I-phone 5 preview and specifications

Apple has finally announced i-Phone 5 in what was probably its most awaited keynote to date. From looks to performance, Apple's has indeed created the best i-Phone yet. From some great improvements to small but noticeable disappointments, everything made its mark in the announcement. Read on as I give you a preview of the i-Phone 5, describing what's new and what's missed.

Looks and appearance:i-Phone 5 has gone through a complete makeover and the new look is more than pleasing to the eye. The i-Phone 5 now has a dual-toned body made completely out of Aluminum and glass.More than this what catches your attention immediately is the the larger screen-4-inches to be exact. The increase in screen-size has been done vertically making the i-Phone 5 taller rather than wider in a bid to ensure that it can be still easily be used single-handed.

The i-Phone 5 is also appreciable thinner and lighter than i-Phone 4s. It just measures 7.6mm and weighs 112 grams (4.9 oz). Apart from this no major changes have been made in the basic design of the phone (If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?) and overall, i-Phone 5 has an appealing look.

Display-The real change: For those who felt 3.5-inches was too small an estate to totally experience the i-Phone 4s, Apple has granted them with a 4-inch retina display in the i-Phone 5. The new retina display clocks 326 ppi with a resolution of 1136X640 (Which is respectable since screen size has been increased 0.5-inches). However this meant that i-Phone 5 doesn't have a 16:9 ratio exactly which is surprising since Apple has trusted the 16:9 ratio from years.

The screen also sports a better color saturation with full sRGB rendering. The change in screen size meant the first-party apps (like garage band, iMessages, etc) had to be update which Apple has done, of course. Also, it has been stated that the developers of third-party apps have been working on updating their apps too and it just a matter of time when all of them would be updated too. Till that, all old apps would be displayed in a letterbox format on i-Phone 5.

Network and connectivity- The real exciting addition here is LTE connectivity. A number of carriers have already announced that they would be taking advantage of the single chip (voice and data solution) LTE solution inside. There's also 802.11 a/b/g/n antenna which is capable enough to help your wireless usage in-check.

The biggest disappointment is absence of NFC which might affect how i-Phone 5 stands against all its rivals which sport a NFC chip inside. Apple has included EV-DO rev.b to the mix though and has also kept GLONASS and GPS for navigating your way-around the globe.

Camera: Surprisingly (Or should I say, disappointingly) the rear camera on i-Phone 5 is more or less the same as found on i-Phone 4s (albeit a bit slimmer). Its a back-illuminated 8 MP sensor with 5 element lens and f/2.4 aperture. The two improvements are the shutter speed which Apple claims has increased by 40% and the the addition of recording full 1080p HD videos (4s records can just record 720p videos). However the front camera has received a major boost. It now has its own back-illuminated sensor and can record 720 p HD videos as well. The front i-sight cam can now be paired to Facetime to do high-resolution video chats even on 4G cellular networks (Till now, Facetime was possible only on Wi-Fi network). There is also a new shooting mode called 'panorama' that stitches together a "beautiful and effective" 28 MP image.

Other enhancements: The microphone has been tweaked to five magnet transducer which will improve voice quality on networks that support it. Also this would enable siri to better understand your commands. The age-old dock connector has finally got a revamp as well. Its now an eight-pin plug which is 80% smaller, completely digital and has a catchy marketing name of 'Lightning'. For those who have a few accessories designed for the old connector would have to purchase an adapter by shelling out $29 to connect them to the i-Phone 5.

iOS 6: Every time a new i-Phone comes out, we see a new version of iOS as well. Continuing with the tradition, Apple has announced that i-Phone 5 would be running iOS 6 out of the box. There are many exciting new improvements and additions to the new version of iOS. iOS 6 would also be available for i-Phone 4s, i-Phone 3GS, i-Pad 2, the new i-Pad and i-Pod touch as well and it would be available for download from 19th September.

Pricing: i-Phone 5 is priced exactly in the same manner as i-Phone 4s. The on-contract pricing are as follows- $199 for 16 GB model, $299 for 32 GB model and $ 399 for 64 GB model. Again there's no 128 GB variant. It would start shipping on 21st September in US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australian, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 20 new markets would be added next month.

So, there you have it- a complete run-down on the new i-phone 5. Comment below to share your thoughts about it.

[All images are copyrights of their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended]