Apple’s new iPhone 5 beats its predecessor in almost every way. With a 4-inch display, it’s the first of the line to depart from the conventional 3.5-inch screen size, and the first iOS device to sport a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Sure, that’s nothing to shout about. High-end Androids have had rocking 720p displays for quite some time.
But to the iOS app ecosystem, this is a big deal. The iPhone 5 ushers in a new era of widescreen iOS apps and games, and more than just seeing slightly more content on the screen. It means that apps optimized for the iPhone 5 will look gorgeous on widescreen televisions.
Along with the A6 chip, which Apple says is twice as fast as the A5 chip, and an affordable $99 Apple TV, we have a recipe for a pseudo game console. In fact, EA’s Rob Murray claims that games can run in console quality on the iPhone 5, and proved it with a demo of Real Racing 3 at Apple’s launch event.
Given enough time, a majority of games in the App Store will be updated to support the new screen aspect ratio. And they can all be TV-ready when you simply turn on the device’s AirPlay mirroring.
The one thing that would make this marriage perfect would be a standalone game controller. A slab of glass without any tactile feedback isn’t ideal for gaming, especially when you’re looking at the TV the whole time.
As long as Apple is un-willing to work with non-Apple products, beware of history. As IBM, NCR, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Radio Shack, to name a few that found out, if you want to do business in the USA, co-operation is the rule.
I am constantly amazed that the Apple fans don’t notice this pattern of “you don’t need it until Apple has it”.
You correctly point out that Android has had 16×9 screens ranging from little ones to one just over 5 inches diagonal. I never understood why Apple stuck with 4×3 when movies were all 16×9. Same with 4G LTE. Steve Jobs mumbled something about why it wasn’t necessary and all the Fans suddenly couldn’t see the connection between network speed and performance. Now that iPhone 5 supports 4G LTE, all the people who bought the 4S a year ago forget that they were told that it was “work of the devil”.
Android and even Windows mobile 6.x had pretty good voice command, but somehow Siri was a giant step forward.
I don’t hate Apple. They make stylish stuff. I just get so tired of both the fans and the technical press acting as if Apple is really providing anything I can’t get from multiple other sources and probably cheaper.