Since 2007, the king of the smartphones has been none other than Apple’s iPhone thanks to a series of cutting edge innovations. Many smartphone companies have tried to dethrone the iPhone hierarchy in vain, but now, ‘the king of android’, the Samsung Galaxy S phones have been giving the iPhones a run for their money. We can’t really say that it has taken over the top seat but we can say it has been enjoying its fare share of the market, and is certainly threatening the dominance of the iPhones.

However it wasn’t until the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy SIII that the then iPhone 4 was caught by surprise. It became an instant hit worldwide and was even termed “the iPhone killer”. The Samsung Galaxy SIII was received very well with very few criticisms, and shipped more than 20 million units within the first 100 days of release. It was given the edge by many smartphone lovers including critics over iPhone 4 due to its blend of features, such as its S Voice application, display, processing speed, and dimensions.

Apple takes Samsung to court

It is said that for every iPhone sold, more than three smartphones running Android are sold, including Samsung Galaxy phones, this not only reflects the rise of Samsung smartphones but also Google’s software and its potential threat to Apple. Such a threat forced the hand of Apple to take some action to try and protect its dominance by suing Samsung on grounds of infringement of at least two of its patents.

Some of the claims that Apple put forward included: Samsung copied ability to recognise dates, addresses, etc and launch apps; the S Voice was copied from iPhone’s Siri voice recognition. Others included: the “bounce back” effect when a user scrolls to the end of a list on the iPhone and iPad and the pinch-to-zoom gesture that users make when they want to magnify an image. Apple had a sweeping victory and was awarded nearly $1.05 billion which was notable not just for Samsung’s loss of money but in solidifying Apple’s dominance of the market for smartphones and tablets. Even if Apple won some of the patent wars, one could still give Samsung some edge as they “stole” Apple’s features and made them cheaper.

The iPhone 5 counter-attack

Apple was definitely going to respond with a new iPhone but the question was it was going to be a game-changer like its predecessor the iPhone 4. The sixth generation of the iPhone is lighter, thinner and has a larger screen and a smaller pin dock connector than its predecessor. It is the first iPhone that supports LTE (a screen with a 16.9 aspect ratio). Whether it was a technological game changer we very much doubt but it was certainly an appealling design, something that Apple are particularly good at.

The reception of the iPhone 5 was incredible with over two million iPhone orders received in the first 24hours, while AT&T said that the iPhone 5 was the fastest-selling iPhone the company had ever offered.

Galaxy or Iphone: So, which is better?

That is for you to decide….what is clear is that the mighty iPhone 5 and the king of Android are close to neck and neck so it really depends on the consumer’s liking or loyalty. This largely depends on whether you are a fan of Apple’s OS and its nature of linking with all its devices or you’re a fan of Google’s Android OS with its flexibility or you prefer making your choice in terms of pricing.  Let’s see though how they both fair it terms of specs and price.