Is it time to get excited about the future of smartphones again?

(Credit: CNET)

Not wowed by the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4? One analyst says never fear — Apple is preparing a killer feature for the iPhone 5S that will crush the notion that smartphones are becoming a commodity product like so many soybeans traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (or smartypants similes on gadget blogs).

If you’ve been paying attention to the almost monthly march of big-time smartphone releases for the past year and a half, you may have noticed a pattern. Each new iPhone , Android flagship, and even the Lumia and BlackBerry, is faster, more powerful, and prettier than the last with a few gimmicky features that raise eyebrows for a few weeks, but no game-changing innovation.

For a few great glory years there, Apple was the company to count on for a great new killer feature in the form of Steve Jobs’ infamous “one more thing.” In fact, arguably the last time we were all abuzz with a groundbreaking new phone feature was when the iPhone 4S was introduced with Siri about a year and a half ago. And even Siri didn’t end up quite catching fire and creating a nation of silly people talking to their phones a… [Read more]