The iPhone 5 can now be purchased unlocked in the U.S. via the Apple Store. An unlocked iPhone allows Apple customers to buy the device without agreeing to a two-year carrier contract, however, this also means users are stuck paying an unsubsidized price. Apple is offering the 16GB model for $649, the 32GB model for $749 and the 64GB model for $849.

The unlocked iPhone 5 only works with GSM wireless networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile (T-Mobile customers considering buying an unlocked iPhone 5 may want to wait until next week to see if the T-Mobile iPhone rumor is true). The unlocked iPhone 5 does not support CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint, and requires a nano-SIM card to work.

Deutsche Telekom is rumored to be working on a deal to bring the iPhone to its U.S. subsidiary. Merrill Lynch's Scott Craig told investors "speculation is heightening" that the telecommunications company will announce a deal with Apple at next week's analysts day.

T-Mobile has been working on expanding its high-speed HSPA+ network, and even offers free iPhone support, and iPhone nanoSIMs to its customers using unlocked devices. It has been estimated that T-Mobile is carrying nearly a million unlocked iPhones on its network.

Another update to the Skype iPhone and iPad apps has been released, adding new features and bug fixes. Desktop users will recognize some of these features, which include the ability to log in with your Microsoft account. This integration is the next step in Microsoft's plan to replace the Messenger IM client with Skype.

The Skype iPhone app can now be used to chat directly with contacts on Hotmail, Messenger or Outlook.com. Those who are new to Skype will find that an account can be created directly from the app, no computer required. Account holders with the iPhone 5 probably noticed that Skype optimized its app for the larger display, already released in a previous update.

Chances are you send a lot of messages from your iPhone. Now if your device is jailbroken you can speed up the process with a tweak named ImmediateSend. Why bother going to the Messages app every time you want to reply to an SMS or iMessage?

That's the theory behind ImmediateSend, which will deliver a pop-up box with simple options when you're interested in sending quickly. If the recipient of the message can handle an iMessage, that will be presented as an option, along with buttons for reply with SMS and go to the full blown Messages app. Just enter the text you want to reply with and tap the button of your choice.

When it comes to iPhone jailbreak tweaks, there have been many attempts to improve or replace the stock multitasking app switcher. Some find the multitasking dock painful to use, including having to scroll all the way to the left to find a volume control. Now for those with jailbroken devices there's a tweak called jLauncher that makes multitasking better.

Once installed, jLauncher can be invoked with any Activator gesture. This also means you must have the Activator package installed on your device. Double pressing the home button is how the stock multitasking app switcher pops up on an unmodified iPhone. Assigning this gesture to jLauncher will effectively replace the old dock.