Apple Launches iPhone 4S; Introduces Siri Voice Recognition

As expected, Apple has today announced the latest addition to its iPhone line-up, the 4S. You’ll note that it’s not called the ‘4G’, and that’s for a reason. With this release, there’s no 4G or LTE support… so for those who were holding out for that, you’ll have to wait until the iPhone 5 launches (if it’s even included then). Though lacking in that area, the 4S does bring a couple of noteworthy features.

First, the phone has seen an overall performance boost with the introduction of an A5 dual-core SoC that allows for 1080p video recording, and Siri, a new-fangled voice recognition system. The camera itself has also seen an upgrade; it now supports 8MP, and with its f/2.4 aperture, pictures will both focus and snap faster than before.

The 4S shares an identical design as the original, but has more power under the hood. In addition to recording better video, more advanced games could be run, and multi-tasking stands the chance of being even more fluid than before.

That said, the 4S is a rather minor upgrade to the 4, but for those who either need a better camera or faster performance, it’s here. What’s most interesting about the 4S is iOS5, which also just launched. I can’t exhaust all of the included features, but recommend those who are interested to look here.

I’d also be remiss to not mention Siri, a new voice recognition system that Apple has implemented that vows to improve how you work with your phone. Rather than go through various menus to get something done, you can talk to your phone to get it done quicker. Such examples of this in action would be asking Siri for the nearest ATM, or to prepare a text message to someone. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. As Siri is still in beta, I wouldn’t expect it to be perfect, but it does sound like one of the coolest features to come to a phone in a while.

A lot more information about the iPhone 4S can be seen at the URL below.