Last week’s iPhone launch at Apple’s California headquarters, broadcast live to its shop in Covent Garden, was a big deal for the tech giant.
With many analysts questioning how the company would fare without Apple founder Steve Jobs at the helm -- he died from pancreatic cancer just over a day later -- it fell to new CEO Tim Cook to unveil the latest model.
What Cook revealed was not the all-new iPhone 5 that most pundits predicted, but instead a 4S model which brings an improved camera and faster processor to the existing iPhone 4 chassis.
Fortunately, there is more to get Apple fans excited. Due for release on Wednesday, Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS 5, brings a host of new features and services, many of which will be available as a free update to existing iPhone and iPad owners.
The new reminders app uses the built-in GPS sensor to remind owners of a task when they’re inaparticular locale -- picking up milk as you walk past the supermarket, for example -- while the Camera app adds some useful photo editing functions.
Apple’s new online service, iCloud, promises to wirelessly sync music, photos and documents across all your Apple devices, although that functionality will be limited in the UK at launch.
Another new service, Newsstand, aims to do for print media what iTunes did for music. Whether that’s a good thing is debatable, but there appears to be a reasonable range of publications at launch, albeit very US-centric at the Californian demonstration.
One software improvement that is restricted to the iPhone 4S is Siri, described by Apple as “your humble, intelligent personal assistant that can do anything for you just by asking”.
It’s a bold claim, but one that appeared justified during an extensive live demonstration.
Questions such as “Do i need a raincoat today?” or “How many days are left until Christmas?” were quickly met with spoken, natural-sounding answers, while more complex requests like “arrange a meeting with John Smith at noon on Friday” resulted in a two-way conversation, with the phone neatly resolving scheduling conflicts as you might with a human assistant.
Whether Siri will cope with Scottish accents remains to be seen, but I for one will be willing to adopt a faux-Texan drawl if it allows me to stay productive while crawling along on my morning commute.
Keen Apple fans can pre-order the iPhone 4S now for delivery next week.
iPhone 4S - £499 without contract
Stars: 4.5/5
Positives: All things considered it's still the best phone money can buy.
Negatives: Not quite the revolutionary product everyone expected.
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