So Apple has announced the new iPhone, the taller, uber-sleek iPhone5 with a faster processor. As has come to be a given, there was a great deal of speculation and anticipation prior to the event. Plenty of those who got a chance to use theiPhone 5 seem to have been touched by a bit of the famed Apple magic. So nothing has changed really. Or has it?
For years, Apple events were the fountainheads of disruptions that shaped the industry. Competitors scrambled to catch up. The touchscreen, the retina display, Siri, a form factor that kept getting better and better, the iTunes store, the appstore with more and better apps than any other platform.
But tech gurus around the world are saying something else now: that Apple's innovative disruptor status, guaranteed after every iPhone launch, is being challenged.
Full Coverage on Apple's new iPhone
"Although the 4S sold wonderfully for Apple and brought some interesting additions, few would argue against the suggestion that it opened the door for competitors," Patrick Ross wrote in Tech Radar.
Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak said he plans to get the iPhone 5 and hopes it will take better photos than the Samsung Galaxy S III. "I'm always excited about every iPhone product because there are always good advances," Wozniak said in an interview to Bloomberg. "Better quality pictures will mean a lot, because when I show people pictures on my iPhone 4 and my Galaxy S III, they always say that the Galaxy S III, or even the Motorola Razr pictures look better."
Samsung currently enjoys a 32.6% worldwide share of the smartphone market, up from 17% last year, according to research firm IDC. The Galaxy S3 alone has sold 20 million units in under three months. Apple's smartphone marketshare slipped from 18.8% last year to 16.9%.
After years of struggling to put out a credible competitor, Nokia last week unveiled the Lumia 920, a device with wireless charging, NFC (near-field communication) capabilities and a camera that was assessed by some tech watchers as even superior to rivals' offerings.
That was the sentiment - the iPhone 5 not having features some of its competitors have - that informed Jessica Vascellaro's review in the Wall Street Journal, asking whether the new iPhone 5 is "boring". She added that "Few heralded the new device as a great leap forward. What's more, the iPhone 5 doesn't have several features that are becoming standard across other smartphones, such as ways to pay with your phone or even bigger screens,"
"The extent of the redesign of the new iPhone only really becomes clear once you hold it in your hand. On first impressions, Apple has delivered a handset that looks - and feels - very good indeed. However, he also noted, to the relief of Galaxy S III, Lumia and HTC One X fans, that "There is nothing here that leaves the Galaxy S3, the HTC One X or the Nokia Lumia 920 looking dated or out of touch" Shane Richmond wrote in London's The Telegraph.
Some well known tech gurus have other complaints. David Pogue in the New York Times made a point about the new Lightning connector on the new Apple devices including the iPhone 5. "I'll grudgingly admit that the Lightning connector is a great design...Still, think of all those charging cables, docks, chargers, car adapters, hotel-room alarm clocks, speakers and accessories—hundreds of millions of gadgets that will no longer fit the iPhone."
Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz said "it seems they have incrementally improved every single aspect of the iPhone. It's not a revolutionary phone, but it is a very nice release.'
And Goss' commentary from Tech Radar probably sums it up best: "Is the iPhone 5 going to sell like hot-cakes? Of course. Will it send shock waves shuddering through the tech world and turn competitors back to their drawing boards? No."
For years, Apple events were the fountainheads of disruptions that shaped the industry. Competitors scrambled to catch up. The touchscreen, the retina display, Siri, a form factor that kept getting better and better, the iTunes store, the appstore with more and better apps than any other platform.
But tech gurus around the world are saying something else now: that Apple's innovative disruptor status, guaranteed after every iPhone launch, is being challenged.
Full Coverage on Apple's new iPhone
"Although the 4S sold wonderfully for Apple and brought some interesting additions, few would argue against the suggestion that it opened the door for competitors," Patrick Ross wrote in Tech Radar.
Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak said he plans to get the iPhone 5 and hopes it will take better photos than the Samsung Galaxy S III. "I'm always excited about every iPhone product because there are always good advances," Wozniak said in an interview to Bloomberg. "Better quality pictures will mean a lot, because when I show people pictures on my iPhone 4 and my Galaxy S III, they always say that the Galaxy S III, or even the Motorola Razr pictures look better."
Samsung currently enjoys a 32.6% worldwide share of the smartphone market, up from 17% last year, according to research firm IDC. The Galaxy S3 alone has sold 20 million units in under three months. Apple's smartphone marketshare slipped from 18.8% last year to 16.9%.
After years of struggling to put out a credible competitor, Nokia last week unveiled the Lumia 920, a device with wireless charging, NFC (near-field communication) capabilities and a camera that was assessed by some tech watchers as even superior to rivals' offerings.
That was the sentiment - the iPhone 5 not having features some of its competitors have - that informed Jessica Vascellaro's review in the Wall Street Journal, asking whether the new iPhone 5 is "boring". She added that "Few heralded the new device as a great leap forward. What's more, the iPhone 5 doesn't have several features that are becoming standard across other smartphones, such as ways to pay with your phone or even bigger screens,"
"The extent of the redesign of the new iPhone only really becomes clear once you hold it in your hand. On first impressions, Apple has delivered a handset that looks - and feels - very good indeed. However, he also noted, to the relief of Galaxy S III, Lumia and HTC One X fans, that "There is nothing here that leaves the Galaxy S3, the HTC One X or the Nokia Lumia 920 looking dated or out of touch" Shane Richmond wrote in London's The Telegraph.
Some well known tech gurus have other complaints. David Pogue in the New York Times made a point about the new Lightning connector on the new Apple devices including the iPhone 5. "I'll grudgingly admit that the Lightning connector is a great design...Still, think of all those charging cables, docks, chargers, car adapters, hotel-room alarm clocks, speakers and accessories—hundreds of millions of gadgets that will no longer fit the iPhone."
Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz said "it seems they have incrementally improved every single aspect of the iPhone. It's not a revolutionary phone, but it is a very nice release.'
And Goss' commentary from Tech Radar probably sums it up best: "Is the iPhone 5 going to sell like hot-cakes? Of course. Will it send shock waves shuddering through the tech world and turn competitors back to their drawing boards? No."
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