In case you haven't noticed from reading Big Picture Big Sound, the internet is run by a bunch of crazy people. Witness the months leading up to today's big Apple press conference, to announce their latest wares. Remember all of those rumors--and smuggled photos!--of new form factors, bigger screens and 4G network support as part of the completely reinvented iPhone 5? Well, none of that happened.
Instead, Apple has unveiled their iPhone 4S. Similar to the tweaks made to the iPhone 3 before the iPhone 4 was ready for prime time, the technology mavens of Cupertino have made some improvements to their flagship communication device without quite warranting a whole new generation.
One of the developments that Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed most excited about was the new voice-recognition functionality of Siri, which is currently in beta. Siri not only allows users to access and control the iPhone 4S' many powers by voice, but it also "thinks," inferring what we mean and remember what we said previously. (Can I get a Siri chip for members of my family?) It also serves as speech-to-text software, but I've tried enough of these to only believe it when I see it.
Cloud computing promises to be all the rage, and so the iPhone 4S supports Apple's flavor thereof, the iCloud, allowing us to access remotely--anywhere we can hop on the internet--all of our cloud-stored content, including iTunes and beyond. Governing all of the above will be "the world's most advanced mobile operating system," iOS 5, promising over 200 new features for the iPhone 4S, including Notification Center, iMessage and Twitter Integration. And it will be powered by that mighty mite, the dual-core Apple A5 processor, which should make an appreciable difference in both speed and stability of performance.
The backside digital still camera is touted as Apple's best-ever, not just packing more pixels--although we are now up to 8MP resolution--but new optics starting with a custom lens: a five-element assembly with a hybrid IR filter and a larger f/2.4 aperture. The illuminated CMOS sensor has been improved, with stepped-up auto white balance, advanced color accuracy, face detection, and reduced motion blur too. For video, we can now capture full HD at 1080p/30fps, with welcome image stabilization. Could the iPhone 4S replace our current still cam and video camera?
Apple maintains the phone's nifty home theater relevance with AirPlay support, to push audio and video to the television wirelessly via AppleTV, and keeps the gorgeous Retina Display screen, along with cool features such as two-way video chat via Face Time. The iPhone 4S will be available on October 14th (pre-orders start this Friday) in either black or white, with capacities of 16GB ($199), 32GB ($299) and a new king of the hill, a 64-gigger ($399), so-priced with qualifying plans on both AT&T and Verizon.
Sprint was also announced as the latest supported iPhone carrier, but specifics of that rollout were not revealed at today's event.
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