Apple’s New iPhone 4S Is Here
After much hype, Apple finally announced the next iPhone we’ve all been waiting for. It isn’t the iPhone 5 we thought it would be, but the iPhone 4S. It looks exactly like the iPhone 4, but the inside is “all new.” It carries a speedy dual-core A5 processor for better performance and stunning graphics, a full 1080p HD resolution camera (for video), a new antenna design that allows quick file transfers and voice recognition capabilities using Siri.
“iPhone 4S plus iOS 5 plus iCloud is a breakthrough combination that makes the iPhone 4S the best iPhone ever,” says Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “While our competitors try to imitate iPhone with a checklist of features, only iPhone can deliver these breakthrough innovations that work seamlessly together.”
iOS5 includes more than 200 new features including Notification Center, an innovative way to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption, and iMessage, a messaging service that lets you easily send text messages, photos and videos between other iOS5 users. This will be a free software upgrade for existing iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users. iCloud’s free cloud services (including iTunes) allows you to stream your photos, videos and documents seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC automatically and wirelessly store them.
The 4S’s 8-megapixel (60 percent more pixels from the iPhone 4) camera includes a backside illuminated CMOS sensor for better low-light performance. A larger f/2.4 aperture and an advanced hybrid IR filter produces sharper, brighter and more accurate images. The Camera app also launches much faster and the shot-to-shot capability is twice as fast.
Improving on the iPhone 4’s innovative stainless steel external, dual-antenna design, the 4S is the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to send and receive. Also, since it is considered a world phone, both CDMA and GSM customers can roam internationally on GSM networks.
The digital assistant Siri will only be included in the iPhone 4S (and presumably the iPad 2).
You may remember me writing about the Siri app some time ago, but the difference here is that this innovative app is built into the phone. It can call people, play music, send and receive text messages and emails, reading them in a natural voice, or set up events and meetings, remind you of your appointments, etc. Best of all, you can dictate in any app. Supposedly it truly understands natural language and follows complex commands.
The iPhone 4S was released Oct. 14 and comes in both black and white. Sprint customers will be happy to know it will be available on your network now. Prices start at $199 for the 16GB, $299 for the 32GB and $399 for the 64GB. For more information or to pre-order, visit your nearest Apple Store or apple.com.
