• Australia's largest state hits record-high COVID-19 cases despite weeks of strict lockdown. 'It's a tinderbox ready to explode,' one official said.
• eToro says crypto made up 73% of trading commissions in the last quarter, as retail customers dived in
• A flight attendant says she was too exhausted to report a passenger who shoved her when a flight was overbooked: report
• US jobless claims climb for first time in 5 weeks, to 353,000

THE NEW IPHONE is likely to be made available in Ireland on 28 September after the latest version of Apple’s smartphone was launched in California today.

The iPhone 5 was launched by the company today along with a range of new products and software including new iPods, iPod Nanos, updated iTunes and a new version of its iOS (operating system) which will be available to download from 19 September.

The phone will be available for pre-order from Thursday and will ship in nine countries on 21 September including the UK.

It will ship to more countries on the 28 September with it expected that Ireland is among these.

By December of this year, the company said that 100 countries will have the new device which 240 different mobile carriers will be licensed to operate.

Courtesy of Business Insider, here’s a few more details about the specs and features of the device.

• Glass and aluminum design, just like the iPhone 4 and 4S.
• 7.6mm thin, and weighs 112 grams. Apple claims the iPhone 5 is the world’s thinnest smartphone.
• The display is slightly taller than the iPhone 4S screen. It has a 1135 X 640 pixel resolution and a 16:9 screen ratio. That ratio will make it better for watching widescreen movies.
• Apple’s apps like Mail, Keynote, Garage Band, etc. have been updated to fit the new screen size.
• But older third-party apps that haven’t been updated to the new screen size will have black bars on either end. Developers will need to update their apps quickly.
• Touch sensors are integrated into the screen, meaning you’ll get more accurate touch response.
• Will connect to the fastest wireless networks, including LTE.
• Will run on Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in the U.S. (Sorry, no T-Mobile)
• Wi-Fi chip runs at 5 GHz, allowing for faster, more reliable connections to Wi-Fi networks.
• New A6 processor, which is twice as fast as the chip in the iPhone 4S. This also means gaming graphics are going to look amazing.
• New Game Center called “time shifted” lets you play games against people at different times. For example, if you’re playing a racing game, you can race now, and your friend can compete against your time later.
• Better battery life than the iPhone 4S. You get 8 hours of 3G talk time. 8 hours LTE web browsing.
• New iSight camera that’s 25% smaller than before. It’s an 8 MP camera, the same number of MP as the iPhone 4S camera. The iPhone 5 camera will work better in low light and takes photos 40% faster than the iPhone 4S. There’s also a panoramic mode.
• Camera records 1080p HD video, has face detection, and you can take photos while recording video.
• The front-facing FaceTime camera takes 720p HD video.
• There’s a noise-canceling earpiece and advanced microphones for better audio calls.
• New dock connectors called Lightning. It’s smaller, meaning you’ll need an adapter to use older iPhone accessories.
• Comes in black and white.
• It will have the same pricing structure as the previous iPhone models: $199, $299, and $399 for the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB models, respectively.
• Pre-orders begin Sept. 14. Ships Sept. 21.

Here are a few pictures from today’s launch involving Apple CEO Tim Cook and senior VP Phil Schiller: