By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit

Apple Stuff

To confirm this, users in China are apparently much happier with the new app than they had been with Google's version which, "was always pretty terrible". Like here, some features are not available, but Katie Marsal on AppleInsider reports that overall, consumers are happier. What I am finding here is that as I zoom in, more features appear and some of these are useful.

There are a few reports appearing concerning the performance of the iPhone 5 and Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider writes about a comparison between the iPhone and the Galaxy S III. The iPhone won of course. But that is not a complacent comment: I expect performance improvements over time from other handset makers.

While the iPhone has been selling lots and lots, there was an interesting report from Jason Perlow who is a senior tech Editor at Ziff Davies who have not been known for pro-Apple output over the years. He reports that he is sick of his Android thing and has gone for the iPhone 5: he "finally realized many of Android's redeeming features were perverted by the lies of false prophets."

There, haven't I been saying that for a couple of years? (My source for this was MacDaily News).

Apparently on hand at the Apple stores in NY last week were a number of police officers: not to control frenzied Apple customers (by all accounts polite and orderly) but to register devices in case of future theft. Mikey Campbell reports on AppleInsider that theft of Apple products accounts for 14% of all major crime in NY, adding that "there were 11,447 recorded thefts of Apple products" in the first 9 months of the year.

I am dying to try out the new camera, and included a couple of reviews earlier in the week. Victor Agreda Jr on TUAW reports on a test that was done in Iceland where the light conditions were rather poor and the new camera produced some rather useful results. Although she reported on the iPhone camera on Monday, Leanna Lofte followed it up with a review of the iPhone 5 video camera on iMore.

I did mention this on Monday, but there are more confirmed reports about scuffing found by customers on their new iPhones and Jeff Blagdon has an item on this with some useful images.

Late on Tuesday there were some reports of comments from Phil Schiller Apple VP for Worldwide Marketing about the scuffing. "Normal" according to a report of an email from the Apple VP as reported by Jim Tanous on The MacObserver.

Nonononononononono...... A thousand times, No.

This is not the right approach. If it has been in the customer's hands for a while -- say like my iPhone 4S -- the scratches are down to the curstomer: get a cover or expect the deterioration. But straight out of the box? That is unacceptable. Lance Whitney also reports on this with the inclusion of "Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color" . . . "That is normal." Again, with use, not out of the box. That needs to be put right, so Lance's additional comments, "Assuming Schiller's comment is the official word from Apple thus far, iPhone 5 owners will likely have to get used to the scratches or simply find a nice case that can cover them up" do not wash here. The product is not in a serviceable condition as new, and a number of countries have consumer laws that cover this.

Along with the scuffing reports there are a few who are reporting light leaks from the iPhone according to Lance Whitney, who does also comment that "Light leaks aren't a new problem for Apple's mobile devices." This seems more a problem of quality control at the factories.

Oh, and those factories hit the headlines again. I mentioned this on Monday, but more information has been coming in and it seems as if the problems began with over-enthusiastic security guards beating up a few workers quite badly. I think there may be some justification for worker complaints if this is the case, and having seen the gung-ho mentality of some security guards here when the pack descends there is not a lot that stops them until the arrival of the police, which also calmed things down in China apparently. Bryan Chaffin on the MacObserver had a report covering events after the problems which included a shutdown of the factory in Taiyuan and notes that components for other manufacturers are made there: we haven't seen that in many reports.

A later report from Katie Marsal on AppleInsider informs us that production was set to resume on Tuesday.

With the release of the iPhone 5 into customers' hands last Friday there were some 5 million sold according to an Apple press release which also notes 100 million updates to iOS 6. Jeff Gamet also reports on this and mentions some of the new features that I am still uncovering.

Although iPhone sales hit the highest ever at 5 million, this was not enough for some people like Bloomberg reporters Adam Satariano and Ryan Faughnder who (like the financial figures) had been estimating wildly high and when Apple produces a record, that is not enough. Doesn't make sense really.

