The 10 biggest questions about Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 5-San Francisco Chronicle

Now that Apple's iPad 2 has launched, the next major product of the company to finish is the iPhone 5--or what Apple will call her next iPhone, expected this summer.

While the new iPhone will updated hardware and a new design may be, we are just so interested in Apple's software improvements.

That is where the business smartphone is headed, and while the software from Apple is still for the competition in General, there are a number of areas where rivals Google and Microsoft do it better than Apple.

While the iPhone hardware is definitely sexy, it is software that makes it really an iPhone. So what Apple have planned for the next major version of the iOS software for iPhones and iPads?

We asked a dozen iOS developers what they wanted from iOS 5, and their answers included: a better system of alerts and notifications; more background audio processing--so that the New York Times app news articles could download while you sleep, for example; and potentially "widgets" Customizing your iPhone unlock or home screens.

We would also like to see a much better camera app, and maybe a better photo management app, more like iPhoto for Mac OS x. the iPhone camera is very important, and while third-party developers such as Insta grams have some really cool things, it makes sense for Apple software, the built-in camera.

We expect that some of the usual updates--faster, more memory, new chip, maybe some new hardware features--and a new design for the iPhone 5.

While the iPhone 4 still an attractive phone is, and is still selling, it will be a year old June this year. That's a long time in the smartphone industry, where new phones are constantly coming out. So we do not expect another iPhone 3GS-like "update" of Apple ever again, where it keeps the same phone case design of one year for the next but only upgrades the guts.

This supposed leaked image would be--certainly looks like the iPad 2--or it could be a fake. But anyway, we expect a new design.

The critics have shut up about Apple's iPhone 4 design, and "antennagate" does not appear to have no influence on sales. So we would not be surprised to see the iPhone 4 stick around as Apple's cheaper iPhone model. But we expect at least some moderate updates this year at the high end model.

The iPhone 5 hardware and software is important, but "cloud" on the back-end services are becoming increasingly important for smartphones, and Apple could stand some improvements.

For example: how about letting you sync your phone over wi-fi instead of having to plug in a USB cable? How about being able to access your iTunes music library? How about in order to be able to grab some of your iPhoto pictures of the road?

How to share photos with other iPhone users without email?

Some or all of this functionality may be built in a new service mobileme, which Apple could potentially cheaper or even free. Some may have to wait to be incorporated into the next version of Mac OS X, which is expected to ship this year.

But this is an area where Google more interesting things than Apple does, so it's time to wake up.

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