The newest version of the iPhone has been announced, and it appears that the device has pretty much everything that was already leaked out. For anyone who has not been following along, the iPhone 5 will be taller, thinner, built in panorama for the camera and will have LTE among other things.  To some, especially those with a 4S, however, it is a bit of a disappointment, since it isn’t that major an upgrade (camera remains at 8 MP, despite having a much better sensor (which is more important, anyway)) and lacks NFC.  Many phones (including Blackberrys) have had NFC (near field communication) for at least a year now, but it will not be in the iPhone 5 (NFC is a technology that can allow users to communicate with another device at close proximity and can be used for transactions, social media and gaming), likely because so few outlets currently use it.  In Canada, it’s pretty much limited to grocery stores and some fast food joints, and at that, for transactions under a certain price (usually $50 for supermarkets).  Besides, there are apps on the iPhone one can use to pay already.

People waiting outside of a UK Apple Store for last year’s iPhone 4S release

While I’m a little disappointed that it isn’t uber-state-of-the-art (i.e. it has everything a Galaxy SIII has without being an Android phone), it’ll do for me.  It’s much better than my current Blackberry, which freezes at least twice a week, requiring battery pulls to reset – especially when I’m trying to check in on FourSquare. Besides, in addition to LTE, there are thousands upon thousands of apps that would be great for bloggers and those very active on social media to use.   Pre-orders in Canada start this Friday, September 14 and deliveries will start in a week.  So the only question now is, black or white?

What do you think of the iPhone? Will you upgrade or wait for the 5S (or whatever the next one will be called)?

Image credit: photocritical / Shutterstock.com