Those of you slobbering over the anticipated announcement of the iPhone 5 will have to wait because today Apple released the info on the iPhone 4S.
What does it look like? It looks just like the iPhone 4 but, as Apple has been pushing all morning, “it’s the inside that counts”. Here’s an untouched picture of the phone and box:
The iPhone 4S will feature an A5 processor. It’s an Apple designed chip, dual core processor, dual core graphics (up to 7x faster than previous iPhone). The wireless system is also improved. The iPhone 4S will intelligently switch between two antennas to both transmit and receive. It can do this in the middle of a call. It improves call quality and can download data twice as fast as before. It can achieve 14.4 down and 5.8 up (that’s Mbps). Sound familiar? It’s 4G performance, same as the Motorola Atrix 4G, HTC Inspire 4G, LG Thrill 4G.
The iPhone 4S is also a world phone – it has both GSM and CDMA.
They improved the camera on the thing, too. It’s got an 8 MP sensor, you can take photos that are 3264 by 2448. That’s 60% more pixels than the iPhone 4’s camera sensor. But that doesn’t necessarily make a picture better. The new sensor is backside illuminated, which gathers 73% more light than the iPhone 4’s sensor. It’s 33% faster than the iPhone 4 camera as well. On top of that, it’s got a hybrid IR filter for better color accuracy and more color uniformity. As for video, it can take 1080p HD video with real-time video image stabilization. There’s also temporal noise reduction, which helps in low light scenarios.
The iPhone 4S will also come with iOS5 which includes AirPlay. You can stream photos and videos straight to your Apple TV setup. It also has AirPlay mirroring. If you don’t have an Apple TV, you can plug in an HDMI cable and do wired mirroring.
The coolest thing about it is Siri, the voice-activated module on the unit. You can get to Siri at any time by holding down the home button for a few seconds, like Voice Contorl on the iPhone now. If you ask “What is the weather like for today?” the app says “Here’s the forecast for today” and brings up a forecast listing. You can also ask the question a different way to get the same result. You can also ask something conceptual like, “Do I need a raincoat today?” Siri responds: “It sure looks like rain today.”
Moving on, you can ask Siri a bunch of stuff. “What time is it in Paris?” Response: “The time in Paris, France is 8:16 PM.” What about the alarm? “Wake me up tomorrow at 6am?” “OK I set it for 6am” Siri says. You can ask Siri about stocks. Siri says “NASDAQ Composite is down right now.” Siri is also partnered with Yelp, so you can ask something like “Find me a great Greek restaurant in Palo Alto.” Siri responds “I’ve found 14 Greek restaurants, 5 of them are in Palo Alto. I’ve sorted them by rating.” The ranked listing follows below.
If you get a message, and your phone is in your pocket, you can ask Siri to read it to you, hands free. You just have to say “Read my message.” Siri reads the message, and asks if you want to “Reply” or “read it again”. You can also ask it questions about your calendar. You can check to see if you’re open on, say, Friday and tell Siri to reply “I can do Friday.”
You can also set up meetings, hands free, just by talking to Siri. But there’s more! “Remind me to call my wife when I leave work?” Siri asks for verification about the request, then confirms that it will remind him.
Siri can also play any song you want, if it’s in iCloud or on the device, you can use it to make calls, send messages, set up meetings, set reminders, get directions, dictate and send emails, find out the weather, get information about stocks, set alarms, find a contact’s address, write notes, perform web searches, and answer any questions you’d normally ask Wolfram Alpha.
The iPhone 4S will be avilable in black and white. 16 GB for $199, 32 GB for $300, $64 GB for $400, with a two year contract. The 3GS will now be available for free, and an 8 GB iPhone 4 will now be available for $99.
Pre-orders start Friday, October 7.
via Wired
