By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Genius of the iPhone 5

A lot of people were braying that Apple was in decline; that this was a non-event; that they wanted an earth-shattering announcement; and that this was the iPhone 4S all over again. On that, I agree. Exactly the same responses were sounded last time.

Cast your minds back to that announcement and how many pundits claimed that Apple was done and that the iPhone 4S gave users nothing new. I listened to the announcement presentation when the video was released and heard what had changed: there clearly were many differences; but what the analysts -- who need hits to justify their existence -- saw was the outside and the screen. This is why I always wait for the video, or read reliable sources, rather than knee-jerking my way into comment.

I found another article on this same theme by the well-respected and knowledgeable Jim Dalrymple on Tech Pinions. He confirms that this sort of negativity -- Apple wrong come what may -- has been a staple for years.

Consumers are strangely unaffected by the comments of some of these pundits (which may cause them to become ever more shrill) and they vote with their feet. And their wallets; and by placing orders. Apple opened pre-ordering on Friday and after just a few hours, AppleInsider reports, had to tell some customers that their orders would not now be filled until 28 September, rather than the day of release (21 September). Apple is quoted as saying (through a spokeswoman), "We've been completely blown away by the customer response." A number of other sites reported on these delays, including Chris Oldroyd on iMore.

I was irked by a comment on Facebook by a former student who felt disappointed by the Apple event and I suggested he look at the videos before making such rash, surface comments; but I can quite see how a perception like this comes about. Rene Ritchie on iMore has an open question asking which phone should consumers get. No contest in this house, of course, as long as I can come up with the necessary funds in time. Rene runs comparisons, although these use US figures, but there would be similar ideas applying anywhere.

What was interesting to me was the image comparisons, with side by side shots of the three current iPhones (5, 4S and 4) with only the subtlest differences between each, although clearly the iPhone 5 is taller. What I also liked was the top three images of Iron Man: 1, 2 and 3 with the changes between each clear: a major step between the first and second versions, with a smoothing out and cleaning up in the latest. Like the iPhone.

I was even more irked by the Lewis Page comment on the Register, which was really a repeat of what was written last year on the coming iPhone 5 (which turned out to be the iPhone 4S). The Register has some smart writers but they spoil things over and over again by going for cheap shots against Apple rather than taking a holistic view (that and their 1950s schoolboy vocabulary). John Gruber on Daring Fireball was my link for this and like him I think that the Register thesis that the iPhone is a threat to democracy is wearing a trifle thin; and their meme that anyone who buys an iPhone is an idiot -- "Owning one will be the badge of an utter fool" -- is insulting to all.

To put their comments in some context, the key links at the bottom of the page are Apple, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Iphone 5 (sic) and Fanbois. They never got over being uninvited to Apple events and keynotes after ignoring an embargo.

Someone mentioned last week the idea of comparison with the Rolex which is not misplaced. I walked through a mall on Saturday and looked at some of the watches on sale: flashy, shiny, baubles that have so many extras it is difficult to tell the time and probably quite difficult to learn how to use these features.

I guess the iPhone is like that Rolex, a term that analyst Gene Munster seems to have coined, after Apple's claim that it is built like a Swiss Watch. Rocco Pendola on Seeking Alpha mentions this comment in his look at the release and what it could all mean to Apple's outlook. The Rolex has a major function to display the time and it is built beautifully with carefully made and matched parts -- like the engine, say, of an Aston Martin or a Ferrari -- not slung together using die-stamped components.

Along with the release of the iPhone were some interesting videos. One contained the thoughts of Jony Ive and included a scene in which the edges of the iPhone were machined. I compared my iPhone 4S with that and the 5 is far better made. The same levels of care were evident in other parts, like the camera: we have seen Apple's development of factory processes before with the design and manufacture of the battery.

It is evident (or should be) that the software is different to that on other devices; but a complaint here was that this is the same interface design as with the original iPhone, released in 2007. The shape is the same, sure. And leaving aside the 5 rows of icons now available (a change one notes), there have been a number of subtle changes to the interface: what is the point of change just for the sake of it? That is the problem that faces other companies: they need to be seen to be changing -- running, just to stay in the same spot.

