As announced last week, Apple held a media event at their headquarters on 4 October. One announcement they did make was for the new Apple iPhone 4S. Grab it from Vodafone now!
(You can also read about all the other Apple announcements here)
Quick Apple iPhone stats
- The iPhone is the ‘No 1 smartphone in world’.
- It has had the most growth and has the highest customer satisfaction rating of all Smartphones.
- Apple iPhone has 5% share of all handsets (much higher if you only count Smartphones).
- Over half of the total iPhones sold to date have been the Apple iPhone 4.
The new Apple iPhone – “The most amazing iPhone yet”
Phil Schiller presented at Apple’s keynote to deliver an update on what the world had been buzzing about for months. The new Apple iPhone… The only damper perhaps on this news is the news of the passing of Steve Jobs.
Unveiling the Apple iPhone 4S
(Some bets were on this being an iPhone 4S not an iPhone 5, which will no doubt roll out next year?!)
What has the Apple iPhone 4S got? How is it better?
It is the same retina display, glass front and back, sterling silver band around. BUT inside it’s “all new”.
- A5 chip
- Better Wireless interface
- Better Camera
- HD video recording
- AirPlay & AirPlay mirroring
+ ?
New A5 Chip
- It now has the A5 chip onboard, which was launched just this year on the Apple iPad 2. It is a dual core processor (up to 2x faster CPU), dual core graphics (up to 7x faster than previously).
Amazing graphics. Realistic, super fast running (Epic Games overview – Infinity Blade 2. Game avail Dec 1)- Battery life – Now ‘industry leading’ says Apple. For the first time, you now have 8 hrs talk time on 3G and up to 14 hours on 2G (not a major increase by any means) .
Wireless Interface
- The sterling silver band around the iPhone now houses two antennae. It can intelligently switch between the two antennas to transmit and receive. Never been done before. Better call quality, faster, download data – 2x faster.
- iPhone 4 up/downlink (Mbps) 5.8 / 7.2 iPhone 4S 5.8 / 14.4 -> this is what competitors quote as ’4G speeds’.
- A world phone – both GSM and CDMA for roaming etc.
Camera
The Apple iPhone 4 had already surpassed all other handsets plus point and shoot cameras for the number of photos taken. It is now competing with all the great point and shoot cameras in terms of quality.
- The new Apple iPhone 4S has onboard a 8 megapixel sensor (3265 x 2448, meaning you print out an 8×10 glossy without any loss of pixels), 60% more pixels.
- Backside illumination which gains 73% more light per pixel than original iPhone, and a 4. 33% faster capture.
- Hybrid IR filter for better colour accuracy and uniformity.
- Five element lens optics (iPhone 4 had 4) – 30% sharper, f/2.4 aperture. Let in more light, better low light performance.
- Enhanced by the A5 chip, which has an Image Signal Processor – for advanced face detection, better white balance, fast photos (1.1 sec to take first pic, 0.5 sec for additional). Good depth of field.
Video recording
For the first time the Apple iPhone 4S now 1080p HD video recording, using the same processor and camera tech, plus real time video image stabilization and noise reduction.
AirPlay / AirPlay Mirroring
- Stream anything on any device, using apple tv stream photos etc wirelessly.
- Anything you have on your Apple iPhone can be streamed to your TV. With or without Apple TV (using HDMI to 30 pin cable, wired).
- Listen to your music on any device, without any third party devices required.
One amazing feature left out …
Voice Recognition Software & Interface
“Previously Voice recognition software always a left down. Let us introduce Siri”
Siri – Artificial Itelligence
Available on the Apple iPhone 4S is Siri. Your own virtual intelligent personal assistant, you can now ‘get things done just by asking’.
To use, you hold home button for a couple of seconds, launches the Siri ‘listener’. Ask your question.
Ask about the weather (do I need an umbrella), time difference (what time is it in Paris), setting alarms (I need to get up at 6am tomorrow), stock market (whats the current Nasdaq).
The new Apple Reminders app integrates with Siri – eg ‘remind me to call my wife before I leave work’.
It can even be launched from locked screen in your pocket via Bluetooth headpiece. Say for example a message comes in, handsfree ask it to read message, action, respond.
Wikipedia and other web browsing is integrated too. Ask it to search topics, people etc.
Apple has partnered with Yelp, so you can get help with restaurants, maps & directions, traffic. They have also partnered with Wolfram Alfa, so you have access to a wealth of information like dictionary, conversions, scientific data, and so much more.
- Dictionary eg – ‘Define mitosis’ – searches dictionary.
- Currency eg – ‘How many $ is XX euro… it checks current exchange rate and lets you know how much the conversion is.
- Calendar eg – ‘How many days til Xmas?’
So – recap, what can Siri do? Voice dial, control music, messages, imessages, calendar, reminders, maps & directions (US only), email, weather, stocks, clock (alarms, diff, timers), address book, notes, web search, Wolfram Alpha, even dictation.
Launching in:
- English (US, UK & Aus) Yay!!
- French
- German
Currently in Beta mode – and will only improve.
So, although nothing looks new on the outside, you’d have to admit that at least Siri makes the Apple iPhone 4S sound very exciting.
Get your hands on the Apple iPhone 4 s
Apple iPhone 4 S will come in black and white
US 16GB $199 32GB $299 64GB $399 (2 yr contract)
Aus 16GB $799 32GB $899 64GB $999
Pre-orders start 7 October, with the Apple iPhone 4S being available for shipment a week later, on 14 October in US, Canada, Aus (yay!), UK, France, Germany, Japan
Grab it from Vodafone now!
On Oct 28 – 22 more countries will to receive the iPhone 4S
By Dec 2011 – over 70 countries and over 100 carriers will have the Apple iPhone 4S, making this the fastest rollout ever!
Apple Event Keynote
Anyone wishing to watch the Keynote video in it’s entirety, can do so here -> Apple Keynote Oct 2011
Filed under Updates, Software & Downloads by 
As announced last week, Apple held a media event at their headquarters on 4 October. You can also read about all the other Apple announcements here.
Apple mobile operating system – iOS
- Apple has sold 250 million iOS powered devices.
- iOS 43% of market
- iOS 61% mobile browsers
- 500,000 apps on the app store (140,000 of those are for iPad)
- 18b apps downloaded – currently 1b per month
New Apple app released – Cards
Create greeting cards from your iPhone or iPod touch, customise with your own photos and text. Choose from several different categories. Save.
Apple will print and send on your behalf. US delivery confirmation $2.99 for card and postage. $4.99 anywhere else in world.
- Available 12 October
Recap of iOS 5
You can read about the iOS5 update in more detail in our WWDC June event iOS5 post.
Brieflly, there are over 200 new features, with the top 10 being:
Notifications, iMessages (pushed to all devices), Reminders, Twitter integration, Newsstand, Camera, Game Center, Safari (Reader, Reading List, Tabbed Browsing), Mail, PC Free (with wireless updates).
- Apple iOS5 will be available 12 October
Apple Event Keynote
Anyone wishing to watch the Keynote video in it’s entirety, can do so here -> Apple Keynote Oct 2011
Filed under Industry News, Updates, Software & Downloads by
