iPhone 5? Nope, Just the 4S
Apple recently announced, and on Friday released the iPhone 4S. Prior to the announcement, everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5, but they won’t be disappointed for long. After looking into all of the new features and upgrades, the only element that seems to resemble the old iPhone 4 is the phone’s body.
The iPhone 4S is a whole new beast. It is supported by a new dual-core A5 chip that has it running almost twice as fast as the previous model. This means faster everything, including browsing, gaming, and streaming media. A new 8 megapixel and optics card means clearer, more vivid images. The video capture has been upgraded to 1080p and now includes image stabilization, so movies will be nearing cinema quality. This new hardware and the previously included high-resolution Retina display begs the question: what more could be wanted in a phone?
This latest iPhone is now being shipped with the new iOS 5 and iCloud. iOS 5 is Apple’s latest and greatest mobile operating system that is available for installation on new devices. It includes a new notification center where you can customize how you want your notifications for each app to display. The new iMessage is Apple’s answer to the BBM and with recent Blackberry Network outages there is a chance that mobile users will make the full on switch to Apple’s new system. Newsstand allows iOS 5 users to access their subscriptions all in one convenient place much like iBook. Apple’s iCloud is probably the most exciting new feature. It allows for the wireless syncing of many different files including iTunes, Photo Stream, and Documents. Also, when you download an app in one place, it will automatically download to all other compatible devices that are connected to your account.
The biggest difference between this version and the previous one is the addition of Siri. Siri is a personal assistant in your pocket. You talk to her and she will intelligently talk right back with an answer to pretty much anything. Ask her about the weather anywhere in the world and she will tell you. Dictate and send texts and emails verbally through her. Set reminders that can be based on location such as “Remind me to call my wife when I leave work,” or time like “Remind me to pick up my dry cleaning at 5.” Events can be added to your calendar and if there are scheduling conflicts Siri can let you know and move them around for you. Siri is really the personal assistant of the 21st century.
Overall, this new iPhone 4s is a supercharged, tricked out version of the iPhone 4. So much so that it might as well be called an iPhone 5. And with new features including Siri and iOS 5, this could really be a threat to both Blackberry and Android competitors. The only thing wrong with this phone is that it does not run off of the new 4G networks, but having been through dial-up internet, 3G mobile speeds don’t seem so bad.