Here are the highlights of the event that took place at the campus of Apple. Apple introduces iPhone 4S (not iPhone 5) as its next iteration in the iPhone series. When compared with iPhone 4, there are no cosmetic changes in the new phone (4S). 4S is the same phone from the outside but all an all a very solid phone from the inside. I got a bit disappointed with Apple as they should have at least made some external changes to this new phone. They took 15 months to release this phone and the hype and expectations were way too high. I guess people won’t accept the external make up of this new phone. Apple should have made the phone much more sleek and should have made significant changes to the phone design as this is what we as consumers would like to see.
I might be wrong but from the Live blog it looks like if we keep the 2 phones (4 & 4S) next to each other we would not be able to distinguish between the two phones and this is what consumers don’t like. I mean if you buy the 4S and people still thinks you have the iPhone 4 then what’s the fun in buying the new phone. Most of the time when you are around with your friends or relatives it is the external features that attracts the people around you and they just don’t care what is inside the phone. I am sure Apple might have some very strong strategy behind the way they planned the launch of this new iPhone.
Anyways here goes the list of things which I guess are the keys points of this event:
iOS 5 & iCloud available on October 12th. Wireless upgrade for iOS 5 (just like OS X Lion)
iTunes Match is $24.99 per year (available end of October).
iPod nano (with new cool watch displays and embedded fitness app) - $149 for 16 GB, $129 for 8GB. Available October 12th.
iPod - 8GB is now $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399. Available on October 12th.
iPhone 4S - A5 chip, 2x faster than before, with dual-core graphics, which are said to be seven times faster than previous iPhone. The 4S will offer eight hours of 3G talk time, six hours of browsing, nine on WiFi, ten hours of video, and forty hours of music. Download speeds are now twice, 14.4Mbps versus 7.2 on the iPhone 4. 8 megapixel sensor that shoots 3264×2448, backside illumination with a sensor that gathers 72 percent more light, hybrid IR filter for better color accuracy and a 5 element lens that offers 30 percent more sharpness and F/2.4 aperture. 1080p HD for video recording.
The best feature of the new iPhone is voice control feature called SIRI (still in beta mode). Check my previous blog for more details about SIRI. During the presentation Apple executives carried out the conversation with the iPhone via SIRI and the demo looks pretty good. Here are the few queries made to the phone and SIRI’s response is amazing.
"What is the weather like today?" SIRI: Here is the forecast for today.
"What is the hourly forecast." SIRI: Here is the weather for today.
"Do I need a raincoat today?" SIRI: It sure looks like rain today.
"Wake me up tomorrow at 6 a.m." SIRI: OK, I set it for 6 am.
"Who are you?" SIRI: "I am a humble personal assistant."
Black and white versions of the new iPhone 4S are - 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399. The iPhone 4 is now $99 for 8GB. The 8GB 3GS will be free on contract. Pre-orders for the 4S start this Friday, the 7th October and the phone is available on October 14th.
It'll hit US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan. In the US it'll be Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Oh yeah, Sprint is the new iPhone carrier here in the US and it could be big for Sprint. On the 28th of October 22 more countries will get the iPhone 4S, and 70 other countries will get the new iPhone by the end of the year. All in all iPhone 4S will have over 100 carriers.
According to me SIRI is the only significant and cool feature of this new iPhone and Apple will try to beat the competition by tweaking SIRI and making it more robust for the consumers. All eyes now on Friday when the pre-order will start. Will iPhone 4S be another promising and smashing product for Apple? Well, I think so.
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