Apple Plans To Release Two New Larger-Screen iPhones This Year

iPhones with larger screens this year to meet competition from rival handset makers, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The report, which follows rumors circulating for several weeks on technology blogs, indicates that Apple will come out with the two devices in the second half of 2014. It said one will have a screen larger than 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters) diagonally, compared with the 4-inch display on current iPhones. A second model will have a display bigger than 5 inches, according to the report, which said both would have metal casings. But Apple will not be using curved displays used by some rivals including Samsung and LG of South Korea. The news comes amid broad success of large-screen smartphones, sometimes called �phablets� because they combine the features of a phone and tablet computer. Samsung�s Galaxy Note series, with a 5.7-inch display, is one example of a successful phablet. Juniper Research forecast this week that shipments of phablets will breach 120 million units by the year 2018. An estimated 20 million phablets were shipped last year, according to Juniper.