Internally, the app development -- not with the original iPhone and now a whole industry by itself -- has made leaps and bounds. The demo by EA at last week's event suggests that there have been so many changes under the hood that the device is far better than the iPhone it will replace. I was particularly impressed by the dynamic reflections in the sides of racing cars and in the mirrors in the cars: the two rear-view mirrors had different images as those mirrors do not pick up the same view.

That takes power and we see from AnandTech who have managed to analyse data that the A6 processor used in the iPhone 5 has some unique features, created by Apple. The inclusion of such designs within the in-house developed processors should send ripples (if not shock waves) through the industry. Intel should be wiping some sweat from its corporate brow.

A number of sites began to look at the analysis and some of the other details revealed by AnandTech, including Jim Tanous on The MacObserver, who reports that the A6 chip has "1 GB of RAM and utilizes a memory bandwidth that has a maximum speed of 8,528 MB/s . . . roughly 33 percent faster than the . . . iPhone 4S. . . ." This is slightly less than in the latest iPad, but there is less consumption, so it will be faster. Ah, yes, no earth-shattering update from Apple.

This has always been a potential development from Apple and I have commented on this -- in the form of "what if. . ." -- on a number of occasions in the past. My premise was that if this were to occur and hopefully become the norm, the features that Apple now shares with other manufacturers, either via Intel processors or the ARM, which are both used by others, would be available only to Apple.

If Apple is able to design and produce its own chips, then features can be put into its devices that will not be in the features sets of any other manufacturer; they can be brought to the street before others have even thought of them; and so the others could be in a permanent state of catch-up: at least to develop their own solutions if they are unable to licence the technology.

The problem (if problem it is) for many commentators concerns the way most want to be shocked and awed and so think that the evolution of the iPhone 5 is not exciting, but these observers examine the surface only. When you start to look under the hood -- as with the iPhone 4S -- there is a lot more that has been done other than extending the basic rectangular display to 4".

This technological advantage -- which we now see appearing in the iPhone 5 -- cannot be replicated easily by others, so the sarcastic advertisement allegedly to be run by Samsung this week, as reported by Chris Matyszczyk, that declares the iPhone isn't genius may be something that bites back at Samsung again.

Actually, by Sunday evening the reactions were starting with Electronista reporting on a number of parody versions of the ad produced by users. The article also points out a number of curious (and rather serious) omissions from the Samsung ad: cherry-picking. The way the article points out the missing features would suggest that this could be considered an example of false advertising in some countries.

Other iPhone 5 Changes

There are 6 quite visible changes to the iPhone 5: the 4" screen, the A6 processor, the new wireless capabilities, the new nano SIM card, the speaker port at the bottom now and the connector. I guess that is not exciting enough for some.

One of the changes in the iPhone 5 was to the adapter and as many have accessories for the 30-pin ports, they will need an adapter for the adapter that Apple will be selling next month. For some reason, the Apple site in the UK informed users that the 30-pin adapter would be included free with the new iPhone. This was wrong and has since been changed Lance Whitney reports. If you want these it will be $39 for a 7-inch adapter cable (1,490 baht here) or $29 for a small stub adapter (1,090 baht). Richard McLeish has the pricing wrong in his Bangkok Post examination, as well as a couple of other minor points (and spelling: peek/peak).

Isn't it odd that these accessories are shipping and there is no date for the iPhone as yet. Mind you, they will work on the new iPod touch and the iPod nano I had been expecting NFC (near field communications) to be a feature of this latest iPhone and I was wrong. But there are apparently a number of excellent reasons why Apple rejected this solution at least for now. Phil Schiller did an interview with Ina Fried on All Things Digital and explained about the connectors (above) and the lack of NFC. He also talked about another anticipated technology: Wi-Fi charging.

Schiller explained why Apple was sticking with Passbook, a software feature, and is not sure that NFC is the solution. Brian Proffitt on ReadWriteWeb explains some more detail about NFC and its advantages (and disadvantages). My source for this was MacDaily News.

I also wonder about markets outside the US as there are some countries that have not even started to think about this technology and so a number of obstacles -- technical and legal -- would need to be tackled first.

Some information on pricing in the US was made available briefly on Friday, Kelly Hodgkins reports on TUAW and the non-contract price was identical to the iPhone 4S, which is expected, but nonetheless good news. I would expect that in other countries, barring taxation changes, the prices will be the same too, which should mean that the 32 GB iPHone 5 will be around 24,500 baht here. Fingers crossed.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.