Apple Inc. announced its new iPhone 4S on Oct. 4 and, like the past upgrade from iPhone to iPhone 3GS in June of 2009, no major changes were made to the external appearance of the phone. It is retaining the same display, casing and overall appearance.
The internal specifications have been significantly boosted, as has the operating system. The new operating system, iOS5, adds multiple new features like voice recognition, an improved notification system, photo and video editing, a reminders application, and Newsstand, a tool for managing multiple online media subscriptions in a single place.
Newsstand is supported by publications like The New York Times, Popular Science and O: The Oprah Magazine. The new operating system also brings a new service, iCloud, which syncs all of the user’s data to a backup server maintained by Apple via the Internet. There is also iMessage, a messaging service that only works between Apple devices, much like the competing BlackBerry Messenger for BlackBerry device users.
The iPhone 4S has also received many hardware upgrades. The processor is a new dual-core A5 CPU that Apple promises is “more than twice as fast,” along with an increase in megapixels for the camera, better video recording and improved battery life.
“We read the liveblog of the announcement in my class with professor Reyes, he is an Apple fanatic,” said Cal State Long Beach student Laura Newton. “A lot of people were really disappointed that the iPhone 5 was not announced, they were hoping for more.”
Another CSULB student, Derek Landau, also expressed disappointment towards the iPhone 4S.
“They already delayed the announcement a month more than normal, it really sucks that nothing has really changed,” he said. “I was considering switching from my Droid to an iPhone 5, but the 4S is not even up to par with the best Android phones. I think I will get a Samsung Note, or maybe the newer Droid, I don’t know really.”
Some people are happy with the announcement.
“I have an iPhone 3G, and I am seriously excited to get a newer one, they look so much nicer than the plastic on the old ones — for sure getting one,” CSULB alumnus James Franklin said.
Competitors to the iPhone include the Samsung Galaxy S II, the HTC Titan and the Droid X. They all have similar processing power to the iPhone 4S and have the advantage of larger screens and more RAM, but the many users of iTunes, iPods and Apple computers may ensure that the iPhone 4S will be a success. However, Apple stock did fall after the announcement.
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