Cell Phone, Smartphone | featured news

Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs when it comes to leading Apple Inc. As the debut of the new iPhone 5 just proved, that may not be a bad thing. The taller, thinner and lighter phone prompted a rush on Wall Street to raise price targets for Apple stock, but the optimism was not because of a big technological advance or design breakthrough; the "wow" factor that was the trademark of the late Apple co-founder Jobs was decidedly absent.

BlackBerry is reporting an outage affecting users in Europe, Middle East and Africa - interrupting service for customers on the very day Apple Inc. unveiled its hot new iPhone 5.

In a now familiar global ritual, Apple fans jammed shops from Sydney to Paris to pick up the tech juggernaut's latest iPhone. Eager buyers formed long lines Friday at Apple Inc. stores in Asia, Europe and North America to be the first to get their hands on the latest version of the smartphone.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it anticipates accusing Apple Inc. of patent infringement over the iPhone 5, in a U.S. court case separate from the one that grabbed worldwide attention last month.

Even if you’re not planning to upgrade your iPhone to the iPhone 5, that doesn’t mean you have to sit out the smartphone refresh fun. Apple’s going to release the next version of its operating system, iOS 6, to the public Wednesday, which will come with an improved version of Siri, a new mapping app and calling features, such as the ability to set a “do not disturb” period.

Demand for Apple Inc's new iPhone 5 has exceeded initial supply as the company booked 2 million orders in one day and pushed the delivery date for some preorders to next month.

The rush to be the first kid on the block with the latest iPhone is on. At midnight on Thursday, the new iPhone 5 became available for pre-order online though the Apple, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T sites. On Friday, major online outlets had already moved their estimated shipping dates back, indicating a large volume of orders or limited supply of iPhones ready to ship next Friday, September 21.

Google objected to Taiwanese PC maker Acer's development of a smartphone that is powered by a rival mobile operating system, the launch of which was delayed this week.

Delivery times have climbed quickly as Apple takes orders for the iPhone 5, suggesting strong demand. Apple began taking orders for the phone at 12 a.m. Pacific time. It initially promised delivery by next Friday, when the new phone also goes on sale in stores.

Taiwanese PC maker Acer postponed the launch of its first smartphone using a mobile operating system developed by a Chinese company after its current software partner Google expressed concerns about the new device.