iPhone 5 preorders indicate hot demand
Shipping dates for iPhone 5 and Lightning adapters are pushed back, not all carriers offer the same iPhone experience, and California will start collecting sales tax from Amazon.
Friday's tech news roundup didn't plan ahead:
A rush of iPhone 5 preorders online have pushed back shipping dates at Apple and wireless carriers for at least two weeks. Some stores, like Wal-Mart and Target, are also offering iPhone 5 preorders for in-store pickup. The initial supply of iPhones for Apple preorders went in less than an hour, which is much faster than years prior. It shows that either demand is way up for this model, or Apple didn't have as many available for the preorder crowd (or a mix of both). We won't know for sure unless Apple provides the numbers.
Even the adapters for the Lightning connector will be in limited supply. By early Friday morning, Apple pushed back shipments for the adapters to October. Some accessories might not even work with the adapter, but its hard to be sure until it comes out Sept. 21. The 30-pin adapter supports audio output, USB audio and syncing, but no video output. There are unconfirmed reports that Apple may be creating extra adapters for video in the coming months.
Not every carrier will offer the same iPhone 5 experience. Read up on Lynn La's carrier guide to see which one fits your needs best. Also, because of the way the iPhone antennas are designed, Verizon and Sprint customers will not be able to take a call and simultaneously surf the Web with 4G LTE. (But they can if connected to WiFi.) For now, AT&T's the only carrier that surf 4G and talk at the same time on the iPhone 5.
And in other online ordering news, you'll start to see sales tax on future Amazon purchases. California will begin collecting sales tax for items Amazon sells. But there is a loophole where some products can dodge the tax. Amazon already collects sales taxes in seven other states.
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