iPhone 5, the world’s most awaited gadget, is launched. After endless rounds of speculation, and countless leaked images, wishlist and rumors, it’s finally here – the brand new iPhone 5. Apple Inc will begin taking orders for the iPhone 5 on Friday (14th Sept, 2012), costing $199 for the cheapest 16 gigabyte version to $399 at the top end. Shipments begin on September 21, and the smartphone will be sold in 100 countries by the end of the year. The device’s appearance won’t be surprising — it looks exactly like the leaks, made of a mix of glass and aluminum. At 7.6 mm thick, it’s 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S and 20 percent lighter, at 112 grams and has a 4-inch screen, with 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.
At the San Francisco event, Phil Schiller, Sr VP of worldwide marketing at Apple called the iPhone 5 “the most beautiful product we have ever made, bar none.” And that “the hardware and software engineering that has gone into this product is unlike we’ve ever undertaken before.” Ahead of the announcement, Wall Street analysts predicted that the iPhone 5 would set sales records. The industry’s median prediction is that Apple will sell 45 million iPhone 5 units in the first three months after it hits store shelves. It sold 37 million in the first quarter after the iPhone 4S went on sale last fall. And looking at the awesome hardware and features (along with iOS6) that iPhone 5 is bringing to the table, well, we won’t be too surprised if these sales predictions are proved true!
Display and Processor
The iPhone 5, made entirely of glass and aluminum, is the thinnest, lightest iPhone available. The four-inch screen boasts 326ppi retina display with 1136×640 resolution. Thus the new screen has a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, the same as your HDTV. The larger screen gives enough room for a full new row of apps on the iOS Home screen. The device utilizes an A6 processor, offering 2 times faster CPU and 2 times faster Graphics. The display now has five rows of icons to boot.
iSight Camera (8MP)
The iPhone 5′s new camera is called iSight. It utilizes the A6 chip, offering many improved specs. Among them: an 8 megapixel sensor, 3264×2448 resolution, backside illumination and five element lens with sapphire lens cover. It also boasts Panorama as well as 40 percent faster image capture. A new feature has been added, called Shared Photo Streams. This allows users to instantly share a series of photos with friends and enables comments on them. It also allows users to take photos while shooting videos — an increasingly popular feature found on rival smartphones.
Siri
The iPhone 5 has three microphones — front, bottom, and back — for voice recognition and noise cancellation. This should mean more accurate Siri recognition and clearer call quality.
Color Choices
Color choices for the new iPhone are the traditional black and white. The white version has a raw aluminum back and the black version has black anodized backing.
iPhone 5 Pricing
It is interesting to note that The iPhone 5 is coming in at exactly the same price as the iPhone 4S – $199 for 16GB. $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB. These are contract prices, for US only, but it gives you an indication of what the price of the unlocked units will be – starting at $650 for the 16GB version, same as the 4S.
Availability and Shipping
Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 will commence on September 14 and it will hit the shelves in US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore on September 21, followed by 20 other countries on September 28. Apple again did not make any announcement about India launch plans, but iPhone 5 is expected to arrive in India in the first half of November.
There were a couple of disappointments too. NFC and wireless charging – features which were widely expected – were not introduced. Many who own existing Apple devices and accessories will obviously be miffed at the new Lightning connector. While the new connector is faster, double-sided and smaller than before, it also renders existing cables, speaker docks and other accessories obsolete.
Now that the new iPhone 5 has arrived watching movies on your mobile has never been better. The larger screen really makes viewing videos easier and with movie services releasing apps for their customers to watch films on the go it couldn’t be easier. Make sure you visit Now TV vs LOVEFiLM to see which of these services you might like to subscribe too.
In the days and weeks to come, it’ll be the numbers that do the talking. And it might be a story that we’ve heard before. That’s because there’s one big secret about Apple products that no one has ever told you – Apple fans (as well as those who envy Apple gadgets) adore the company more than they adore the technology it creates.