iPhone 5 Revealed - Breakthrough iPhone Or Catch-Up Smartphone?

IPHONE 5 IS MORE OF THE SAME, YET MOST ADVANCED

The iPhone 5 has been officially announced! Finally, all the hoopla, waiting, and rumors come to a close. The yearly Apple dog-and-pony-show has been quite an experience. But how will the iPhone 5 be viewed? Is it a breakthrough device, or a catch-up to Android?

My prediction did come true. I blogged that it would make no sense for Apple to release a new generation iPhone without a 16:9 aspect ratio. As I indicated, the screen is 4" x roughly 2.2" wide. That's a perfect 16:9 aspect, which will make this a great device to watch movies and television shows on.

The iPhone 5 is slightly thinner, and claims to be the thinnest smartphone in the world at 7.6 millimeters. Plus it is 20% lighter, weighing in at a slim 112 grams. The display packs 1136x640 pixels, and it is an LTE-capable device with a new A6 processor.

Those are the basic big changes. Everything else is really not earth shattering news. For Apple iPhone owners, I would say that this is a significant upgrade that most people would want to jump on for $199 and a new 2-year contract. If I had an iPhone 4, I would most definitely be buying the iPhone 5 on my next available upgrade.

But for Android users, a lot of what we are seeing would be old news. I don't tend to believe the prognosticators that are saying Android users will leave in droves thanks to all the new features of the iPhone 5. I don't see it surpassing cutting edge Android devices. Instead, it's more of a game of "catch-up".

One thing that CZ Blog Administrator and Crack Reporter Jim "Postal Jim" Stuckey reported to me as he was watching the streaming live event was the excitement over being able to upload from the iOS Facebook app. I wasn't even aware that you couldn't do this. I've had this capability for the past year with my Samsung Galaxy S2 with Android Gingerbread (and now Ice Cream Sandwich).

The front and rear cameras of the iPhone 5 are the same as the cutting edge standards of Android devices. The rear camera is still at 8 megapixels, and the front facing camera comes in with 720p capability. They claim the rear camera is smaller, but I don't see that making any difference in usability.

You can take photos in the middle of shooting video footage with an iPhone 5. That's a really cool feature, but didn't we already see this with the HTC One X smartphone a couple of months ago? I think we did. Again, this is great for Apple users, but not a big deal for Android owners.

One feature of the iPhone 5 that I am excited about is the new lightning connector. No more big fat 1" wide power/data connector plug. Now it is 80% smaller, and you can reverse it. They've cut it down to Android Micro USB size, but you don't have to plug it in with the right side facing up. So that is an advantage over current cutting-edge Android devices.

Another huge improvement of the iPhone 5 that I give Apple credit for is the new aluminum backing. My biggest beef with the iPhone 4/4S was the fragile design. It can't be dropped from a height more than 2' without shattering the display, or cracking the back glass. Hopefully the aluminum design will help it absorb the impact of a drop, and redirect the energy instead of shattering the display.

iOS6 has officially been announced along with the iPhone 5. I'm not sure when the next edition of Apple's operating system will be available for download on the iPhone 4/4S, but it will come pre-loaded on the iPhone 5. There are new features with iOS6, but nothing that has given me a case of Apple envy.

That's about all I've got. To wrap it up, I would highly recommend the iPhone 5 to anyone in the market for a new Apple smartphone. I'm sure the price on the iPhone 4S will drop, but why take the older technology when the cost of the newest device is only about 1/20th of what you'll be paying on that lovely 2-year contract for service? I say go for the gusto.

For Android users, this doesn't look like a device that would draw you back or make you switch. Some will, of course, but former iPhone owners/enthusiasts like myself aren't going to give up the higher capabilities of Android devices to float back to a smaller handset.

What are your thoughts about the iPhone 5? Are you going to be pre-ordering one, or purchasing as soon as you have an available upgrade? Are you an Android user that will be making the switch? Does any of this excite you? I wanna know! Comment away!

Carlton Flowers
iPhone Yawner