Hasta La Gadget!

Ever wondered whether it’s worth shelling out the extra cash for a Bang & Olufsen system rather than cheaper rivals? B&O’s free Lightning upgrade deal for the BeoPlay A8 might convince you; the company has confirmed that all existing and new owners of the eye-catching iPhone and iPod speaker-dock will get a free Lighting adapter that seamlessly switches over with the legacy 30-pin Dock Connector.

Apple’s justification for the new Lightning connector is that it’s significantly smaller than the old port – which dated back to 2003 – and is all-digital. It can also be plugged in both ways around, though that’s probably not so useful for a speaker-dock where you’re more than likely going to want to see the screen.

B&O’s dock section is interchangeable, useful foresight when the A8 itself is a hefty $1,149 to begin with. Alternatively, if you’re living in Apple’s wireless world and don’t want to physically dock your device at all, the connector can be removed altogether.

The A8 Dock Upgrade Program is currently taking pre-registration details, with B&O saying the company will be in touch with owners when it knows more on the dock adapter’s availability. There’s more on the new iPhone 5 here, meanwhile, while we also have hands-on with the 5th-gen iPod touch which has also been upgraded to Lightning, and the 7th-gen iPod nano, which also bears the new port.

B&O offers free iPhone 5 Lighting upgrade for pricy BeoPlay A8 dock is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

iPhone 5 demand may be high, but confusion over what accessories will work with the phone and which adapters are included or even available is even higher. Some pre-order customers have been left scratching their heads over using the Lightning connector with existing accessories, after an initial promise on Apple’s webstore that a Lighting to 30-pin Dock Connector dongle was included with the iPhone 5 was subsequently removed.

The Next Web spotted the inclusion, not mentioned in the “What’s in the box?” section for the iPhone 5, but in the Lightning to 30-pin Adapter listing itself. “Your iPhone includes a Lightning to 30-pin Adapter for connecting 30-pin accessories to devices featuring the Lightning connector” Apple’s listing initially read. “Purchase this additional adapter to have a second adapter for your home or office.”

However, attempts to clarify the inclusion with members of Apple’s online store team revealed that a bundled adapter wasn’t, in fact, part of the set of accessories the company will be including. Instead, iPhone 5 buyers will get a USB to Lightning cable.

“I’m sorry that you’re seeing this message” the online representative told one customer, “that is an error and is being investigated at the moment. The information I have from my manager is that that is not the case.” The text accompanying the adapter was subsequently changed.

Meanwhile, even if Apple wanted to include the dongle in the box, it might not have the stock to actually do it. The listing for the adapter says it will ship in October, as does the version with a short, 0.2m cable in-between the two connections, later than the iPhone 5 itself.

iPhone 5 hands-on:

Demand for the USB to Lightning cable has also seemingly skyrocketed, with the cord – which had been shipping out immediately when it was first added to the Apple Store shortly after Wednesday’s event finished – now citing a 2-3 week delay in shipping. As well as being used to connect the iPhone 5 to a computer or USB charger, the same cable works with the 7th-gen iPod nano and 5th-gen iPod touch.

iPhone 5 Lightning confusion prompts accessory stampede is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

So we reported earlier that pre-orders for Apple’s new iPhone 5 had gone live. Well despite sentiments online which displayed the disappointment of many hopefuls regarding the iPhone 5, it looks like the numbers don’t lie and if you weren’t quick enough to place your pre-order in a timely manner, you’re going to have to wait a little longer for your iPhone 5 to arrive. Yup it looks like estimated shipping times for the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia have now slipped to a 2 weeks waiting time which means that those who purchase the phone now might have to wait up to an additional 2 weeks after the official release on the 21^st.

Of course the alternative would be to go and line up at the retail stores if you really want the phone on the 21^st itself, if not we guess iPhone 5 hopefuls will need to be patient. So, will you be lining up at an Apple store, or will you be waiting up to an additional 2 weeks, or will you not be getting the iPhone 5 after being “disappointed”?

Update – It seems like you can order directly from AT&T where the phone is still expected to ship on the 21st of September. We just placed our order so we know it’s still available, at least for now. We did run into a couple of hiccups due to server issues, so you might have to try a couple of times for the order to get processed.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 pre-orders go live, iPhone 5 cannot handle voice and LTE data on CDMA networks simultaneously,

While Apple had its preorders primed since 8am BST, British carriers have only just unveiled their monthly prices for the newest iPhone. Vodafone will offer it on contracts from £25 per month — with an initial £249 outlay) or free on £47 per month for two years. That free deal will net you a 16GB iPhone 5, with 2GB of data, unlimited texts and voice minutes. On Orange, a 24-month contract at £46 will nab you the same 16GB model for free, with 3GB of data and unlimited calls and texts. If you drop down to the £20 rate, you’ll have to pay £320 upfront and pick up a lightweight bundle of 100MB of data, 50 texts and 50 minutes. EE stablemate T-Mobile isn’t offering any free iPhones on its carrier plans, but you’ll be able to glean unlimited internet (alongside 2000 voice minutes) on a 16GB iPhone 5 for £109 and £36 per month on contract.

Confusingly, anyone looking to grab the UK’s first LTE network on the iPhone 5 will have to sign up to a “4GEE from EE” plan — which still hasn’t revealed its pricing. We’re checking with EE whether customers that decide to grab a new contract with Orange or T-Mobile will still be able to migrate across — we’d hold off on that pre-order until we hear back from the new 4G network. (Edit: See update below for clarification.) Meanwhile, Three UK currently has the 16GB iPhone on its unlimited data One Plan at £79 upfront, on a £36 per month deal. We’ll update again once we hear O2’s plans.

Update: EE has been in touch to clarify matters:

“Customers can either wait for EE to launch (we will be announcing the date in the coming weeks) or they can sign up to a contract with T-Mobile or Orange and upgrade to EE free of charge once it has launched, as long as they move to an equivalent priced and length plan
on EE.”

Update 2: Phones4U is taking its own pre-orders for those who want to enlist with Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone. O2 has also chipped in with its details and is offering the iPhone 5 on plans starting from £26 per month; like Orange, you’ll have to opt for at least a £46 monthly outlay to get one for free. The O2 plans offer the same unlimited voice and texts, but just 1GB of data. Lastly, Carphone Warehouse has chipped in with its own advance order campaign, although it’s only taking online orders for the 16GB black iPhone at this stage: you’ll need to call in for everything else.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

iPhone 5 contract prices for UK phone networks revealed (updated with O2, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wow. If you weren’t fast enough to grab a pre-order on Apple.com when it first started an hour or so ago, you’re going to have to wait a little bit to get that new iPhone. You have to wait two more weeks, to be specific. All iPhone 5 orders on Apple.com now show a ship time of 2 weeks as opposed to the September 21st launch date. More »