iPhone 5 Cases; Accessory Companies Scrambling to Match New Design For Apple's Latest Handset

Now that the long wait is over for consumers to get a peek at the new iPhone 5, customers are scrambling to find the best accessories to personalize their latest Apple gadget.

The most recent iteration of the iPhone offers a new body design. The iPhone 5 is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the iPhone 4S, and the screen size has grown to 4 inches from corner-to-corner, an improvement over the 3.5-inch screen of the 4S model.

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Now that the specifics of the iPhone 5's design are finally public, makers of iPhone accessories and add-ons are scrambling to fit their products to the phone and cater to the enormous customer demand for iPhone 5 extras.

Moments after Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 5, employees at Griffin Technology, a Nashville-based manufacturer of Apple accessories, were scrambling to perfect mock-ups and tweak designs based on the new phone's specs, The New York Times reported.

"Kind of like everyone else, we're at the same starting line in the race to the peg," said Griffin Technology president Mark Rowan.

A similar scene was unfolding at the offices of Incase, another maker of cases for Apple devices. Executives in San Francisco crowded in a conference room to watch the iPhone 5's unveiling while other employees in China were on standby, waiting for the final specifications so they could begin manufacturing cases.

Incase has already announced a line of iPhone 5 cases in various colors and finishes. The company will offer a slider case, snap case and a sports armband that range in price from $34.95 to $39.95.

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