<p>The arrival of the original iPhone in 2007 marked a quantum leap for cellphones. Phones had never worked or looked like that.</p><p>The iPhone 5 that Apple (AAPL) introduced last week with only incremental changes seemed to signal that the industry has entered an era of technological bunny hops.</p><p>Faster chips, bigger screens and speedier wireless Internet connections are among the refinements smartphone users can count on year after year in new models, most of them in familiar rectangular packages. They are improvements, to be sure, but they lack the breathtaking impact the first iPhone had, with its pioneering fusion of software and touch-screen.</p><p>"Since then, it has been kind of incremental," said Chetan Sharma, an independent mobile analyst. "It does not feel like there is a big shift."</p><p><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_21592589/review-apple-iphone-5-incremental-improvements-but-smartphone">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.mobilenapps.com/articles/4378/20120923/iphone-5-vs-htc-8x-spec-shootout.htm">iPhone 5 vs. HTC 8X: Spec Shootout</a> (Mobile &amp; Apps)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&ned=us&ncl=dJVRKtO9z4jFiIMDTAFupyDtZIhGM">7 additional articles.</a></p>