Apple’s iPhone 4S is ‘all new inside’

The new iPhone 4S will go on sale next week on 14 October in both the UK and the US.

Although the handset looks like the previous version of the iPhone4, Apples’s senior vice president, Phil Schiller promised that it was what was on the inside that mattered.

Senior vice president of iPhone Software Scott Forstall demonstrated the voice recognition software, called Siri, which allows users to ask the phone questions and get answers.

Forstall said it works as “your humble, intelligent personal assistant that goes everywhere with you and can do anything for you just by asking”.

He said Siri understood the language and context of users’ questions and then gave a series of examples by asking the phone about the weather, his diary and the stockmarkets.

“I’ve been in the AI field for a long time and this still blows me away,” said Forstall.

What will the iPhone 4S do for Apple?

Technology Correspondent Benjamin Cohen gives his first impression:
Today really wasn't about hardware for Apple. 
The iPhone 4S looks and behaves like the iPhone 4. Sure it will be a bit faster and have better battery life. But what has really changed is the software. iOS 5, already announced a few months ago, allows Apple to catch up with Google's Android and in someways better it.
The use of Siri as a voice activated personal assistant will impress some and creeps over into Google's territory. I can't see masses of people rushing to upgrade their iPhone 4 to a 4S. It may actually cause an increase in sales for the iPhone4 as retailers discount it.
Read more from Benjamin Cohen on Twitter: @benjamincohen

The phone also targets gamers with a new microchip inside enabling faster graphics and the ability for faster downloads.

The camera is improved on the handset – it has an eight megapixel camera with five lenses, and users can record HD video.

The 64 giga bytes phone will sell in the US for $399, the 32gb for $299 and the 16gb for $199 US dollars. Prices in the UK will be announced soon.

Apple also announced a new “Find my Friends” app that allows people to share their location with other people with iPhones. It’s designed for close friends and family and you could use it to see if your children had made it to their school, or help guide lost friends to your home.

The phone is expected to sell well, although technology expert Ernest Doku of uSwitch.com warned that some people would be “bitterly disappointed” at the announcement of an upgraded phone rather than a brand new model.

He added: “A phone which talks to you and answers your questions? That’s the iPhone 4S. Slightly disappointing from a hardware standpoint, but Siri has the potential to revolutionise how we use our mobiles.”

It is the company’s first major product launch in years without Steve Jobs presiding.