Thread: New iPhone Released

From the Guardian:

7.11pm: Video! This being HD recorded on the handset.
(Look, after all this if they don't have an iPhone 5 then people are going to lynch someone. All that just for this?)
Phil Schiller is talking AirPlay, where you can stream music to your TV... and also AirPlay Mirroring where you can see what's on the iPod (Touch) or whatever on your TV.
"So the new iPhone 4S... entirely new on the inside... dual antennas... it's a worldphone... twice as fast downloads... camera... 1080p video camera... and of course iOS 5. And of course" (again?) "comes with iCloud. It's the best iPhone yet."

"New" voice control function. Yawn.

9:22 pm The tech is pretty amazing — Siri will follow along with your actions and understand context. Still, Scott has to talk to the machine slowly, like you would to a child or a foreign language speaker.

Oh dear God, all these itards are going to be talking into their phones like they've got Down's Syndrome.

9:33 pm This video is inspiring, but it's tough to get over the minor update after more than a year of seeing the iPhone 4.

Sums it up.

• 9:36 pm "Pretty incredible isn't it?"
• 9:36 pm Tim is back!

Er, no it isn't.

FAIL.

Cook is back. "Pretty incredible isn't it?" (Crowd of journalists agape like the audience in Springtime for Hitler.)

Oh dear.

The Register:

Apple surprised nearly every pundit who was breathlessly following its "Let's talk iPhone" event – it didn't introduce an iPhone 5.
The event, held on Apple's Cupertino campus in, spent over an hour and a half detailing iOS 5 and iCloud, which had both been described in great detail at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and introducing the widely expected iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 4S is an iPhone 4 on the outside – yes, including those problematic antennae – but "all new" on the inside, according to Apple's marketing chieftan, Phil Schiller, speaking at the event.

To be sure, there are many fine aspects to the iPhone 4S, and we'll report on them in detail in a later post, including the phone's new processor, camera, wireless technology, and a demo-impressive voice-recognition artificial intelligence assistant named Siri.
But we won't be giving you details about the new iPhone 5. There isn't one.

I take it Harry that you come from an apple deprived back ground!

Godstruth I hope no one steals your bike!!!

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Wow, 0.9 seconds quicker ready for a photograph. That makes such a difference.

That can be quite important in certain circumstances if you know what I mean......

Well if people have shelled out on an iPhone 4 this year, are they really going to spend a fortune upgrading for what really isn't much of an upgrade?

Plus it looks identical to the iPhone 4 - so the posers won't be impressed.

Harry, i missed it, but here's an example of your posts eeh, yawn, burp, hic.

Can u sum up the improvements in one sentence for a certain Belgian guy ?

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

Can u sum up the improvements in one sentence for a certain Belgian guy ?

I'll do my best....

"The world's premier gay phone for gays, introduced this year by a different gay guy."

Originally Posted by Gerbil

"The world's premier gay phone for gays, introduced this year by a different gay guy."

indeed, the iPhone 4S simply got more gay, I don't see what's wrong with that

harryb is just jealous because he will stay in his basement playing the XBOX while the players outside will be scoring big time with their new iPhone 4S,

Originally Posted by Butterfly

indeed, the iPhone 4's simply got more gay, I don't see what's wrong with that

"cough"

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Battery figures impressive but unproven.

You sure that minutes not hours ?

I-phones and the neophilia generation!

^ is that your XBOX buddy ? quite hard, must be nice to stay hours in the basement with him, late at nights.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

^ is that your XBOX buddy ? quite hard, must be nice to stay hours in the basement with him, late at nights.

I'm sorry, my intention was not to make you "quite hard".

Harry, why don't you fuck off to your android thread.There's a good lad.

You are worse that the Apple blokes.....you got a problem son.

Originally Posted by Little Chuchok

Harry, why don't you fuck off to your android thread.There's a good lad.

You are worse that the Apple blokes.....you got a problem son.

Tsk Tsk. And after alll that in depth reporting I did on the press conference as well.

