Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s iPhone 5 is a “hit” according to English-language Chinese newspaper Shanghai Daily, despite the fact that there were not huge lineups or riots in the streets as there were on iPhone 4S launch day. That’s because most of the new phones were sold at China Unicom and China Telecom stores, the newspaper reports, rather than at Apple’s three Shanghai stores. In Shanghai alone, the newspaper puts first day sales at around 20,000 iPhone 5s through brick and mortar retail.

That includes around 15,000 sold through carrier outlets, making for a “robust” launch according to market watchers speaking to the Shanghai Daily, and adds to the 300,000 pre-orders seen through Apple’s China Unicom alone, which the carrier itself reported earlier this week. China Telecom wasn’t as transparent about its overall pre-order numbers but a Beijing subsidiary did reveal amazing 5,000 reservations for Apple’s new smartphone.

Other outlets also report strong iPhone 5 sales, including 100,000 pre-orders from home appliance retailer Suning, which also sold 20,000 handsets through its retail channels in China. It’s hard to compare this to data from previous launches, as last year riots halted sales early with the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4 sold 60,000 units (across the entire country, not just in Shanghai) on launch day, however, with over 200,000 pre-orders through China Unicom, then the exclusive iPhone carrier in the country. The 3GS did far worse, netting 100,000 sales only after six weeks of availability, but it also came to China two years after it had been available in the U.S.

Jay Yarow at Business Insider points out some reasons why this launch appears on the surface to be weaker than others have in the past, including the implementation of a tightly regulated reservation system by Apple to defray the kind of trouble it ran into with the 4S, and also to prevent grey market resale. Apple is also using a lot more third-party resale partners than it has in the past, and as noted above, buyers seem to be flocking to those outlets.

This launch is definitely a much more muted affair than what we saw last year, but those proclaiming that they’re a sign of a weak opening in China could be jumping to conclusions before all the data is on the table.

RadioShack’s and Best Buy’s respective iPhone 5 promotions might seem like an amazing deal, but they’ll be no match against Walmart’s own sale, because it looks like they’re offering the iPhone 5 starting at just $127, with the iPhone 4S starting at only $47. Plus, they’ll be offering the third-generation iPad for $399.

Walmart is slashing prices for a variety of Apple products beginning today. They’ll be offering the 16GB iPhone 5 for only $127 — $23 off the price of Best Buy’s and RadioShack’s deal. Walmart is also cutting the price of the iPhone 4S down to $47, from $89.97. Of course, these deals are only applicable after you sign a new two-year contract.

Also, if you’re in the market for an iPad, Walmart has lowered the price of the third-generation iPad down to $399, which is the same price that Apple is selling the iPad 2 at. Plus, with the purchase of a fourth-gen iPad, you’ll receive a bonus $30 iTunes card, which should be enough to get you up and running with some great paid apps from the App Store.

Furthermore, Walmart rival Target is offering an Apple sale as well, starting on December 16. They plan to discount Virgin Mobile’s prepaid 16GB iPhone 4S from $449.99 to $399.99, which isn’t a huge discount by any means, but now’s the time to buy a off-contract iPhone 4S if you’ve been meaning to. All of these deals from both Walmart and Target are only available in stores.

Walmart offering iPhone 5 for $127, iPad 3rd-gen for $399 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s less than a couple of months away from CES 2013 now and brands large and small have already begun war on the media with releases – today’s big news from Soundfreaq contains one heck of a rundown of future sound products. This rundown includes the first lightning speaker docks for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini as well as a set of Dual System Streaming products for futuristic audio action.

This party begins with the Sound Platform 2, continues on with the Sound Rise Lightning, and rolls forward with Sound Step / Sound Step Recharge Lightning. If those names weren’t long enough to get you riled up about the Apple device friendly show about to be brought on by Soundfreaq, perhaps you’d better get a look at the first basic specifications:

Sound Platform 2 takes what the first iteration was and brings on more enhanced bass, high-volume quality, large speaker drivers, Tone Control galore, and UQ3 spacial enhancement. This all comes with dual USB charging ports for whatever you’ve got that’s chargeable via USB, a Universal Device Tray, and connectivity to basically any mobile device you’ve got on hand. You’ve also got a rechargeable battery pack and Bluetooth integration for wireless music action – all of this coming on February 17th, 2013 for $149.99.

