After the hype fest.

Now that Apple has finished telling the world how it innovates features the competition has had for ages, my iPhone 5 preview was right on the money. There’s very little new here and the 4S owner has little reason to upgrade.

The Hypephone 5.

The camera lens is now 33mm FFE down from 35mm. Immaterial. The definition remains 8mp but is actually lower than in the 4S as the same number of pixels is distributed over a larger area. Apple claims the reaction time is 40% faster and that is meritworthy, though the 4S is no slouch. And the panorama mode, where you hose the camera around and it stitches the images, is exciting, though Sony had it years ago. Heavens, even the klutzes at Fuji, who would not know good code if it hit them, had it in the X100 two years ago. The camera can now record still images while making a movie. Don’t see who would need that.

But there is one bit of really exciting news for iPhone 4S owners. On September 19 iOS6 becomes available and will add the panorama mode to the 4S. Now that is worth waiting for.

As for Apple, they really need to think different, as their ads once had it. There are at least two trillion dollar businesses crying out for the company’s design chops. Domestic appliances – everything from thermostats to kitchen controls, and in car systems. Both are ergonomic wastelands (have you ever tried the catastrophic iDrive in a modern BMW? It should be called iCrash). Think different or die.

And how about taking some of that $120 billion in cash and buying one of the major TV studios? Anti-trust be damned. Politicians are cheap. With one studio providing content for an Apple TV set, the others will quickly sign distribution agreements. (Please, no Fox ‘News’ though). C’mon Apple. Wake up. The Jobs product pipeline does not have far to run and you are sitting on your laurels with incremental product upgrades which are easily mimicked by the competition.

Ummm, diversification, anyone?