iPhone 5

Until now there haven't been any third-party Lightning accessories on the market. Apparently, it doesn't take long to clone the authentication chip embedded in Apple's new 8-pin connector. iPhone5mod has hit the market with a cable that does more than just connect your iPhone 5 or iPod touch 5G to the computer.

As you can see in the video above, the Flash Lightning Dock will hold the iPhone 5 upright to connect. The cool part is that as the iPhone is charging or syncing the cable animates its lights to show how much the battery is charged or that data is being transferred to the iOS device. Sure, it may be a gimmick, but it's not one that Apple is likely to manufacture.

It seems like every new Apple release comes with a new complaint: Antennagate, battery drain, over-heating, and so on... Fortunately for Apple fans, most of these bugs or defects are either fixed or eventually will just go away. However, Apple's iPhone 5 / iOS 6 headaches seem to be growing consistently, with no simple fixes in sight.

The biggest question is whether or not Apple will be able to meet the consumers' product demands this holiday season. According to Asian supply chain sources, iPad mini production is behind schedule, and now iPhone 5 production lines have been frozen by Foxconn after an employee strike.

China Labor Watch (via Engadget) reports that workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory are striking over tougher demands from Apple. Three to four thousand workers stopped working to protest Apple's new iPhone 5 standards, which strictly requires less than a 0.02mm appearance defect on all phones. The new standards were implemented after scratched iPhone complaints started piling up.

Shipments of nanoSIM cards have begun rolling out to T-Mobile stores this weekend. The nanoSIMs can be used with unlocked iPhones to access T-Mobile's HSPA+ network. T-Mobile has been working hard to convince iPhone users to switch carriers by promising bigger savings and unlimited data plans.

T-Mobile also began offering free iPhone support to its customers in June, and announced it was building a iPhone-compatible 4G network in May. Unlike the other big U.S. carriers (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint) T-Mobile does not officially carry the iPhone, however, it is estimated over one million T-Mobile subscribers use the Apple phone on T-Mobile's network.

If you have you ever wished your iPhone was more like Batman's utility belt then you should check out the ReadyCase Indiegogo campaign. The surprisingly thin case (less than 3mm thick) not only protects your iPhone, but it also crams in a multi-tool, a USB memory stick, a kickstand, a headphone clip and three lenses for the iPhone camera.

The case ships with a knife / screwdriver / bottle opener multi-tool, your choice of 8GB or 16GB memory stick (which doubles as a kickstand) and an integrated lens ring for attaching a variety of lenses (a macro lens, a fish eye lens and a wide angle lens) specifically designed to work with the iPhone. The case keeps is slim pocket-friendly design by allowing you to snugly attach the multi-tool and memory stick to the back of the case, and the headphone clip eliminates knotted cord headaches by keeping your EarPods tangle free.

In the world of smartphones customer satisfaction normally rises with each new OS update. The iPhone went from an average customer rating of 6.93 to an average of 7.7 when iOS 5 was launched. However, Apple has seen its first slip with customer satisfaction with the launch of iOS 6. According to the mobile research group On Device (via Cult of Mac), Apple's rating slightly dipped to 7.65 from 7.75. The slight decline in customer satisfaction is most likely due to disappointment over Apple's new Maps app. Good thing for Apple that Google is rumored to be working on a new app for the iPhone and iPad.

On Tuesday, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google had made no move towards creatig a Maps app for the App Store. However, unnamed inside sources told the New York Times a different story, claiming Google is indeed in the process of developing a maps application for iOS devices. The app will hopefully be ready by the end of this year. But why the delay? Google had no problem replacing the booted stock YouTube app with a new standalone app a few days before iOS 6 was released.