Yesterday, Apple announced the iPhone 5.  We have a healthy iPhone vs. Galaxy discussion going on in the office and we thought it would be fun to turn our technology on the announcement.  We tracked online conversation about each feature minute by minute as the Apple press conference unfolded and the live blogging of the event spread into the world.  

Here’s what the event looked like to us:

Click for a larger image. 

As you’ll see, there was a lot of discussion online that rose and fell with the introduction of each feature.  Volume is the light grey chart.  The darker chart shows sentiment.  There was a net positive sentiment across all features — not that surprising among the folks who are following the live announcement — but there were some variations.  The more techy feature — the new processor — was less thrilling than the bigger screen.  The higher resolution camera was good, but since it was mainly an incremental improvement it didn’t pop like the availability date, which was huge.  

We thought there might be some negativity about the new connector, but that didn’t create a valley in the data by any means.  

This announcement was unlike past ones in that there were few surprises.  All the leading rumors over the last several months turned out to be correct.  So expectations were well set and any potential hand wringing over disappointments were in the past by the time of the announcement.  Which makes it pretty clear that the idea of “secrecy” around these announcements is just part of the Apple mythology and the run-up to the announcement is as well designed and executed as any Apple product.

Our graphic was covered on CNET and MyBroadband.