Apple has announced a new iPhone featuring the A5 chip which is at the heart of the iPad 2. It also has dual core graphics, which senior VP of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller said was seven times faster than the iPhone 4.
‘Dual-core CPU, 2x as fast at CPU tasks. Also dual-core graphics. Up to 7x faster in the previous iPhone. One area you really see it scream is in games,’ said Schiller.
Battery life has also increased, and the iPhone now has eight hours talk time. Wireless signal quality has also been improved. According to Schiller: ‘It can now intelligently switch between two antennas between send and receive to make even better call quality.’ In addition, data can now be downloaded over 3G twice as fast as on the iPhone 4.
‘This is what our competitors call 4G… the iPhone 4S is just as fast as all of these phones, even faster in real-world use,’ added Schiller.
The iPhone 4S has, as widely predicted, got a new camera, with an eight-megapixel sensor. The new lens has a maximum aperture of f2.4 and the CMOS backlit sensor gets 73% more light than the sensor in the iPhone 4, and is up to a third faster.
The new camera is also capable of shooting HD video at 1080p resolution and has real-time image stabilisation and nose reduction.
The final new feature to be announced is a voice recognition tool. ‘For decades technologists have teased us with this dream that we can talk to our technology. But it’s never come true! It’s such a let-down! What we really want to do is just talk to our device!’ said Schiller. The new tool, called Siri after the company Apple acquired to get the technology last year, can provide information based on voice requests. So, for example ask it what the weather is by talking to the iPhone 4S and it will tell you. It can also find local restaurants and read your messages to you.
The iPhone 4S will be available on October 14th in black and white with capacities of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. Prices are $199, $299, and $399 respectively. Bothe the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 remain in the line-up, both with 8GB storage. The 3GS will be free with contracts, while the 4 will cost $99. In the UK, prices for the iPhone 4S start at £499.
