iPhone 4S announced

Apple Japan leaked the iPhone 4S earlier, and Phil Schiller has taken the task to announce said smartphone that features a new dual core A5 processor from Apple within, the same chip which powers the iPad. It is said that the iPhone 4S is up to 7 times faster than the iPhone 4 where graphical performance is concerned. Bear in mind that the iPhone 4S will be a world phone – supporting both GSM and CDMA networks, and I can imagine this feature being a deal clincher for many who were previously on the fence. From what we can tell, if this is the “iPhone 5”, then there is no redesign whatsoever – so what happens to all those leaked cases? Read more about the iPhone 4S after the jump.

Epic was summoned to the stage to present Infinity Blade 2 that clearly had superb graphics, and if you’re a hack and slash fan, this should definitely be right up your alley.

Battery Life

It is said that the iPhone 4S has “fantastic battery life” – we are looking at theoretically eight hours of 3G talk time, a cool half dozen hours of browsing over 3G, while if you prefer to rely on Wi-Fi connectivity, the amount of time is extended by another 50% to 9 hours. Video playback stands at 10 hours, while if you’re more an MP3 kind of guy, we’re talking about 40 hours of music.

Network Speed

Network speed is improved as Apple’s engineers have created a new wireless system that intelligently switches between the two antennas between transmit and receive, paving the way for theoretical download speeds of 14.4Mbps, which is double that of 7.2 on the iPhone 4.

Improved camera

Photo time! We’re looking at an 8-megapixel sensor that shoots stills in 3,264 x 2,448 resolution, and surely it won’t have to worry about losing its top spot as Flickr’s most popular photo taking tool anytime soon. It is interesting to note that the inclusion of Backside Illumination will further improve its low-light performance – perfect for those nights out at the club with your special someone. Throw in Full HD video recording capability and chances are you have a winner here. So far the iPhone 4S’ camera is the fastest amongst its competitors to take the first picture – even beating out on the Galaxy S2.

AirPlay Mirroring

AirPlay Mirroring is thrown into the mix, letting you enjoy your favorite small screen entertainment titles on the big screen – wired or wireless, it really depends on whether your iPhone 4S still has the juice to go the distance or not. Powered by iOS 5, it is the “most amazing iPhone yet” – something we’re going to hear with each new iPhone release.

Siri

We do know that you’re going to do a whole lot more talking to your iPhone 4S with the inclusion of “Siri” in iOS 5. Basically, Siri is an intelligent talking assistant that delivers the most relevant answers (correctly on stage so far) to your questions, although I am not quite sure how it will handle the accents of non-native English speakers. Siri will initially be available as a beta in English, German and French languages – do expect more language support to follow.

I guess Siri is somewhat sentient to a certain level, and as it learns more and more of your voice, the better it will perform. It does make me wonder though – this means phones will get more and more personal and attached, and if you lend your iPhone 4S to another person, using Siri on it will not be that effective anymore, will it? After all, each of us have different ways of speaking and expressing ourselves. Will Siri be able to adapt itself in this way?

Pricing & Availability

Well, surely the next question deals with pricing details – and the iPhone 3GS will still hang around, with the 8GB model being free now on contract. As for the iPhone 4S, the 8GB model is going for $99, while the 16GB model will retail for $199, with the 32GB shooting $299 while the largest capacity model, the 64GB monster will burn a $399 hole in your pocket – all on contract, of course.

It will hit 22 more countries on the 28th of October, and the iPhone 4S tsunami will overwhelm 70 countries before the year is over across 100 carriers to make this the fastest rollout ever. No iPhone 5 at all, no teardrop case – I wonder where will all of that plastic end up at…

Edwin Kee
Categories: Apple, Breaking, Cellphones
Tags: Apple Inc, iPhone, iPhone 4S