for years. In the past, Apple's latest iPhone has traditionally won the yearly grudge match. However, since the death of iconic Apple founder Steve Jobs, Apple's lead on Samsung has gradually waned, with each new top-end Galaxy smartphone boasting increasingly higher sales.

For this reason, prior to its unveiling many industry commentators had begun to quietly predict that the iPhone 5S might become the first ever Apple smartphone not to beat Samsung's flagship handset in head to head sales.

Now with the iPhone 5S and its specifications revealed, it's too still early to know the final outcome in 2013's Apple vs Samsung battle, but the two smartphones' specifications suggest that the fight might be the most heated to date.


Measurements and Weight
iPhone 5S: 124x59x7.6mm, 112g
Samsung Galaxy S4: 137x70x7.9mm, 130g

The Apple iPhone 5S design looks pretty much the same as that of the iPhone 5, but it comes with multiple colour options. This means, as before, that the iPhone 5S is significantly lighter and smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S4, so it will likely be a more popular choice for smaller-handed people.

Display

iPhone 5S: 4in 1136x640, 326ppi Retina display

Samsung Galaxy S4: 5in full HD super Amoled 1920x1080 display, 441ppi

The Apple iPhone 5S has a 4in Retina display. Back in the day, when Apple first rolled out the Retina display technology, it was a big selling point for Apple devices, making the screens the sharpest and crispest ever seen on smartphones or tablets.

However a few years on, while still great, Apple's Retina displays are no longer the best on the market and a few smartphones have been released boasting better screens.

Running the Galaxy S4 head to head with the iPhone 5S' predecessor, the iPhone 5, we found Samsung's flagship had a superior screen, with its 441ppi full HD display being one of the best we've ever used.

Processor

iPhone 5S: Apple A7 processor

Samsung Galaxy S4: Quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor

Apple made a big deal about its new A7 processor, claiming that it is the world's first 64-bit mobile chip and will make the iPhone 5S one of the fastest smartphones in the word, offering 40-times better CPU performance than the iPhone 5. However, as always, Apple declined to disclose the speed of its A7 processor, making it difficult to know how it will compare to the quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 powered Galaxy S4 in real-world performance.

Battery

iPhone 5S: 10 hours' 3G talk time, unspecified lithium-ion battery

Samsung Galaxy S4: 17 hours' 3G general use, 2,600mAh lithium-ion battery

Battery life is an issue for most smartphones in the present market. This remained true on the Galaxy S4, which, despite being listed as lasting “up to 17 hours” on 3G on one charge, generally needed a top-up after a regular day’s use, with an average life of about six hours when battery was in use. This means that if the unspecified battery used in the iPhone 5S lives up to Apple’s claim of 10-hour 3G talk time it should easily outlast the Galaxy S4. However, we’ll only know this for sure when we’ve had a chance to actually test the battery on the iPhone 5S.

Camera

iPhone 5S: 8MP rear, 1.2MP front

Samsung Galaxy S4: 13MP rear, 2MP front

While the iPhone 5S camera looks lower specified, as any camera expert will tell you, it's not just about the megapixel count. Because of this, while it doesn't capture as many pixels, the Apple iPhone 5S might prove better at taking photos, because it boasts custom technology designed to capture bigger pixels, meaning that, like the HTC One, it should be better than average at taking photos in low light.

Storage

iPhone 5S: 16/32/64GB storage, no microSD card slot, 2GB of RAM 

Samsung Galaxy S4: 16/32/64GB storage, microSD card slot up to 64GB, 2GB of RAM

Both devices are available with multiple storage options, however the Galaxy S4 comes with a microSD card slot, meaning that buyers who can't afford the upfront cost of the 64GB model can add to the phone's storage at a later date.

Overall

On paper both the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4 are good smartphones and both have definite enterprise appeal. Once we've had time to thoroughly put the two head to head in an in-depth, hands-on comparison review, we'll make a call on which is the best business smartphone.

* The iPhone 5S is set for release on 20 September.

Apple iOS 7 Review

Introduction:

Depending on where you come from, the iOS 7 may be the bigger, and better, piece of news than the new iPhone duo. Certainly true if you have the iPhone 5 and you intend on holding on to it, unfazed by what looks like a dilemma between a marginal upgrade and a candy-colored downgrade.

