iPhone 5S Touch ID MANIA

So there’s been a bunch of stuff doing the rounds about Touch ID, the Apple iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor. We thought we’d clear a little bit of it up for you, because some of it sounds stupid and some of it sounds  a little bit scary.

Number 1. Yes, apparently you can use the fingerprint sensor with your toe, or other ( cough) appendages. We haven’t personally tried it, because we don’t really get the point. But it is apparently a thing, so that’s cool we guess. Not as cool as this picture of Bruce Willis though.

Number 2, Yes, some dudes called the Chaos computer club hacked the fingerprint sensor, which allowed them access to someone’s phone without them having to use the owners finger.

But it’s really ok, guys. We mean, we don’t know what kind of information you guys have stored in your iPhones, but unless you’re James Bond or the like, chances are people are not going to want to go through what these guys went through in order to get into your iPhone. Especially when they can just make you tell them your PIN if you have one.

The German Chaos computer club used the same method that people do to hack into other fingerprint authentication systems, except with a few minor improvements because Apple made their fingerprint sensor using a super unusually high resolution scanner.

In their own words:

“First, the fingerprint of the enrolled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone.”

Simple stuff right? Ummm… not really. We think we’ll be fine.

It is still something to know and understand, of course, because it could lead to issues down the line – these are only the first guys to have successfully done it, there are no doubt plenty more guys out there trying to prove they’re smarter than Apple.

Until then, enjoy Touch ID. Just… if you’re going to enjoy it in weird ways, with weird parts of your body, let people know before they touch your phone, yeah? Yeah. Cool.

New YouTube Mobile App feature!

Youtubers!

Good news! Very soon you will be able to download video using the mobile app on your phone or tablet AND watch said video later, when you’re offline for some weird reason.

Cool huh? Well, it’s like a 6 on coolness. Could definitely come in handy, definitely good for flights and camping and space flights.

But… some commercial partners, such as the music video service Vevo, have the option and are taking the option to not participate. Wah.

The service will still be free, still contain ads, won’t work for movies or TV episodes that it currently rents, and the downloaded video will work to watch offline for up to 48 hours.

Thanks, YouTube.

Image courtesy of YouTube.

Wait, how many new iPhones have been sold?!

Do you guys know how many polar bears there are in the world? C’mon we’re going somewhere with this, we promise.

It’s around 25 thousand. What about Penguins? You guys know much about penguins?

Well we got a few more of those cute bastards running around. Around 2 million.  Annnnd… how many pet birds in the United States?

That’s sitting at about 6 Million-ish.

Put all of that together, and now you have the number of iPhones Apple sold in the first three days of their release.

Yup, that’s NINE MILLION IPHONES.

That’s right, Kanye. NINE MILLION Sheesh.

That’s like almost half of all Australians bought an iPhone. OR like, everyone in Slovenia bought 4 and  a bit. Last year in the same 3 day period, the iPhone 5 only ( ha, ‘only’) sold 5 million units.

iOS 7 has also been updated by 200 million users- doubling the rate that iOS 7 was adopted.

Here we have Tim Cook:

“This is our best iPhone launch yet — more than 9 million new iPhones sold — a new record for first weekend sales. The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible. And while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5S’s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.”

He later went back on Twitter to say:  “Thanks to all our amazing customers for the fantastic weekend!”

Not surprisingly, Apple stock has jumped back up around $490.

Although Apple has not broken down the sales between the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C, the general consensus is that the iPhone 5S has far outsold the iPhone 5C worldwide – but that the cheaper model will start to catch up in time.

SO, Yay apple! You guys did good.

p.s. it was depressingly hard to find enough cool animals to compare to the sale of the new iPhones in 3 days. Sorry to sad out on you guys, but like, give a lion a dollar or something next time you see one.

Images courtesy of imore.com, themetapicture.com, imfunny.net, cafemom.com

Check for iPhone 5S in store availability right now!

YAY! You can now go in store to pick up your long awaited iPhone 5S and/or iPhone 5C if you order online! You can also see availability  for each model on the online purchase page!

The iPhone 5C has much better availability than the 5S as Apple sold out of a lot of the iPhone 5S models super fast and had to ramp up of the Gold option specifically by a third.  The Gold option still seems to be limited, with no current in store pickup  availability that we could find.

Here is an example of availability for the iPhone 5S for pickup in store:

To check availability for in-store pickup, choose your specification options first, then click the Check Availability link beneath the green Continue button. You’ll need to enter your Zip code to see the availability in your area.