The new iPhone arrives today facing tough challengers

Today is the big day for Apple Inc. to show the world the next iPhone, which might be called the iPhone 5.

This device will be the sixth generation of the iPhone since Jan. 9, 2007, when Apple unveiled the original iPhone to revolutionize the mobile landscape.

When the original iPhone arrived, most the mobile handset manufacturers, such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, RIM's BlackBerry and other were using QWERTY or alphanumeric keypads, along with small displays and navigational buttons.

There has been some early attempts at touchscreen technology by Nokia, IBM with the Simon Personal Communicator, Ericsson, HP, Palm and a few others.

But the first-generation iPhone got everything right and brought in a new era of touchscreen displays, icons, digital keypads and something called apps in 2008.

Now today's smartphones are just as smart and innovative as the iPhone and it's going to be tough for Apple to stay ahead of the pack and continue to hit home runs. There are touchscreens galore, apps, voice commands and music stores. The emerging Near Field Communication, or NFC technology, is already included on several recent mobile devices and should be a must-have for the new iPhone.

When the Android platform arrived, Apple's job became tougher and the Windows Phone 8 operating system is getting ready for their shot at iOS. The latest Nokia Lumia and Samsung Ativ announcements using WP8 are not to be taken lightly.

We should know today if Apple still has it what takes to set themselves apart from the competition with the latest iPhone.

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