Hours before the iPhone 5 went on sale Friday, thieves in two countries were busy filling their swag bags with the new handset.

The iPhone 5 certainly has its fans, with millions pre-ordering Apple’s new handset when it went on sale last week. Thieves in Japan and the UK also appear to like the look of it, with nearly 450 phones taken in raids at a number of stores in the two countries.

In the western Japanese city of Osaka, police said that early Friday morning – just hours before the new phone went on sale in retail stores there – 191 new iPhone 5 handsets were taken from three phone stores located around the metropolis.

One had its entire stock of 116 nabbed in a raid that reportedly lasted just four minutes. Camera footage from the scene showed three people taking part in the theft. The value of the stolen goods was put at 7.5 million yen (around $96,000). The store stayed closed Friday, leaving 116 iPhone customers sorely disappointed when they turned up hoping to pick up the latest iteration of Apple’s smartphone.

In a separate incident, 42 of 44 new iPhones were taken from a phone store in another part of the city. A third store had 33 taken. The three raids occurred within two hours of each other, though investigators said they won’t know if the crimes were carried out by the same culprits until they view camera footage from all three raids.

Meanwhile, police in the UK said they want to speak to an employee of a London phone store who hasn’t been seen since 252 iPhone 5 handsets went missing from the premises. The handsets were reportedly taken at around 1.30am Friday.

Theft of a new iPhone on the morning of its launch is probably another first for Apple, though not one the tech giant will be particularly proud of. Perhaps it’s simply another indicator of the level of buzz and hype surrounding its new handset, one which is likely to sell in huge numbers in the coming months.

[Source: WSJ, BBC] [Image: Yayayoyo / Shutterstock]

You may not have an iPhone 5, but you can still get the latest Apple operating system by updating your iPhone or iPad to iOS 6. Here's how.

Are you keen to get your hands on the over 200 new features in iOS 6? Here’s our guide to a smooth update for your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

Which devices get iOS 6?

The new iPhone 5 ships with iOS 6, but you can also upgrade a few Apple devices to take advantage of the latest version of the iOS platform. Here’s the complete list:

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4S
• iPod Touch (4^th generation)
• iPod Touch (5^th generation)
• iPad 2
• The New iPad (3^rd generation)

You can get a closer look at some of the new features in our hands-on with iOS 6.

Limited features

Before you get too excited, there are some features that will only work certain devices. For example, Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad (3rd generation), and iPod touch (5th generation). Turn-by-turn navigation is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad 2 or later with cellular data capability. Panorama is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPod touch (5th generation).

How to update to iOS 6

You have two basic options for updating your device to iOS 6, either wirelessly over-the-air (which will take a while) or hook it up through iTunes. Before you begin do a backup.

If you want to update to iOS 6 OTA then go to Settings > General > Software Update and pick iOS 6. Tap through the setup screens and wait until the device restarts (it would be wise to plug it in, especially if the battery is low). Click through another few setup screens and you’re done.

It will be much faster to use iTunes. Simply load it up and click iTunes > Check for Updates to get the latest version. Connect your device, select it in the left hand column and click Check for Update. Choose Download and Update, continue through the setup screens and wait. Leave your device connected until it restarts and then run through the setup screens and you’re done.

Make sure you don’t unplug the device or turn it off during the update and it should be plain sailing.

Problems updating to iOS 6

Every big rollout like this inevitably results in a few problems. If you encounter any hassles updating to iOS 6 then please post a comment, and if you find a fix then let us know. We’ll post a list and some possible fixes.

Cannot connect to iTunes store

If you encounter this message when you click on the App store link in Passbook then don’t worry. You can try the following fix:

Go to Settings > General > Date and Time > Set Automatically > Off.

Now set the date one year ahead to 2013. Go back and try to update the app again. If you get an error message, go back to Settings and turn Set Automatically back on again.

Wi-Fi issues

Some users found they had problems connecting to Wi-Fi networks after updating to iOS 6. The problem was caused by a Web page that went down on Apple’s website (it has now been restored). If anyone is still encountering issues with this, toggling Wi-Fi on and off should resolve it. If not, then try turning Wi-Fi off and restarting the phone before turning Wi-Fi back on again and you should be good to go.

Missing music

A number of users are reporting a problem with missing music after the iOS 6 update. Apparently Playlist, Album and Artists names are all present and correct, but attempts to play the tracks fail. It appears the Music app is having trouble finding them. Siri can’t find the tracks in question either.

You can find a discussion of this issue at the Apple Support website, but there is no solution yet other than restoring. That means deleting the content and then restoring it from a backup. The problem seems to be linked to iTunes Match.

We’ll keep you posted on this one.

The release of a new Apple iPhone, the collapse of service for BlackBerry users. Last October's 4s meets 4 days of outage for BlackBerry? No, today's latest failure in service for Research in Motion's mobile device.

As if to add insult to injury, on the morning of the day when the iPhone 5 went on sale internationally, BlackBerry users across the world woke up to discover that their devices didn’t work anymore.

Well, kind of.

What actually happened was that users throughout Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East had connectivity issues with the BlackBerry Messenger, email and Internet access for around four hours from 8am BST onwards. It took some time for BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion to acknowledge the problem – almost two hours, in fact, before the company Tweeted that “some users in Europe, Middle East and Africa are experiencing issues with their BlackBerry service,” updating around ten minutes later with “We are investigating and apologize for any inconvenience.”

