IPhone 5 front camera will suck (blog.fixational.com)

Apologies for broken URL, fixed now.

"most of the pixels are background information." What does that even mean?

The primary uses for this camera are video calling and self-portrait photos. While 16:9 is great for movies and pictures of landscapes, 4:3 makes more sense for photos of faces. The majority of the "new pixels" won't carry any useful information if the user's face is in the centre of the image.