Apple on Monday announced that it had sold 9 million new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, just three days after the launch of the new devices on 20 September. The iPhone 5 had sold over 5 million devices over the launch weekend. Apple’s latest sales number is big, given that analysts had predicted that Apple would sell between 6 million and 8 million models during the first weekend. In addition to that Apple’s new iOS 7 has seen over 200 million downloads, and Apple claims that the rate of upgrades from iOS 6 to iOS 7 is its fastest ever. Apple’s iPhone 5s is seen in this file photo. Reuters Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO said in a press release. “The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly.” Incidentally Tim Cook has just recently joined Twitter and he tweeted out about the success of the iPhone, though he didn’t mention numbers in the tweet. 

The news of iPhone 5s and 5c’s stellar success meant that Apple’s shares gained $24.35, or more than 5 percent, to hit $491.76 by afternoon trading. Apple’s shares are currently at 490.64 which is $23.23‎ or 4.97 percent higher. Apple also revised its financial forecast to reflect the higher sales, which is rare for the company. It said revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter would be near the high end of its previous forecast of $34 billion to $37 billion. It said gross profit margin would come in at the top of its previous forecast of 36 percent to 37 percent. As far as the iPhone 5s’ reception is concerned, it is the gold phone that seems to have sparked off the frenzy. This is the first time that Apple has ditched the traditional Black and White iPhone and added gold along with Space Gray and Silver. The gold iPhone was sold out within hours of the launch and according to reports the unlocked gold iPhone is selling for a whopping $10,000 on ebay. The 16 GB version of the gold iPhone costs $649 for the unlocked version. More on the gold madness here. A report by Localytics also confirmed that more than the iPhone 5c, it was the iPhone 5s that was selling so well. The report says that iPhone 5s outsold 5c by nearly 3.4 times in the United States. And the iPhone 5s madness isn’t just over nothing. According to to tech experts, iPhone 5s is blowing away the competition when it comes to speed. AnandTech, which has done a detailed review of the iPhone 5s says the smartphone’s new A7 chip with its 64-bit architecture is easily the fastest. Oh and its not a quad-core chip, Apple has gone for dual-core chip clocked at 1.3 Ghz. According to the post, The dual-core A7 is now the fastest SoC we’ve tested under SunSpider, even outpacing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 and ARM’s Cortex A15. Also that is not the only benchmark test where Apple’s iPhone 5s is giving its competitors a run for their money. Almost all the other tests that AnandTech ran, show the iPhone 5s coming out on top. You can view the entire detailed post here. Meanwhile German hackers have already claimed to have cracked Apple iPhone 5s’ fingerprint scanner or what Apple is calling the TouchID. The Chaos Computing Club (CCC) posted a video on their website showing how an iPhone 5s could be accessedwith a fabricated print. More on that here. It seems that with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, Apple has silenced critic for now.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/

If you use an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, you should immediately upgrade to iOS7. It is worth it. The new OS is full of fundamental changes. Visually, it is better than iOS 6 or older versions of the mobile operating system. And functionally, there are many new features that are bound to help you use your iPhone in a better way.But what if you don't have an iPhone? Don't feel dejected. If you have an Android phone that runs Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean or a newer version of Google's mobile OS, you already have most of the features that iOS 7 offers to iPhone users. Similarly, if you have a Windows Phone, you may not have the most feature rich mobile OS but in terms of looks and feel, it is second to none.

In fact, iOS 7 borrows ideas heavily from both Android and Windows Phone. Apple may not like you to know this but most of the features introduced in iOS 7 are inspired by other operating systems. Why do we say that? Read on...

Flat user interface: Until now, iOS was full of design that follows skeuomorphism. This means it had a look and feel that tried to mimic the real world elements. Apparently Steve Jobs and Scott Forstall, the software guru who handled iOS before he abruptly left Apple last year, liked skeuomorphism. This is the reason why iOS had faux glass effect, used many real-world symbols like clock and camera in icons, and had faux wood and leather elements within apps. Until 2010, this worked well.

But since 2010, the year when Microsoft introduced its Windows Phone that uses flat and 2D design, the user interface is moving towards to flatter and more modern elements. Inspired by Microsoft, Google introduced a flatter user interface in Android Ice Cream Sandwich and since then is refining it. Now with iOS 7, Apple has also (mostly) got rid of skeuomorphism in its mobile OS and has moved to a design that is more modern, sleeker and flatter. Keeping in line with the flat design, app icons have also been flattened, there are fewer obvious buttons to tap and a lot of decorative elements have been removed from apps.

