iPhone 5 review: Finally, the iPhone we've always wanted [CNET]

The good: The iPhone 5 adds everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom redesign is sharp, slim, and feather-light.

The bad: Sprint and Verizon models can't use voice and data simultaneously. The smaller connector renders current accessories unusable without an adapter. There's no NFC, and the screen size pales in comparison to jumbo Android models.

The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous shortcomings. It's absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.

 The iPhone 5 is the iPhone we've wanted since 2010, adding long-overdue upgrades like a larger screen and faster 4G LTE in a razor-sharp new design. This is the iPhone, rebooted.
The new design is flat-out lovely both to look at and to hold, and it's hard to find a single part that hasn't been tweaked from the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 is at once completely rebuilt and completely familiar.

Why You Don't Need the iPhone 5, by an iPhone Owner [mashable]

Can you feel it yet? The slow, subtle build-up in peer pressure. The smug, self-satisfied looks from that guy in the office who pre-ordered the iPhone 5 at midnight. The questions from friends who assume that, because you like tech, you’re probably getting one. The calculations you catch yourself making, wondering if you could actually afford it, just in theory.
(You’re not alone: the hashtag #ButYouGotThatiPhone5Tho was the top worldwide trend on Twitter Friday).
Well, stay strong, my tempted friend. The iPhone 5 is a great phone, no doubt; another solid design achievement from Apple. It’s thinner, lighter and taller. But it’s not that huge a leap forward in hardware.
If you already have an iPhone, you’re about to get a whole new smartphone experience anyway. If you don’t, consider that you can get pretty much the same device for a lot cheaper — and that there are now one or two Android phones (and even a Windows phone) actually worth investigating.
Here are a whole bunch of reasons to print out, tape to your desk, and keep yourself iPhone 5-less.

Impermanent Data Apps, The Newest Weapons In The War For Messaging :techcrunch

Earlier this week, Josh Constine wrote an epic piece on Facebook, Google and Apple’s impending messaging war. As Constine explains, we have most likely reached “peak SMS,” that is, text messaging is on the decline and another form of messaging will take its place.

But as the major empires wage total war for glorious messaging spoils, there are far smaller, distant tribes that will make their own windfall of riches from the battle. Man, I miss playing Age of Empires.

As these tech giants extend their reach even further, it is quite possible that users will seek to regain control over their information and embrace applications that quickly erase or encrypt their messages and pictures. Especially if the companies’ battle reduces their respect for users’ privacy—like Facebook’s aggressive email changelast month.

Can Apple Find Enough Value In A 7 inch iPad? : forbes

Tim Cook has a decision to make. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Once more, it’s time to discuss Apple, so once more I’ll invoke Taniyama-Shimura and look at the world of the seven inch tablet and the iPad.

When it was Steve Jobs running Apple it was easy. Jobs would say that something was silly, impossible, and a bad decision, until the moment that Apple announced a product that would revolutionise that area of technology. After some investigation, it will turn out that Apple has been working on said technology for a few years, internally iterating like crazy to get the perfect product.

With all the talk of a 7 inch tablet I keep coming back to Steve Jobs dissing the 7 inch form factor when talking about the iPad. Given Apple’s previous form, that leads me to think that seven inches is bad… until seven inches is what consumers need. Strictly speaking, all the talk is now over a 7.85 inch tablet thanks to some nifty arithmetical calculations around display panels and pixel density (here’s Andy Faust’s explanation).

Apple Resets App Ratings For Developers Affected By App Crashing Bug, But Negative Reviews Remain: Techcrunch

One more update on this week’s “app-ocalypse” – Apple says it has resolved the issue which caused iOS and Mac apps to crash upon launch, and it has now pushed out new, untainted updates to fix the previously corrupted apps.

But in developers’ minds, the bigger worry here had been what to do about all those angry, one-star customer reviews related to crashes which were not their fault? It seems Apple is taking care of that, too.

According to the developers we’ve spoken with, the one-star reviews are not actually being removed from the iTunes App Store, they’re just being hidden. There seems to be some confusion on this point, however. For example, the folks atReaddle, makers of the Scanner Pro, blogged about the situation, noting that “Apple has decided to remove ALL comments of corrupted apps on the App Store, since many of those get 1-star ratings from angry users.”

Amazon Targets Apple, Hits RIM And Nokia : forbes

For some time now I have been of the opinion that while a number of companies would look to challenge Apple (AAPL)’s iPhone position in the smartphone market, there would be many that fell short. Crashed and burned if you will, and that is what we are seeing with Research in Motion (RIMM), Nokia (NOK) and others.