It's iPhone 5 day!

Apple Inc is likely to unveil the latest iteration of its blockbuster iPhone, the iPhone 5 today

Five years after the first iPhone took the smartphone market by storm and left mobile companies to play the catching up game, Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5 today at its event in San Francisco today.

It is expected that iPhone 5 will sport a bigger screen something that has been common on phones that run on the rival Android software developed by Google. Apple, since its launch, had stuck to the 3.5” screen whereas the competition, including Samsung took to bigger screens for its mega-selling Galaxy SII and Galaxy SIII.

Moreover, this is the first big Apple launch after the demise of its earlier chief executive Steve Jobs. Earlier this year, the new CEO Tim Cook had shown the iPad 3 called The New iPad, the latest Mac operating software called the Mountain Lion and the upgraded software for the iPhone which had Siri, the voice assistant.

iPhone 5 is expected to have an upgraded version of Siri apart from other step-ups like bigger screen, sharper retina display.

Samsung had recently overtaken Apple in smartphone sales with its latest model the Samsung Galaxy SIII but Apple is likely to take back the crown after today’s launch.

The phone is likely to go on a sale in a couple of weeks from today.

JP Morgan, in its report last week said that the iPhone 5 could help in boosting the US GDP by 0.5 per cent.

JP Morgan expects Apple to sell around 8 million iPhone 5s in the fourth quarter. Samsung’s Galaxy SIII has sold over 20 million units since its launch in three months of its launch.

What to expect:

The forums are brimming with features that could see the daylight in the latest iPhone Apple is looking to showcase today. 4G and LTE networks are becoming the next industry standards and the iPhone 5 is likely to be 4G networks compatible.

The retina-display of the earlier versions of the iPhone will pack more pixels making the screen more sharper and images more beautiful to look at.

Apple is also launching its newest software for the iPhone -- iOS 6 which will enhance the iPhone experience. The company has done away with the Google Maps for their own native maps with voice navigation feature.

Siri, the voice assistant will also see upgrades to make it more interactive and faster.

Facetime, Apple's video-chat feature will now be available on cellular networks as well. Earlier one had to latch the iPhone on to a Wi-Fi network to use Facetime.