It's not about the phones though. Not yet. There's two of them for a change, which means Apple will be keeping us busy with double the usual amount of hardware to review. However, we cannot ignore the fact that we took the first glimpse of the new iOS 7 this summer as a sign - a promise? - of a better, new exterior design to come.

Yes, we liked the iOS 7 and, as it's about to start hitting the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 on September 18, we're taking a closer look at what's the biggest overhaul of the platform since it debuted in 2007. What makes it different this time is that we're not focusing on the new stuff but exploring the OS head to toe.

Let's start with a closer look at the list of features.

Key Features:

 

•Complete UI overhaul with adaptive colors and system-wide Back swipe gesture

•New system icons and folders, animated icons available

•System-wide parallax effect

•Dynamic wallpapers

•Control Center with toggles, multimedia controls and shortcuts

•Updated Notification Center with three tabs

•New adaptive multitasking with new card interface, background refresh of apps and services

•Updated Safari browser with unified search filed

•iTunes online radio service

•AirDrop file sharing

•Inclinometer within the Compass app

•Camera filters with live preview and new square mode

•New Photos app with better photo organization, picture editing

•Weather app with live weather animations

•Updated Maps with Night mode and Turn-by-Turn walking directions

•New Siri interface, new supported commands, new voices

•Contact Blacklist

•FaceTime audio calls

•Activation lock

•Automatic app update

•Cellular data usage breakdown

•Chinese-English, Italian, Korean and Dutch dictionaries

•iOS in the Car coming in 2014 in selected cars

Main Disadvantages:

 

•Heavily iTunes dependent for uploading files and multimedia

•Segregated file system means you often have to duplicate files to access them through various applications

•No widgets

•Air Drop works only between selected iOS 7 or later running devices

•No lockscreen shortcuts (besides those in Control Center)

•Very basic camera UI with limited features and settings

•Limited video codec support for the built-in player

•No Smart dialing in the dialpad

•iTunes radio only works in the US at launch

We know many of our readers are impatient to see what kind of difference the 64-bit A7 chipset is making and excited about the return of the fingerprint scanner to the mobile world. But while we wait for a review iPhone 5s to arrive, let's explore the final version of the iOS 7.

The dynamic wallpapers and parallax view, along with live icons and the agile use of transparency are all part of the new design language but there's more to the iOS 7 than the modern aesthetics.

From a functionality perspective, Apple finally has connectivity toggles organized within the new Control Center, an iTunes radio streaming service, the notification center has been completely redesigned, there is AirDrop for easy sharing between different iOS devices, and an even more capable Siri.

Of course, there are still features missing. And those will be duly noted as we go along. This review is based on the Golden Master build, made available to developers ahead of the full-scale release to the general public, and we have it running on an iPhone 5.

Google Drive for iOS

The Google Drive for iOS app has been updated with an all-new look that mimics the card-style layout using across Google+ and the Google Drive for Android app.

The good: Google Drive for iOS offers a sleek interface for accessing, moving, and sharing your stored files. Also, the built-in document editors are easy to use and come with a multitude of formatting tools. Real-time collaboration is a nice feature.

The bad: The app doesn't let you create or edit Drawings or Presentations. There are no sorting or filter options to help sift through files. And an extra password-protect feature would be nice.

The bottom line: An elegant blend of Dropbox-like storage and mobile document editing, Google Drive is a must-have app, especially if you're a dedicated Google user.
An impressively powerful mobile productivity solution, Google Drive for iOS mixes Dropbox-style storage with on-the-go document editing. It lets you access and manipulate files in the cloud and do things like create spreadsheets and view presentations, all from its tightly designed interface. The app even lets you collaborate in real-time with other Drive users with whom you share files. As well, it lets you share links to files, so your friends can download items directly from your Drive.

With a recent update, Google Drive for iOS moved closer in line with other Google-made products. It now features a card-based interface like its sibling on Android, and larger thumbnails are available for quick previews of files. Quite frankly, with its sleek look and powerful features, this revamped app should be installed on every Google user's mobile device.

What many Google users may not know is that every Google account comes with 15GB of free storage space. Of course, this space is used for items saved on your Gmail and Google+ Photos accounts, as well as on your Drive, but still, the deal is a good one that's worth knowing about.

Cloud Storage: Thanks to the included space, you can use Drive to store not only your spreadsheets and text documents, but also any other file types you may want accessible from the cloud. From the app, you can upload photos and videos, and they'll immediately appear in your Drive, ready to be accessed from any of your devices.

Reference : Cnet Reviews