iPhone 5 Unveiled Today

Apple unveiled the much anticipated new iPhone 5 at an event in San Francisco today.  The device has been hotly anticipated but the majority of the new features shown off on the device such as the larger screen, lighter body,  thinner frame, faster processor and LTE support have been pretty well anticipated leading up to the event.

The iPhone 5  will be available for pre-orders beginning September 14 and will begin shipping and be available in stores on September 21.  “iPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we’ve ever created,” said Philip Schiller.  “We’ve packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it.”

iPhone 5 comes with the following improvements from its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, which has sold close to 100 million units since it was introduced:

Larger Screen (A longer screen: 4 inches diagonally as opposed to 3.5 on the iPhone 4S, with a higher resolution, at 1136-by-640 pixels, compared to the iPhone 4S display’s 960-by-640 resolution.)

Lighter (By 20 percent, now 112 grams.)

Thinner (By 18 percent, at 7.6 millimeters.)

Faster (A new A6 chip, or processor, which Apple boasts delivers “up to twice the CPU and graphics performance.”)

Slightly improved camera (A sapphire crystal lens and improved stabilization.)

LTE wireless connection support (Take advantage of the higher-speed 4G LTE networks)

New iOS 6 software will improve Apple’s digital assistant Siri, allowing users to check in on sports scores, receive turn-by-turn directions using Apple’s map system and post updates to Facebook by speaking into their phone. Additionally, iOS6 adds Passbook, which is Apple’s new e-tickets app, enabling you to carry electronic tickets for anything from sports events to plane travel, or to have a digital loyalty card. Another key feature will be an improved phone app. iPhone app developers will certainly be digging into the many advances with iOS6 to assist their customers in creating cutting edge applications that utilize the expanded powers of this operating system.