64 GB Gold iPhone 5s: It's Here!

Just like a couple of minutes ago!







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Tale of Two iPhone 5s: Just Seven Minutes Apart

I ordered two iPhone 5s's.  One for me and one for my brother.  He's a decent guy, ungrateful at times but he served the country well.  Anyway, both of them were ordered a couple minutes after midnight on Friday, September 20th.

I was fortunately enough to have both of them shipped at the time they were this Monday out of Zhenzhou, China.  And along with the half million iPhone owners tracking that same UPS99 flight, we saw it land safely in Louisville, Kentucky.  And from there, we go our separate ways.

Here's what's interesting. My information said that I would not get my iPhones until this Thursday.  But I had hoped that somehow, they would squeak by and make it out on the UPS to Ontario, California flight today.

When I woke around 5 am PST to check, sadly, one of the tracking numbers said "The scheduled connection was missed".

I was like "frak!" and I went back to bed.  This morning, I tracked the other number right when I woke up.  I couldn't believe!

Out for delivery!

As you can see, the two tracking information - one is coming to me today, the gold 64 GB version (mine) while my brother's is still in Louisville, and won't get here until Thursday at the earliest.

The difference was this:  7 minutes.  The two import scans - mine at 2:10 am local time and the other one at 2:17 am local time.

Mobile: iOS 7 Does Not Make Your iPhone or iPad Water-Proof, Fake Apple Ads Led Stupid People to

There is global warming.  And science isn't a religion.  An as a spiritual person who believes in God but ain't a nut about it, the world and the reality as we know it was not created in the mere hours/days the Bible said it was.  Damn there are many stupid ignorant folks out there.



Having said that, it is very sad for me to hear how there are folks who believe that by installing iOS 7, it makes your iDevices water-proof.  First, those folks do not deserve to own an iOS device.  Second, the sheer naivety of these folks is just shocking.

NO!  There is no OS, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry, or Android that will make devices water-proof, fire-proof, baby-proof, drop-proof, and, obviously, stupid-proof.

Source:  Cult of Mac.

Fake iMessage App For Android - AVOID!!!

Apple's iMessage implementation is one of the most useful features on the iPhone, iPad, and Macs.  But it leaves out those with are not a part of the Apple ecosystem - like Android devices.  So, I had been wondering how long before someone figures out a way to get iMessage working on other platforms.

Well, it's happened in the form of an app.  It's called iMessage Chat (Google). Oh yes, everything about this app goes through China.  Does it work as advertised?  Not at all.

It works by spoofing a Mac computer and pretends to be sending messages to iOS users.  However, that isn't the case.  In fact, testings have shown that messages are sent between Android users of this app but messages never reach real iOS users (Appleinsider).

That Google allows this through Google Play is beyond me.  No fact, many websites, including us here, are saying to avoid this at all cost. And really monitor your iCloud accounts or, better, change your passwords if you have already attempted to download and use this app.

To me, this is one of the biggest and most obvious malware I've seen.  What's more, the message traffic isn't even reaching Apple's servers at all but within the developer's domain.  They've got your messages,  your iCloud credentials, and, likely, can make use of all the information you've got with iCloud should they choose to.  

Tracking iPhone 5s Shipment Gets More Sophisticated

I've been tracking my iPhone 5s along with hundreds of thousands if not millions of US buyers, eagerly waiting for the arrival of our "precious" at our doorsteps.  Well, in the past, you just have UPS or whoever Apple contracts out to make that happen.

Today, there's Flight Aware.  It's a real time tracking website for flights.  I still have no clear idea how any of my fellow eager iPhone owners figure out which flight is which but I don't care.  Here's my current flight out of Incheon International in Korea to Anchorage, Alaska.

Judging by these numbers and ETA, the UPS delivery date for Thursday for my iPhone 5s should make it.  From there, I'll have to rely on others again to figure out the collecting flight from Anchorage to wherever my iPhone is supposed to go in the Midwest before coming back out west again to California and into my little hands.

Here's the thing that I gathered from this.  I know where Zhengzhou, China is now.  I know where Incheon, Korea is now.  And yes, as an American, I know where Alaska is (and I know you can't see Russia from there!).  So, tracking iPhone delivery is one way we can learn about geography without going to war after all!

