iPhone 4S: The Cell Phone That Changes the Cell Phone Again

Cupertino, California -- “If you don’t have an iPhone, well… you don’t have an iPhone.”

Well… that’s obvious.  But it’s a catchphrase that has defined the smartphone.

The iPhone has become just as much of a status statement as it has the apex of all smartphones.  With technology continuing to move forward, the question has been asked across the world: how do you top the iPhone 4?  Now there’s an answer.

Introducing the iPhone 4S: a faster and thinner version than the previous iPhone.

The In

It contains an A5 processor, which debuted earlier this year inside the iPad 2.  Apple says with it comes faster data processing and much faster graphics rendering. Translation: apps will run smoother and games have never looked better on a smartphone.

While its appearance may seem to mirror one of its former models, the iPhone 4S finds most of its upgrades in its hardware, making it the thinnest smartphone that will be available.  But there are two new features that will be released on the iPhone 4S that could become revolutionary, recurring the theme of Apple raising the bar over all other mobile devices.

It contains an 8-megapixel camera with a more advanced light sensor, making the iPhone 4S’s camera to be just as good if not better than many other camera devices.  With this comes the ability to shoot high definition video and a stability feature that will help videos appear less shaky for uploads to places like YouTube.

The Out

Part of the reason the iPhone has become such a popular device is because its new developments are almost always exclusive to iPhone users. In short, the iPhone consumer wants to know: “What can I show off to my friends and colleagues until they get their own iPhone (because they’re sick of hearing about mine)?” With the new release come two groundbreaking features.

With the new phone comes a new operating system, the iOS 5.  With this operating system, Apple offers a “cloud,” which will sync and store photos from the iPhone onto an Internet database.  Additionally, for an extra $25 a year, iTunes Match invites iPhone users to use the exclusive, iPhone-only cloud. Users can store all music from the iPhone to be played on any device or computer, as opposed to only on the device it was purchased on.

But the biggest development is named “Siri:” a personal assistant only for the iPhone 4S.  By holding down the “home” button, Siri can do anything from write and read text messages to research topics on Wikipedia.  Scott Forstall, a senior vice president for iPhone software, provided a demonstration at the unveiling.  He asked Siri to find him “a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto.”  Siri responded: “I have found 14 Greek restaurants; five of them are in Palo Alto. I have listed them according to ranking.”

Impressive.  But that wasn’t good enough to prove the intelligence of Apple’s new voice recognition service.

He asked Siri: “Will I need an umbrella today?” Siri responds: “It sure looks like rain today,” along with an hour-by-hour forecast of the current location.  The difference between Siri and other voice recognition services is simple: simplicity.  It’s designed so the user can talk normally rather than repeating a phrase or incomplete thought.  Forstall added: “I’ve been in the AI (artificial intelligence field a long time. This blows me away.”

Sam Grobart wrote on the New York Times’ live blog of the press conference: “We are clearly headed to the Terminator/HAL territory here. Humans are doomed. Deal with it.”

Apple has sold over 250 million iPhones since its debut. But “doomed?” Ehh… maybe I’ll wait for the next one.

Photo by Szilveszter Farkas.