iPhone 5 invitation

iPhone 5 set to launch at Apple Event on Oct 4th.Update Oct 4th – will you upgrade?

Ending months of speculation, with an invitation called Let’s Talk Phone, Apple sent out the official launch announcement.

Tens of millions of iPhone 4 users, with 2 years to go on their contracts, now have a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Their smartphone isn’t cool anymore.

Android phones are beating Apple for sales two-to-one among US customers in the past three months says Nielsen.

“In August, 28% of those who had purchased a smartphone in the preceding 90 days said that they picked an iPhone, down from 31% who said the same three months earlier. However, more of Android’s gains came at the expense of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry than from Apple’s iPhone: RIM’s share of recent smartphone purchases fell from 16% in May to 9% in August, a seven-point decline that was more than double that of Apple’s.” Computerworld.

Apple’s strategy with the iPhone and iPad is annual product upgrades that keep the customers wanting new devices. This refresh of the product line is five months later than last year when the iPhone 4 was launched in May.

The competitive Android phones are upgrading so quickly that only geeks and marketing people can keep up with the proliferation of Android models, speeds and feeds. This is one of the advantages of Android – more models, more brands, more formats, more places to purchase at retail.

What’s new

iPhone 5 mockup (photo pinoytutorial)

The exact changes in the the iPhone 5 are not known but that hasn’t stopped speculation on the new feature set.

Will the new iPhone 5 be thinner, bigger? Probably a little of both although Apple is not expected to adopt a 4″ or larger screen format.

The iPhone 5 is likely to sport the newer A5 processor. We use the iPhone as a tiny computer. More speed and power are essential. The competitors are migrating to dual processors and Apple will follow suit.

Android phones have bigger sharper screens and cameras. Expect the iPhone to improve on the screen and perhaps add 1080p video cam resolution.

Some pundits expect native voice recognition, which will allow iPhone apps to support the feature as part of the OS.

iPhone 5 will probably support the emerging and popular 4G networks. 3G is great but you can never have enough speed.

When you look at the possible feature list for the iPhone 5 for the first time Apple is playing catch-up with its competitors.

To switch or not

I switched when Apple launched the iPhone 3 and iPhone 4. This time I am not sure if my emotions will get the best of me. Of course, after a week or two of Apple’s media blitz, it might be impossible not to trade up.

The Android phones have the edge in screen readability and open technology. My carrier Telus allows phone upgrades for a fee which make it easy to switch.

However, my heart is set on Windows Phone 8 when it ships next year. The integration of the desktop Windows 8 and the phone interface with live HTML5 apps has me more excited that tiny feature upgrades.

I have my eye on a computer at home that I can upgrade to Windows 8 pre-beta and that is more exciting than another modest phone upgrade.

The future is HTML5 and everyone will be there. We upgraded NJN Network site to be HTML5 compatible this week. It was slick, fun and opened up a whole new array of technological possibilities.

Thanks to Mashable for their best guesses on new iPhone 4 features slated for October 4th.