You're not another one pissed off that his iPhone 5 wank fantasy is blowing in the wind, are you?

I particularly like Apple's "blackmail" approach to try and force iPhone 4 users to upgrade to keep features they already have.

Apple to disable Siri the app in favour of iPhone 4S's Siri

Denis Wong

Apple's no stranger to acquiring talent in the iOS community for blockbuster additions to new iOS versions. Two of iOS 5's major new features, an improved notification system and a new voice-activated assistant, came from third party developers. MobileNotifier, the incomplete predecessor to iOS 5's notifications, can still be acquired via a Cydia repository. On the other hand, people on the old Siri app, the forerunner to the Siri feature in the new iPhone 4S, are getting an unpleasant surprise upon launching the application:

Siri was acquired way back in late April of 2010, although the application remained available for download up to today. According to TechCrunch, that changed following this morning's Apple press conference. Siri's servers were temporarily disabled, and then re-enabled but with a warning to its current users.
Non iPhone 4S Siri users have access to the application up until the iPhone 4S's release on October 15, when the old Siri servers will be turned off for good. This leaves the iPhone 4S, its successors, and potentially future iPod touches as the only Siri capable devices in the near future.
The impending shutdown is very similar to the fate of Lala, which Apple acquired in December 2009 and subsequently shut down on May 31, 2010. It is believed the technology behind Lala contributed towards iCloud and music streaming in iOS 5.

Apple shares slip after new iPhone unveiled

Updated: 07:28, Wednesday, 5 October 2011






Apple shares slipped last night as it unveiled an updated version of the iPhone but not a transformative new model many had been expecting.
New iPhone disappoints investors




Apple shares slipped on Wall Street last night as the California gadget-maker unveiled an updated version of the iPhone but not a transformative new model many had been expecting.
Apple's new chief executive Tim Cook, who replaced ailing founder Steve Jobs in August, presided over the launch of the iPhone 4S at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The iPhone 4S features a speedier processor, a built-in "personal assistant" that responds to voice commands and a more powerful camera, but it was not the revamped next-generation iPhone 5 smartphone many Apple fans had hoped for.
Apple's stock price slid over 4% at one point as it became clear the company was not going to wow the world with its latest product but recovered ground to end the trading day down 0.56% at $372.50.
The iPhone 4S will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Britain on October 14 with pre-orders commencing a week earlier. The iPhone 4S will be rolled out by the end of October in 22 additional countries including Austria, Italy, Singapore, Spain, and Switzerland.
A slick new version of the iOS mobile operating system was shown off at the press event in an intimate theatre at Apple's Silicon Valley campus.
Apple also announced the October 12 launch of long-promised iCloud, which lets people store music, pictures, videos and other digital files online and access the content across Apple computers and mobile devices.
The 4S will introduce a "Siri intelligent assistant" designed to understand context so people can speak naturally when asking it questions. For example, spoken queries of "Will I need an umbrella this weekend?" and "What is the traffic like around here?" will prompt online searches for local weather forecasts or roadway conditions, according to Apple.
Siri helps make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, find local businesses, and get directions. Siri will even perform mathematical calculations if asked.
Apple also added new features and pricing to its iPod Touch and iPod Nano devices in the latest improvements to a line kicked off with the introduction of the first iPod in the same Apple "Town Hall" in 2001.
The new CEO Tim Cook appeared relaxed and confident as he filled the shoes of legendary founder Jobs, who underwent an operation for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs, 56, did not make an appearance at yesterday's event. He remains with Apple as chairman of the board of directors.
For an unexplained reason, Apple's website went down briefly in the wake of the press event, for a short time displaying "Access Denied" messages to people trying to reach online pages.

Interestingly....

Shares of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC rose 0.6 per cent in a generally weaker Taipei market, while Korean rivals Samsung and LG Electronics climbed 1.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively, in a broader Korean market down 2 per cent.

Oh, I didn't mention the "Greeting Cards Service"! (Yes, it's true!).

Reporting from Cupertino and San Francisco—
Apple began its new era with a creation unlike anything it had produced in years: disappointment.