They wanted 8 million, but I bet not all figures are in and we should also consider the end of this week when another 22 countries have an iPhone release: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The iPhone 5 will be available in 100 countries by the end of the year.

With sales at a record high, some analysts, like Katie Huberty at J.P. Morgan are wildly predicting mega sales in the region of 50 million for the quarter, Lance Whitney reports. But we can trump that as the same press release as reported by Neil Hughes on AppleInsider comes up with 200 million for 2013.

As well as Huberty there is Gene Munster, who is rapidly becoming the Rob Enderle of the Mac World. While Enderle often churns out his Chicken Little-like "Apple is falling, Apple is falling, Munster only sees rainbows and the crocks of gold at the end. Reality may lie somewhere between the two who have both been consistently wrong about Apple's performance.

No one is really keeping an eye on the ball as the pissing contest that seems to be taking place here -- and as reported in comparisons with Samsung numbers and Android activations -- misses the real point: how much does Apple make; not how many does it sell?

But the NYTimes (again) hit Apple with a story that would have done Enderle proud: another "Has Apple Peaked?" item. This also had the Steve Jobs excuse as one of the main themes and we have lost count of the number of times this has been rolled out in the last months. They were called out on this by Marek Fuchs on Seeking Alpha, who writes "it's a highly flawed piece of journalism and would best serve traders if wholly ignored." Also on Seeking Alpha, Ed Liston analyses the differences between Jobs and Cook in a more realistic way and sees both positives and negatives, while noting that they are truly different.

I did suggest that Apple would make amends to the Swiss Federal Railway company when it was pointed out that the new iPad clock is the same as the Swiss one. Julie Kuehl reports that they have been talking to Apple and that a representative is travelling to Switzerland soon. But the interesting thing is that they do not want money, just a licence to be signed. Élyse Betters on 9to5 Mac also writes a similar item on this impending meeting.

There are reports on shortages of the new Lightning connector for the iPhone (I am sure there is one in every box) and Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider explains why the complexity of the new device is causing some slowdowns and hence delays. Josh Lowensohn also reports that some of the early devices are getting stuck in the USB ports of computers.

A new Apple store is to open in Hong Kong after the hugely successful first one, Don Resinger reports. I also had email from Apple on Tuesday concerning the opening of a new store in Bromley, Kent which is really the southern suburbs of London.

With the rollout of iOS 6, there have also been changes at the app store. I am certainly not a fan of the App Store as it appears on the iPad but Darrell Etherington on Tech Crunch also has a wider look at some of the many changes and is not convinced.

I had email from Apple this week reminding me that as from 30 September, my storage plan reverts to 5 GB free and the backups I have been doing for the iPhone would evaporate. I signed up to keep the full 20 GB I have been using and was charged $20 for the honour.

There are a lot of hidden tricks all over OS X and some of these ar ein Safari, Topher Kessler tells us with an article that outlines a number of undocumented options.

There is also a useful "Kid Mode" available on the iPad and OSX Daily explains how this can be activated.

Half and Half

On the legal matters, I read a report late Tuesday on MacDaily News that has the news that Samsung has "filed for judgment as a matter of law and a new trial as an alternative, and questioned jury decisions in a number of areas." Here we go again.

Remember all those shrieks and wails and gnashing of teeth when Apple's data center in North Carolina was found to be using electricity from dirty sources? They have moved on a bit now with a solar array online and another about to be built. But where is the shock, outrage, horror when it has been revealed -- as reported by Sam Byford on The Verge -- that Microsoft calculated that it was cheaper to keep diesel generators running because it overestimated power use rather than pay the fine. By wasting $70,000 of fuel they saved $140,000 on what would have been a $210,000 fine. Where is Greenpeace? Silent.

Other Matters

A note from Cathay Pacific this week told me that the regional business class is being updated and that travellers will be able to link to the personal TV screen with their own iPads or iPhones and use their own data.

Local Items

Late news

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.