Around two and a half hours later, service was fully restored.

An official statement from RIM offered “our apologies to any customers impacted by the BlackBerry service issue today,” going on to add that “We can confirm that services have been restored and are now operating normally.” It’s not known exactly what the problem was at this time; according to a spokesperson in London, the issue only affected users using specific carriers, with Vodaphone being named in a statement to the Guardian newspaper. John Jackson, a wireless analyst at CCS Insight told Reuters that the outage may be connected with a similar problem that befell the device last October, and suggests that it’s a bad sign of thing to come. “That RIM has experienced another outage is worrisome,” he said, adding that it could be seen as a hint that “something hasn’t been put right” after last October.

Oddly enough, that particular October 2011 outage – which lasted for four days and affected tens of millions of users across the world, embarrassing the company and leading to a public backlash against both Research In Motion and the BlackBerry as a device – also coincided with a major Apple release, this time the release of Apple’s iPhone 4S. While it’s a step towards conspiracy theory to suggest any connection between iPhone releases and BlackBerry outages, it’s definitely a very strange coincidence. Joking about the outages being some inept attempt to divert attention away from the iPhone sales, it’s perhaps woth suggesting that RIM should consider beefing up resources as soon as the next iPhone release is announced, just as a precaution, based on past experience. If nothing else, it couldn’t hurt.

In a public apology to users, RIM’s chief executive Thorsten Heins said that the company is “conducting a full technical analysis of this quality of service issue and will report as soon as it concludes.” The emailed statement ended with Heins adding “I again want to apologize to those customers who were impacted today.”

If you want to pre-order a Wii U console from Gamestop, you're going to need to be a member of the store's PowerUp Rewards program.

If you’ve purchased anything — literally anything — from a Gamestop over the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly been subjected to a lengthy sales pitch about the benefits of the company’s PowerUp Rewards program. For just a few dollars more, the eager teenaged salesperson claims, you’ll gain access to an exclusive club that can partake in the best deals, huge savings and a number of other offers that are dubiously useful. Well now the company has one more bullet point to add to the pitch: PowerUp Rewards members are henceforth the only people who might possibly be able to pre-order a Wii U console from the retail chain, assuming you’re willing to drop your name onto a waiting list of unknown length.

In a press release issued earlier today, Gamestop president Tony Bartel claimed that interest in Nintendo’s next console has been unprecedented, and that this waiting list scheme is the only way the store can hope to keep up with demand (or, more accurately, temper consumer expectations in the face of imminent hardware shortages). “Demand for Wii U has been off the charts and we know many of our PowerUp Rewards members are anxious to get their hands on one,” Bartel said. “We’re happy to offer our customers this exclusive opportunity to join the wait list for this must-have item.”

As we reported a few days ago, Gamestop had stopped taking pre-orders on the $350 Deluxe version of the console, though at the time it still seemed as if the company would be able to field all orders for the more basic models of the system. That is no longer the case, but Gamestop’s press release helpfully points out that those of you who are already PowerUp Rewards members can visit any Gamestop location and ask to have your name added to the waiting list without any monetary deposit required. According to the release, the store will then issue an automated phone call whenever your console comes available. That said, there is no firm window on when that might happen, or as the press release puts it, “enrolling does not guarantee a Wii U on or by a specified date or at a specific price.”

Currently it is unknown if those desperate for a Wii U pre-order can create a new PowerUp Rewards account specifically to add their name to the waiting list, but we are attempting to contact Gamestop’s representatives and will update this piece once we hear some solid confirmation one way or the other. In the meantime, we suggest pre-ordering the system at a retailer with a bit more market clout. Wal*Mart, for instance. If anyone can ensure people get the next hot gaming system on time, it would be the world’s largest retail chain.

Even on launch day, Apple's iPhone 5 costs as much as $3,000 on eBay.

Standing in line for Apple’s new iPhone 5 may have been worth the wait: The device is currently going for as much as $3,000 on eBay — approximately 15 times what you’d pay for a 16GB version with a wireless contract.

Of course, $3,000 for an iPhone 5 is an anomaly, even in the super-inflated eBay market. A quick search shows many in the $700 to $950 range (for the 16GB, carrier-locked version). An “unlocked” iPhone 5 will generally cost you between $1,000 and $1,500 on eBay today, which could be worth it to people who are want the device now, and plan to do some international traveling in the next month.

The iPhone 5, which sports a 4-inch display, 4G LTE connectivity, a faster processor, iOS 6, and (for better or worse) a new “Lightning” dock connector, typically starts at $200 for the 16GB, up to $400 for the 64GB version, with a two-year contract from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. But considering that many stores have reportedly sold out of the device, and shipping time for an online order is up to a month away, the jacked up eBay prices may well be worth it.

Fully unlocked versions of the iPhone 5 are not officially available, though Apple will eventually sell the device for $650 and up. However – this is a big however — iDownloadBlog has confirmed that the Verzion (CDMA) version of the iPhone 5 is GSM unlocked, meaning you can pop in an AT&T Micro SIM card, and use it on AT&T’s network.

If you ask us, it’s best to just take a deep breath, and wait for the excitement to calm down and the kinks to work themselves out. But if you’re the impatient (and rich) type, then hit up eBay. There are plenty of iPhone 5s over there.

Check out our full iPhone 5 preview here.