Last week I posted about how Apple has set a date to announce the new iPhone. Well the day has finally come and the iPhone 4S has now been revealed by Apple. Visually, the iPhone 4S looks no different than that of the iPhone 4. But internally is where it’s completely new. Now in the heart of the iPhone 4S is Apple’s A5 processor, the same one found in the iPad 2. The processing unit is a dual core, up to 2x faster than the predecessor, and also contains a dual core graphics processing unit which Apple claims has up to 7x faster graphic computing power. The 3G chip inside has been upgraded as well, 7.2Mbps to 14.4Mbps down link; that’s twice the speed. Now you can even surf the web faster than before. Another new feature is the brand new 8 megapixel camera. It can shoot up to 3264×2448 pixel pictures. Not only that but the new camera allows 73 per cent more light into the lens, and shoots 33 per cent faster. This is great for those who want to take a shot of something quickly. In addition to that, the camera now supports 1080p high definition video recording! As irrelevant as that is to you probably, still nice to have it there if you vlog, or just enjoy taking random videos of events occurring in your life.
However, the biggest new feature Apple is pushing out for the iPhone 4S is called “Siri”. Essentially it is a voice recognition system that is flawless and can understand almost anything you say in your regular voice. It can perform tasks such as telling you the weather and the time to even organizing your calendar! It’s supposed to be “revolutionary” and should set the standard for the mobile industry if it lives up to what it’s hyped up to be. The iPhone 4S is set to be released Friday, Oct 14. Don’t be expecting to get your hands on one for a while though, unless you plan on lining up or making a few calls to check which stores have them in stock. Analysts say the iPhone 4S will outsell even the iPhone 4, and that Apple may have troubles keeping up with demands. Alongside iPhone 4S, Apple announced the new iOS 5 that will be released on Wednesday, Oct 12. The new software has been out in beta for a while now, but will be available to the public soon. While there isn’t much new in iOS 5, there are two features which I find quite useful. First is iMessages, potentially the killer of BBM which should get all those Blackberry users over to iPhones. It is pretty much text messaging, except it’s free, and can be sent to anyone with iOS 5 on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Second is wireless syncing. Finally this means you don’t need to have those pesky wires around to backup or put music onto your iPhone/iPad/iPod. You simply just have your computer on, and press sync on your iDevice. A brand new service that Apple had also announced is iCloud. It’s going to replace be replacing MobileMe, and will be free to all iOS 5 users. The service basically backs up all your information to “the clouds” wirelessly, and also gives you 5 GB of free storage; very useful for people who always lose their contacts or calendar dates. Addition to that, the iPhone 3GS (8 GB) is now free on most three year contracts, while the iPhone 4 (8GB) is $99 on some three year contracts. The prices for the new iPhone 4S are as follows: $199/$299/$399 (Price may vary in Canada, these are the USA prices) for 16GB/32GB/64GB on a three year contract. So that being said and done, how many people are going to be upgrading? I know will be, but that won’t be until near or after the Christmas holidays.