Sound Step, Sound Step Recharge, and Sound Rise are all products that’ve been out in the past, but are now going to be offered up with the new Apple lightning connectors for futuristic iPhone 5 / iPad 4 / iPad mini connectivity. Sound Rise is at its heart an alarm clock disguised as an iPhone dock, here with Bluetooth wireless connectivity and USB charging as well. You can also connect with any smart device – Android, Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry included – with the USB charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack – make it yours!

Sound Step Recharge (and the non-recharge Sound Step) are massive beasts of audio magic in a compact size, here now with lightning dock integration. It’s got a rechargeable battery, works with iOS devices as well as every other kind of smart device with USB charging and headphone jack integration, and makes the sound jump with UQ3 spacial sound enhancement!

We’ll see more on final pricing and release dates for these updated units as well as the rest of the Soundfreaq line at CES 2013 – join us in January and stay tuned to SlashGear until them for every single early release, rumor, and hands-on experience!

Soundfreaq brings lightning to CES 2013 in massive audio preview is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While the iPhone has seen yearly updates for the past several years, it’s rumored that might change with the next iPhone model. According to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, the iPhone 5S will be released in June or July of 2013. This is similar to other reports that we’ve heard that suggest Apple is moving to a 6-month update cycle.

So what can we expect with the iPhone 5S according to Misek? He says that, based on the team’s checks, the iPhone 5S will likely “include a new super HD camera/screen, a better battery, and NFC. Possible updates include an IGZO screen for Retina+, 128GB storage, and coming in 6 to 8 colors.”

These are certainly upgrades that would go a little further than what we’ve seen in the past with minor upgrades to the 4S from the 4, and the 3GS from the 3G. However, we’d assume that Apple will keep the same body style based on leaks that we saw last week, when the alleged back plate of the iPhone 5S leaked.

Misek also brought up the iPhone 6 — the iPhone that would come after the 5S. He says that several prototypes are “floating around”, one of which has a 4.8″ screen. That prototype has a Retina+ IGZO screen, a new A7 quad-core processor, and “a new form factor with no home button”, which could mean full gesture control. Obviously, that’s a long way off, but if Apple turns to a 6-month upgrade cycle, we could see the iPhone 6 in about a year or so.

[via The LA Times]

iPhone 5S coming in June 2013 according to analyst is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at flicpost have launched their new iPhone app and ecosystem for all, allowing you to send physical photos from your iOS device to your friends anywhere in the world. If you’re working on that perfect New Years gift for your friends halfway across the planet and you’re not quite sure what might be both perfect and utterly easy on you wallet and your mind, you may want to have a peek at this fabulous new technology called flixfix. With flixfix (working with flicpost) you’ll be able to take not only the photos from your iPhone, but your Facebook or Flickr account as well.

The printing of all of the photos you’re about to be sending is done by flicpost, and the shipping is done by them as well – all you’ve got to do is select the photos you want sent, and tap the send button! This service will cost you either 69 cents or 99 cents depending on where you are in the world, with the slightly less expensive price racked up in the US, UK, Mexico, India, Jamaica and Thailand, while 99 cents works for the rest of the planet. Each additional print in the same pack will cost you just 20 cents more – most of the cost here goes to the mailing.

iPhone app live today, iPad app coming soon!

The guys behind this project – the main faces, that is, are Phil Coleman and Stephen Bero, Coleman as co-founder and CEO and Bero as co-founder and CTO. Coleman got into this business through his founding and Managing Directorial job with Direct Entry Services, a business which made it it’s sole purpose to create a great direct mailing experience for the likes of Xerox, Diageo, Nissan, Hertz and American Express. In 2010 the group joined with Swiss Post, a worldwide leader in postal operations, making Coleman and now flicpost a leader in the direct post business.

“For the special moments you want to keep and revisit more often, flicpost gets pictures straight off your phone and takes all the legwork out of getting them downloaded, printed and delivered. We want to curb photo extinction and have made it easy to bring pictures from the virtual world back to life in the physical world.” – Coleman

Sound like an exciting sort of situation to you? Have a peek at flicpost right this minute on the iTunes Appstore for your iPhone and keep your eyes peeled at SlashGear as we give this service a full review asap! Note also that this service will eventually be on the iPad in a full-screen sense as well as Android in the coming months!

flicpost iPhone app launches your photos physically worldwide is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.