iPhone 5 Shipping Times Improve

Apple iPhone 5 Teardown: Visual Tour

Orders for the iPhone 5 placed online via Apple's web site now ship in one to two weeks. That's an improvement compared to orders placed as recently as November 15, which listed shipping times of two to three weeks. Orders placed before November 10 were shipping in three to four weeks. The supply of iPhone 5s is slowly catching up to demand. Supply has been constrained, in part, because manufacturer Foxconn says the device is difficult to make due to Apple's exacting quality standards.

If you're not in the mood to wait a couple of weeks for the iPhone 5, you can try your luck at Apple retail stores, as well as the retail stores of the wireless network operators that sell the smartphone. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless all offer the iPhone 5 at the $199, $299, and $399 price points for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively. You might want to give your local store a call before heading over.

Several prepaid network operators, including C Spire Wireless, are offering the iPhone 5 for $50 less than the larger carriers. C Spire, for example, is selling the iPhone 5 for $149, $249, and $349 for the three different models.

Demand for the latest iPhone has been high since its September 21 release. Apple has sold more than four million of the devices worldwide so far.

At least the iPhone 5 is available at brick-and-mortar stores, unlike the Google Nexus 4, which is one scarce smartphone.

Google made the Nexus 4 available from the Google Play Store on November 13. The device quickly sold out in the few markets where it was initially made available, including Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.

Initial demand for the Nexus 4 was so high that it crashed Google's servers. Many would-be Nexus 4 purchasers were unable to submit orders due to the large volume of people attempting to buy the newest Nexus device on November 13. Both the 8GB and 16GB models sold out quickly, much to the dismay of Android fanatics.

Google has been mum so far on the number of Nexus 4s ordered via its web site. It has also been mum on shipping details for the orders that did manage to squeak through. For example, I was one of the lucky few to place an order on November 13. I heard nothing from Google until November 19 (last night, in fact), when I received an email saying the device had shipped. Google didn't provide an estimate on when the device might arrive, but it did provide me with a UPS tracking number.

Curious to know when the Nexus 4 will be back in stock? So is everyone else. All the Google Play Store offers is a cryptic "check back later" message.

Time to patch your security policy to address people bringing their own mobile devices to work. Also in the new Holes In BYOD issue of Dark Reading: Metasploit creator HD Moore has five practical security tips for business travelers. (Free registration required.)