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iPhone 5 draws praise; some fault mapping tool

9/20/2012
BLOOMBERG NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5 has been drawing accolades from technology-gadget critics, who praised the smart phone's lightweight body design, bigger screen, and swifter data-download speeds even as some faulted its mapping tools.

The iPhone 5, which is scheduled to reach stores today, is the best smart phone on the market, map-software flaws aside, according to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. Ed Baig of USA Today said the device keeps Apple ahead of rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co., and Rich Jaroslovsky of Bloomberg called it the “handsomest phone you can buy.”

The mostly positive reviews stand to fuel what's already turning out to be robust demand for Apple's best-selling product. The company said on Sept. 17 that it had received more than 2 million orders in 24 hours, more than double the record set when the company introduced the iPhone 4S last year.