Instead of a major new product, the electronics giant unveiled an updated version of the iPhone 4 that it released 16 months ago. Even the name, iPhone 4S, resembled the old phone.

Most observers had expected that in its first unveiling without its co-founder Steve Jobs, Apple would try to show it was still capable of wowing crowds with stunning new devices.

PHOTOS: The unveiling of the iPhone 4S

Immediately after the company showed off its updated smartphone, shares of Apple stock plunged nearly 5%. Though they largely recovered by the time the market closed, investors agreed that Tuesday's unveiling was not Apple's best performance.

"It's kind of unfortunate timing that the first post-Jobs product is not the most exciting in the world," said Alex Spektor, a wireless analyst at Strategy Analytics, who called the new phone an "incremental" improvement over the iPhone 4. By choosing not to call the device the iPhone 5, he said, "Apple is admitting that it's basically the same phone but with some souped-up specifications."

Unlike Jobs, who tended to stay on the stage for most of a product unveiling, Apple's new chief executive Tim Cook spoke for only a small part of the nearly two-hour presentation. The Alabama native spoke about Apple's music, retail and computer business — pausing to joke about all the buzz over the new iPhone — but let his lieutenants introduce the new device and many of its features.

Without Jobs and his trademark ability to build excitement around a new product, some observers felt the presentation was missing some of Apple's pizazz. Some felt it even dragged on a bit too long.

"This was not a home run for Tim Cook," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners. "It was adequate. All he can do is be his own person — he'll get more chances."

The company also seemed to disappoint consumers who were expecting Apple to announce that the iPhone would be available to customers at wireless providers besides AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

After the event, Apple's website listed Sprint among the carriers that would sell the phones in the U.S. The carrier is listed on a Web page comparing iPhone models.

Apple did not return requests for comment, but a Sprint spokeswoman confirmed in an email that the carrier would join AT&T and Verizon in selling the new phone along with the $99 iPhone 4. The iPhone 3GS, however, will only be available from AT&T.

Still, some analysts felt that the launch — if not sensational — was a smart business move by Apple, which is locked in an intense battle with rival smartphone makers, chiefly companies like Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC that make Google Inc.-powered Android phones, some at low prices.

By offering its own series of lower-cost phones, Apple is aiming at the swelling segment of smartphone consumers in fast-growing markets in Asia and South America, where many first-time buyers can't afford the higher-end phones.

"They are satisfying the broadening demand of the market," said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. "It's a good strategy on Apple's part."

The iPhone 4S will go on sale late this month starting at $199 with a two-year contract. It has a faster computer processor and a higher-quality internal camera, but is largely a series of smaller upgrades to the iPhone 4, which has become the company's best-selling product. Apple also lowered the price on the existing iPhone 4, and will give the earlier iPhone 3GS to wireless customers free of charge.

Perhaps the closest thing the company came to a "wow"-inducing new feature was the introduction of a voice-activated digital "personal assistant." Called Siri, the feature takes voice commands from the user — "Help me find a good Greek restaurant nearby," "Do I need a raincoat today?" or "Schedule me for a noon lunch with Jane" — and dutifully performs the task and reports back in a computerized female voice.

Siri, who when asked, "Who are you?" responds, "I am a humble personal assistant," drew applause from the audience.

"It's a harbinger of very significant change in terms of how people interact with and control their devices," Golvin said.

One of the day's minor flourishes was Apple's announcement of its new "Cards" application, which lets iPhone users put photos they have taken into fancy printed greeting cards. The sender can add a personal message and Apple will print and mail the card, even alerting the sender by text message when it arrives.

The news of Apple's easy-to-use approach to greeting cards instantly sent the stocks of card companies spinning — shares of American Greetings Corp. dropped more than 6%, and the Web-based card maker Shutterfly lost nearly 11% before staging a late comeback.

But some observers saw a bright side for another troubled company.

"I think Apple is trying to bail out the U.S. Postal Service," joked Twitter user Ariel Waldman.