Control Centre: Android devices are using single-tap options for years now. On an Android phone, you don't have to go to Settings to toggle Wi-Fi, or switch off data connection or change screen brightness. You can do all this by opening the notification shade by swiping down from top of the screen. With iOS7, Apple has added something similar. If you swipe up from the bottom of the screen on an iPhone running iOS 7, you get Control Centre that has options for accessing and changing frequently used settings like Wi-Fi toggle.

Card view in multitasking
The card view or in other words thumbnail view of open apps was implemented by Palm in WebOS 2009. Google took the inspiration from this idea and brought it to Android. Later, Microsoft used the same method for implementing multitasking in Windows Phone. And now Apple shows live cards of open apps when a user goes into the multitasking mode. Users can swipe away the cards to close the apps. Also, multitasking is more robust in iOS now. It is similar to that of Android and apps keep running even when they are in background.Swipe anywhere on lockscreen: Earlier, iPhone users had to swipe in a particular area of the screen to unlock it. Now, just like most Android phones, they can swipe anywhere on the screen to unlock the device.

Automatic app updates: If an Android user has enabled it, the apps will update automatically when the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network. With iOS 7, Apple has added the similar feature.

Dynamic wallpaper: In iOS 7, users can select from a set of dynamic wallpapers that give an impression of faux 3D. While on Android such wallpapers are not available by default, Android users can use live wallpapers to give their devices a better look.

What iOS still lacks
There is no doubt that iOS 7 is much better looking and more functional than the older versions of the OS. But there are many core areas where Android is ahead. Some of these are:

Choice of apps: On Android, a user can set his own default apps. If you don't like Chrome browser, you can set Opera as your default browser. But iPhone users are stuck with apps that Apple wants them to use. For example, Safari is the default browser on iPhone and it can't be changed.

Sharing within apps: Apple tightly controls what apps can do on a phone. The company says it is necessary to keep iPhone and iPad secure. Google is much more relaxed when it comes to third-party apps. This is the reason why third-party apps in Android can talk to the each other. So, what is the benefit? The most apparent is how you can share information. For example, a photo can be directly shared from the Gallery through any appropriate app. On iOS 7, there are only a handful of Apple-approved apps that can be used to share images.

Widgets: Some people love widgets, while some hate them. On iOS 7, however, none can use them because Apple doesn't have a provision for widgets.

Special keyboard: The keyboard in iOS 7 is quite good. However, if for some reason you don't like it, you cannot change it the way you can do on an Android phone.

Dynamic homescreen: Unlike the Android home screen, which can be customized in over a hundred ways, the home screen on an iPhone can't host anything more than the app icons and folders.

iOS 7 vs Android Jelly Bean

Both are good operating systems. But there are key differences in the user experience they provide. iOS 7 promises hassle-free smartphone experience with a slick user interface and smooth animations. Android Jelly Bean doesn't feel as smooth as iOS 7 but looks quite good and offers a number of features that make it lot more versatile. If you are the kind of user who doesn't like to change or tweak too many settings and want a smartphone experience that 'just works', iOS 7 is a better choice.

However, if you are comfortable with a smartphone or a computer, doesn't mind changing a setting or two, Android Jelly Bean will help you do lot more with your phone.

Those conclusions emerged after Apple said Monday that it sold nine million of the two handsets in their first three days on the market—well above what analysts had anticipated.The company also said that its quarterly sales and profit margin would likely be at the high end of the company's previous forecast. Apple in July projected revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion and gross margin between 36% and 37%.

The company's stock jumped $23.23, or 5%, to close at $490.64 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Apple also said that more than 200 million of its devices already were running iOS 7—a free overhaul released last week of the operating system used on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices.

Apple's record volume for the new iPhones compared with five million iPhone 5 models sold on its opening weekend a year ago. Analyst had predicted that six million to seven million of this year's models would be sold in the debut weekend.

But there are caveats with the Apple figures, among them the decision to sell the phone in China in the opening weekend this year.

And beyond sales by the company to consumers from its own stores and website, Apple's count includes sales to other retailers. While Apple appears to have exhausted inventory of the iPhone 5S, the nine million units include unsold iPhone 5C models at non-Apple retailers, analysts said.

"If you adjust for the 5C, it's not the blowout that it initially looks like," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. He estimated that three million to four million iPhone 5C models are with retailers and that the number of both handsets in the hands of consumers was 5.5 million.

Apple didn't break down its sales other than to say that demand for the iPhone 5S exceeded supply. "Thanks to all our amazing customers for the fantastic weekend," Chief Executive Tim Cook, a new Twitter user, said in a tweet Monday.Assessing demand for the phones is particularly difficult because more countries are involved this year: 11, compared with nine for the iPhone 5 release last year. And China, in particular, is a huge smartphone market.

Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said the original iPhone 5 sold two million units in its first weekend of sales in China. He estimated that China likely contributed a similar amount this year.

The cautions aside, analysts still said the rollout was stronger than they expected, as indicated by longer lines at stores than last year. While some Apple analysts were disappointed that the iPhone 5C wasn't priced low enough to attract a new class of buyers, they said there remained a substantial number of iPhone users who wanted to upgrade their phones and that new trade-in programs made the process less expensive.

"People forget that there is a massive installed base out there," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI International Group. As a result, when "each phone comes out, the launch gets bigger and bigger."

Several signs indicated strong customer preference for the iPhone 5S. Cantor Fitzgerald said its survey of buyers in New York found that 88% bought that model but that Apple's figures suggested that the less-expensive iPhone 5C also sold well.

Boston-based research firm Localytics said data generated from apps downloaded by users over the weekend indicated that the iPhone 5S sold 3.5 times as many units as the 5C.

Raj Aggarwal, the firm's chief executive, cautioned that the initial data didn't necessarily show the long-term prospects for the iPhone 5C since sales on the opening weekend could have been distorted by hard-core buyers. "The people who are excited enough to stand in line on a Friday morning, these are the early adopters," he said. "They are more likely to want the more sophisticated top-end device."

—Nathalie Tadena contributed to this article.

Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com

Smart phone Comparison

Competition is heated in the high-end phone market. Compare the specifications and features of some popular phones, including the iPhone 5S, which was unveiled Sept. 10.

Apple's iPhone 5S

Google's Motorola Moto X

Samsung's Galaxy S 4

BlackBerry's Z10

Nokia's Lumia 920

Key Facts

WSJ review >>

WSJ review >>

WSJ review >>

WSJ review >>

U.S. carriers

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, U.S. Cellular

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, U.S. Cellular, Cricket

AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon

AT&T

U.S. release date

Sept. 20, 2013

August/September 2013

April 2013

March 2013

November 2012

Starting price (with contract)

$199

$199

$199 (AT&T)

$199

$99

Starting price (without contract)

$549

Unavailable

Undisclosed

$599

$449

Operating system

iOS 7

Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)

Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)

BlackBerry 10

Windows Phone 8

Wireless

LTE

LTE

LTE

LTE/HSPA+

LTE

Measurements

Dimensions

4.87" x 2.31" x .30"

5.09" x 2.57" x 0.22"-0.41" (curved)

5.38" x 2.75" x 0.31"

5.12" x 2.58" x 0.35"

5.13" x 2.79" x 0.42"

Weight

3.95 oz

4.59 oz

4.59 oz

4.78 oz

6.52 oz

Display

Diagonal length

4"

4.7"

5"

4.2"

4.5"

Pixels

1136 x 640

1280 x 720

1920 x 1080

1280 x 768

1280 x 768

Pixels per inch

326

316

441

356

332

Camera

Rear

8 MP

10 MP

13 MP

8 MP

8.7 MP

Front

1.2 MP

2 MP

2 MP

2 MP

1.2 MP

Video capture

1080p

1080p

1080p

1080p

1080p

Memory

Internal storage

16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB

16 GB, 32 GB

16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB version + micro SD card up to 64 GB

16 GB

32 GB

RAM

Unavailable

2 GB

2 GB

2 GB

1 GB

Battery

Capacity

Unavailable

2,200 mAh

2,600 mAh

1,800 mAH

2,000 mAH

Maximum talk time

Up to 10 hours (3G)

13 hours

Unavailable

10 hours (3G)

10.8 hours

Maximum standby time

Up to 250 hours

24 hours

Unavailable

305 hours (3G)

460 hours (3G)

Processor

System chip

A7 chip (64 bit) and M7 motion coprocessor

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro,

*Qualcomm Snapdragon Fusion Pro or Samsung Exynos 5 Octa

Qualcomm S4

Qualcomm S4

Processor core

Unavailable

Dual

Dual

Dual

Dual

CPU speed

Unavailable

1.7 GHz

*1.6 GHz (Samsung chip) or 1.9 GHz (Qualcomm chip)

1.5 GHz

1.5 GHz

Special Features

'Touch ID' fingerprint-identity sensor, built into the home button, allows users to unlock their phones and make purchases from the iTunes store by touching the button

Two years of 50 GB storage free on Google Drive

Eye movements and waving the fingers can control the screen; 'Group Play' allows users to share content

Time-shift photos, double-layer keyboard that adjusts to typing, 'Hub' for easy access to emails and messages

Camera with optical-image stablization, City Lens augmented reality app

*Chip and CPU speed are dependent on market.
Sources and images: the companies