Biggest Issues For iPhone 5s Buyers - Shipment, and Unlocked Or Not

I've been going through forums at various Apple and Mac sites to find out information about my iPhone 5s, still stuck in Asia somewhere, and there appears to be a few main issues that many are concerned about.

First, there are a group of iPhone 5s buyers who have a ship date of 1 to 3 days with a promise of delivery around the last couple of days of September into October 2nd.  I was excited when I began hearing that some folks have received an updated e-mail from Apple that their product has shipped along with a tracking number.  I only got mine this morning.  I've got an estimated delivery date of end of day September 26th, two to seven days ahead of Apple's own estimated delivery window. 

So now, many of us are wondering how realistic that is.  Some speculated maybe some of these 1-3 days iPhones are actually sitting in a warehouse awaiting delivery here in the US.  I think that's unlikely.  In fact, things have been heating up all day. It's kinda of fun and interesting to track, not only the status of various iPhones (going from Preparing For Shipment" to "Shipped"), but also the level of excitement of soon-to-be iPhone 5s owners.

While I'm guilty of hitting the reload icon on my browser to update my own UPS tracking status, I certainly have not gone through the level of tracking possible UPS flights.  That's a new one for me.  I'm sure later tonight when I've got nothing to do, I'll probably end up doing the same once my iPhones are US bound. 

Also, I honestly cannot say whether the locked/unlocked issue for the iPhones has been resolved or not.  Some say it depends on whether you buy the T-Mobile version from Apple or the T-Mobile store will determine if it's locked or unlocked.  Others have indicated it depends on what sim card you've got installed that matters.  I'm watching this issue closely because one of my T-Mobile iPhone 5s, which does say "unlocked" on my confirmation e-mail, will be used with an AT&T sim card.

If you're new to the iPhone and Apple religion, you have all this excitement to look forward to each and every single year.  And it's not over.  The iPhone 5s shipment has been pushed back to an indeterminate date and given a vague October window so I'm many more millions of users will be looking to find out what's going on. 

And let's not forget about upcoming OS X Mavericks launch that could come with an updated Macbook Pro line-up.  And one more thing, the iPad.  Yeah, that launch is also coming in a few weeks.  So, look for excitement, anxiety, giddiness, and whatever emotions that come with an Apple launch to continue through the rest of the year. 

Surface 2 Is About Specs And Power - May Not Be Enough To Overcome "Experience" Factor Users Want From iOS and iPad

Did Microsoft mess up with the Surface 2 introduction and the Surface 2 itself?  I hope articles like this because the writer seems to suggest that they know better.  I've been guilty of this but I tend to be more optimistic than other writers and I always give a product or service the benefit of the doubt before making bold predictions.

Here in this post from Read Write, the writer suggests that Microsoft has failed once more with the Surface 2 by not connecting it with the users.  Instead, it walked about what kind of horse power it has.  I admit that at one time, that would have been enough to sell me on it.  But no more.  And for the more sophisticated mobile society we have today, that is also true.

There is one main issue here and that's the effect the iPad has on the user.  There is an element of joy that you get from using the iPad that is not matched like other tablets. The same can be said of the iPhone when you hold it in your hand.  You want to do something with it.

Whereas with my Windows Phone device, it somehow feels different.

A lot of times with my iOS devices, I feel it is such a waste if I'm just using it to watch a video.  I feel that as well when I'm using the iBooks app.  I feel that while Apple's mobile devices are good for these things, it feels beneath them.  Maybe this is why some users feel inspired and creative with Apple products than with others.

The main point of the Read Write post is that Microsoft is trying to convey an PC message to a largely tablet market.  Power and speed.  Oh, and it has Office.  None of those are enough to dislodge the iPad aura that Apple has created. If anything, Microsoft would serve the Surface better by demonstrating the Surface can be empathetic with the users.  There just doesn't seem to be a lot of joy that users experience when they're on devices Apple's competitors create.

Recent Surface commericals comparing the Surface with the iPad and using Siri as the whipping boy is a good move away from the clicking Surface keyboard ads.  Those were awful and many thought they were actually ads for the iPad.  And while these newer Surface ads reminded me of the Mac-verus-PC ads, it's still not enough.

Over all, I think we do have to take a wait-and-see attitude towards Surface 2 and give it a chance.  Perseverance, after all, is Microsoft's middle name (last name?) and while many, if not all, of its products are not the best on the market, it's "good enough" philosophy has been very successful.  It'll be keep coming at the market until it finds a way to win.