While the Apple-holics rejoice that they have a new iPhone to imbibe, the nay-sayers are listing what the iPhone 5 is missing. While Apple calls it "the biggest thing to happen to the iPhone since the iPhone."
Today, we learned that the iPhone 5 features iOS 6, 4" Retina screen with touch integration, thinner, LTE, DC-HSPDA, dual-band Wi-Fi, 8MP camera with panorama mode, A6 processor, Ligntning connector, new EarPods and wideband audio. iPhone 5 is nearly 9 millimeters taller than iPhone 4S, but the same width therefore you can use it with one hand.
Let's see what the iPhone 5 lacks that other top smartphones have:
- Adobe Flash Player - this feature is also lacking on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and beyond. Many websites use Flash to animate images which is a data hog. Most ICS and earlier Android smartphones show flash.
- NFC Payments - there's Google Wallet and Isis for beaming payments at a short distance. Of course Apple couldn't use a Google product but is also saying no to Visa.
- Colorful Choices - you got your black model like the original and your white model. No cherry blossom like the thinner Huawei Ascend P1 S, or even Samsung Galaxy S III Pebble Blue or the bright cyan, yellow or magenta of the Nokia Lumia lines of Windows Smartphone.
- Universal Dock/Charging - the new cable and connect may be smaller but you can't use a standard USB cable like you can do on Android or other smartphone. The propriety cable is going to cost you. Also if you already have iPod dock you'll have to buy an adapter The standard Lightning to 30-pin adapter is $29, adapter with a 0.2 meter cable is $39(October shipping) . The Lightning-USB cable $19 ships in a It is not clear what connections will come with iPhone 5 out-of-the-box.
- Gorilla Glass/Reinforced Glass is not Unbreakable - we've seen so many broken iPhones and even smartphones with Gorilla Glass shattered. Yes, glass breaks but it is very costly when your drop an iPhone and you don't have insurance. The iPhone does not appear on the Corning Gorilla Glass list of items with the glass. No matter what kind of glass used the glass on the iPhone breaks when dropped in many instances. See video drop tests.
- Removalable Battery - I you have to replace the battery it will cost you. If you do it yourself it will void your warranty.
- Waterproof/Water Resistence - a major flaw in many smarpthones is that you drop it in the tub, toilet or Jacuzzi, it could be damaged. CNET ran an iPhone through a washing machine and it didn't make it out alive
- Wow Factor - it's hard for Apple to outdo itself, this announcement had no surprises and nothing completely new. In past iPhone announcements there was the retina display and Siri. Fake Steve Jobs wrote, " In terms of products, Apple has become the one thing it should never be. Apple has become boring."
- Kid Safety Measures - so many parents are giving iPhones to teens and even toddlers there is no way to lock them out of apps, cyberbullying or sexting. The new Amazon Kindle Fire offers a solution for parents to have individual content and passwords for kids with Kindle Free Time. We are expecting an announcement from ImageVision for a 100% kid friendly smartphone.
- Wireless Charging - you still have to plugin the iPhone 5 to charge it with the Nokia Lumia 920 you don't have to.
Anything else? Tell us in the comments below. So what should you do with your old iPhone, read iBogacious uses or best trade-in deals.