iPhone 5S stock shortages ease on UK networks

Calm breaks out in the iPhone market.

Supply of the iPhone 5S is finally catching up with demand, spelling an end to mammoth delays that have blighted the phone’s release thus far.
Until recently, online orders placed with UK carriers were subject to wait times of up to four weeks. That applied irrespective of the colour or storage variant you were after.

However, signs are now abroad that the situation has eased. Just in time for this year's seasonal stampede.
Cursory visits to O2 and EE's sites pledge that orders processed today will be delivered within two working days. That goes for every colourway. Even the massively in-demand gold model.
Meanwhile, Vodafone promises delivery dates of between one to two weeks for grey and silver models. Alas, if you want the gold handset, you’re still looking at a wait of two-four weeks.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 gets Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and Galaxy Gear support

One-time flagship phone now plays nice with smartwatch.

Samsung has made Android 4.3, aka Jelly Bean, available for UK editions of the Galaxy S3, bringing some swell new features to the smartphone as well as support for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
The software is available to download over the air now for Galaxy S3 owners who bought their handsets off-contract. To get it, just head to 'Settings' and select ‘More’. Done that? Good. Then go to ‘About device’ and choose ‘Software update’ to start the download.
If you got your phone via a monthly contract, you’ll have to wait until your carrier approves the update. That's having first ensured it plays nice with whatever bloatware and services they’ve stealthily dumped on your Galaxy S3.

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Samsung Galaxy Round to be first flexible phone?

Round the bend.

The name of the first-ever flexible screen-toting smartphone might just have leaked online, ahead of its debut later this month.
According to sources cited by South Korean site Asiae, Samsung will opt for the name 'Galaxy Round', which we’re guessing alludes to the curved effect of the display.

The report, which puts the phone's asking price at $900, also claims that it's spec sheet will closely resemble the Galaxy Note 3 and that it will be made in very limited quantities.
This chimes with earlier leaks that claimed this was down to low production yields for the screen tech, as well as Samsung's wariness of overcommitting to technology that has yet to be properly tested with the public.

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Apple trims price of iPad Air and iPad Mini for Black Friday

iPhone and iPad Mini 2 discounts a non-starter, though.

Apple has cut the price of its flagship iPad and first-generation micro tablet for 24 hours, as the buying bonanza-cum-newly-minted-Xmas-tradition that is Black Friday gets underway.
Buy an iPad Air from the Apple Store today and you’ll qualify for a £31 discount on the 16GB model in its Wi-Fi-only and 3G flavours, bringing the asking price down to £368. Reductions on the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models are £41, £51 and £61 respectively.

Disappointingly, there’s no discount on the iPad 2, aka the slate that Apple’s diktats insist we refer to as the ‘iPad mini with Retina Display.

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Top 5 iPhone 5S alternatives

Other smartphones are available....

There’s an awful a lot to love about the iPhone 5S. But there’s a lot that people aren’t so keen on too.
Problems with iMessage and a divisive new version of Apple's operating system mean that for every person who loves iOS 7, there’s one who preferred iOS 6.
Look no further than our poll to see just how much His Iveness’s meisterwerk has split opinion.
Add to that glitches with gyroscope and compass levels, random reboots, reports that up to 25% of iOS users experience motion sickness due to the software’s whizzy animations and issues with logouts and it’s fair to say not everything is rosy in iPhone 5S land.
The good news is that you’re ready to leave the walled-garden of the iPhone and take a walk on the wilder, less restricted shores of Android and Windows Phone, there are plenty of cool smartphones to choose from.
We’ve corralled the pick of the year’s handset objets de desir right here to help you make your mind up.
 

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 bundled with free Galaxy Gear smartwatch

Flavor Flav-style massive timepiece up for grabs gratis.

One of the UK’s largest retailers is offering Samsung’s debut smartwatch for free when customers shell out for the Galaxy Note 3, amid reports that consumers’ response to the smartphone peripheral is more than a little disappointing.
Under the terms of Phones 4U’s offer, gadget-fanciers who buy the Note 3 on a two-year monthly contract at £42.99 per month before Thursday (that’s November 14th, date fans) qualify for a free Samsung Galaxy Gear.
Depending on where you do your gadget-shopping, the smartwatch is normally priced between £240 and £299 or so.
Alternatively, you can pick up Note 3 for £39.99 per month and shell out £99.99 upfront for the Gear. [Affects voiceover voice] ‘It really is up to you’.
Phones 4U’s promotion comes after evidence that the Gear was being returned by a frightening one out of three customers at Best Buy stores in the US, for reasons that have yet to be fully determined.

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iPad mini 2 on sale today from Apple, supply shortages looming already?

But for how long?

The iPad mini 2 is on sale now at the Apple Store, defying rumours that the tech giant would be forced to delay the slate due to manufacturing problems and stock shortages.
At the time of writing, the space grey and silver-white models were both in stock in all storage iterations. However, some models are in short supply already, it seems.

Order the space-grey Wi-Fi-only model in either the 16GB or 32GB flavour and you’re looking at a paltry wait of between one and three days before it’s dispatched. But if you want any the Wi-Fi-only 64GB or 128GB models or any of the 4G-capable editions, you’re warned to expect a wait of between five and ten days.
Choose the silver-white iPad mini 2 in any storage option and it's the same story, with delays of between five and ten days for it to be despatched in every iteration except the Wi-Fi only 16GB and 32GB iterations. As with the space-grey colourway, these ought to sent out within three days of reciept of your order.

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Moto G gets priced up ahead of launch

Cheap SIM-free price

Motorola’s Moto G smartphone isn’t due to get the official nod until September 13th. But Amazon UK appears to have got trigger happy, revealing the price and firming-up rumours about the device’s spec sheet.
The mid-tier Android phone will cost just £159.99 when it’s launched tomorrow. That’s for a 16GB model, with higher pricing expected for more capacious devices.
The rear shell will be available in a number of different, unspecified colours, while the screen will come in at a more than ample 4.5-inches. A quad-core processor completes the picture, suggesting the Moto G will be impressively specced considering the cost.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 concept packs flexible screen and aluminium unibody

Another designer gets all ‘what-if?’ on us.

The next flagship Galaxy S smartphone will be a radical break with form. Or at least it will be if the Samsung-fixated sorts at galaxys5info.com have anything to do with it.
A designer at the site has worked up a concept phone packing the flexible screen technology that’s been earmarked for Samsung phones for what feels like ages. But which has been omitted so far, presumably because it’s not market-ready yet.
The 5.3-inch flexible OLED YOUM screen wraps around the edges of the phone, with touch-sensitive controls where you’d normally expect to find a physical volume rocker. The standard physical home button has gone the way of all flesh too and is replaced by a touch sensor.

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