technology

In Case You Haven’t Heard About the iPhone 5 . . .

Apple unveiled the newest edition of its smartphone today. New features include:

  • Thinner – 7.6 millimetres
  • 20 per cent lighter – 112 grams
  • iOS 6 operating system
  • 4-inch retina display
  • Slightly longer with room for a fifth row of icons
  • Faster wireless and longer battery life
  • 8 megapixel camera

You can read the full release from Apple here.

These new features are great, but I wouldn’t call them revolutionary. It’s been while since Apple released an entire new product on the market. New improvements to iPhones and iPads have been relatively minor, and the next iPad is rumoured to be smaller version of what’s currently available (most likely with some hardware and software upgrades). It is clear that the new iPhone upgrades are meant to directly compete with Samsung, who is the world’s largest smartphone vendor, but I am still waiting on a revolutionary device!

I own an iPhone 3GS, and I love it. I switched over from Blackberry and am not considering switching back to a Blackberry of over to an Android device. However, I’m not excited enough about the iPhone 5 to preorder it. I will probably wait until I’m eligible for a phone upgrade with my carrier.

The Globe and Mail has an interesting infographic on what kind of smartphone users its readers are. In the survey of 5,000 readers, the device’s features and the brand topped the list of reasons to choose a new model.

Are you excited for the iPhone 5? Are you planning to get one?

In the meantime, I purchased a Google Nexus 7 about a week ago. It’s my first tablet, and has been occupying a lot of my time. I will have a review on that next week.