No iPhone 5? New iPhone 4S Announced by Apple; Includes Voice Recognition, Faster Processor
Oct 4, 2011 — -- Apple, Inc., announced its new iPhone today -- a powerful updated model called the iPhone 4S, but a disappointment to investors and the tech world because it wasn't a completely-new iPhone 5 people had come to expect.
Apple stock, which had been up on a down day, dropped more than 4 percent as the product rollout went on at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. -- never mind that the 4S had many of the features widely expected in an iPhone 5. At day's end, the stock market jumped on news about a possible step in resolving the Greek debt crisis, and Apple closed down about half a percent.
Top 5: The iPhone, from debut to deluxe machine.
On the outside, the 4S is similar to the phone Apple has been selling for more than a year. But with an A5 processor (the same that runs the iPad 2) and dual-core graphics, Apple said it would be up to seven times faster than its predecessor. With both GSM and CDMA transmitters, it will be a phone that can be used in most countries around the world.
Presiding over the announcement was Tim Cook, Apple's new CEO and Steve Jobs' chosen sucessor. "I love Apple," he said. "I am very excited about this new role."
Perhaps the most striking new feature of the new phone was called Siri -- software that allows an iPhone user to interact with the phone by talking to it. As demonstrated by Apple, it can give you voice directions to the most highly-rated restaurants near you, help you exchange money if you're abroad, or set an alarm to wake you in the morning, all without the user having to enter any information manually.
This kind of intelligence is something that has been hard to package in a consumer device. The software understands spoken nuances -- so that if one asks it, "What is the weather like today?" or "Do I need a raincoat?" it will come back with the same, correct, answer.
Click Here for Pictures: Steve Jobs Through the Years
Apple's Phil Schiller showed how it could take dictation, read one's text messages aloud, and accept verbal requests to search the Web. When asked, "Tell me about Neil Armstrong," the phone's screen showed Armstrong's Wikipedia page.
The company said the phone has a powerful camera, capable of shooting still pictures in dim light with an f/2.4 lens, and 1080p high-definition video with automatic stabilization.
Prices for the iPhone 4S ranged from $199 with 16 GB of memory to $399 with 64 GB. It will come in a black or white case. An earlier model, the iPhone 3GS, will now be free with a cellphone contract. The new lineup, Apple said, will be available in the U.S. on Oct. 14. The iPhone 4S will be offered by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and -- for the first time, Sprint Nextel.
"Most of the hardware improvements were expected," said Ross Rubin, a technology analyst with the NPD group and a columnist for ABC News. "The iPhone is a five-year-old product now, and Apple has had success finding a design that works."
Apple knocked down speculation that the iPod music player, which revolutionized the recording industry when it was introduced a decade ago, would disappear. "We're still making iPods," said Apple's Phil Schiller, before showing off enhancements to the iPod Nano, including an option that turns the little mp3 player into a Mickey Mouse watch.
Some other products included:
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iOS5, a new operating system for iPads and iPhones. It has 200 new features, Cook said. He highlighted 10 updated apps, such as Camera, which allows one to zoom in on a subject in a picture by pinching the picture on one's touch screen.