iPhone 5- Evolved engineering, devolved showmanship

In one of the most anticipated launches of the year, Mountain View based computing giant Apple showcased the latest iteration of one of its most successful products – the iPhone 5 – after six years of the first iPhone which was unveiled by the late Steve Jobs. The newly launched device comes with a 4-inch retina display (a significant upgrade from earlier versions), a new A6 chip which enables delivering blazing fast multitasking and deploys 4G LTE – an ultrafast wireless technology. One thing that might be a bit of a dampener is the introduction of the new connector called 'Lightning', which has replaced the 30-pin connector. This means that a host of accessories that were bought for earlier devices will not work with the iPhone 5. However, to address this anomaly, the company will put up a 'Lightning to 30-pin adapter' on sales separately. Analysts seem to be optimistic for now and Philip Schiller sure was excited. The Senior Vice President for Worldwide Marketing at Apple believes the iPhone 5 to be the most beautiful consumer device Apple has ever created. “We’ve packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it,” said Schiller during yesterday's event.

But what left many people disappointed was how the marketing initiatives were spearheaded this time around. Jobs was always known for fostering secrecy in and around the company he had so passionately created. The fact that no one knew what was coming made every Apple announcement and launch event a marketing blitzkrieg. However CEO Tim Cook failed to display the same tenacity for withholding information. Much before the launch, the rumour mill in Silicon Valley had got hold of almost all specifications bang on. In fact, images of the redesigned ear plugs which Apple is calling the EarPods were circling the World Wide Web for the past few weeks. Even the invitation for the event sent out to journalists showed a “5” in the shadow clearly giving away the fact that the company was launching the iPhone 5. Additionally, Apple also unveiled the new iPod Touch, iPod Nano and a new interface for its online store iTunes.

No doubt the latest smartphone from the stable of the world's most valuable company is the next step in the evolution of mobile computing; no doubt that people are going to queue up outside Apple stores all night to be the first one to get their hands on the device; and no doubt that the stellar sales of the iPhone 5 will add up a few more billion dollars to the company's existing $627.87 billion market capitalization. But what is also clear is that this event demonstrates that effects of the void created by the absence of Jobs in the company have started to come out in the open.