iPhone 4S goes on sale

The iPhone 4S officially goes on sale today in seven countries, in the first phase of what Apple says will be the fastest iPhone roll-out to date.

Queues of hundreds of fans have reportedly been forming at Apple stores across the globe. The first countries to receive the handsets today are the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France and Japan.

The second wave of iPhone 4S releases is set for 28 October, in a further 22 countries. Apple has reportedly said it will offer the new handset in over 70 countries by December this year. The company is yet to specify when the device will be available in SA, but it is likely to arrive by the end of the year.

The iPhone 4S was unveiled by Apple's new CEO, Tim Cook, on 4 October - just a day before Steve Jobs died.

While analysts and critics initially labelled the iPhone 4S a disappointment following the hype surrounding the expected release of an iPhone 5, more than a million people placed pre-orders for the device in just 24 hours after its release. By comparison, the iPhone 4 notched up 600 000 pre-orders in the same time period (it was also initially released in fewer countries).

In the US, the iPhone 4S sold out for pre-orders with the carriers a day before going on sale. Many believe the sales have been fuelled by Apple fans rushing to purchase the last Apple device to have been unveiled in Steve Jobs' lifetime.

Competition in the smartphone space is fierce. Apple's major rival Samsung has reportedly gone as far as setting up temporary stores near Apple outlets in Sydney, selling Galaxy SII handsets for A$2 to the first 10 customers every day.

The iPhone 4S is an accelerated version of the iPhone 4, with a dual-core A5 chip, iOS 5, Siri and access to iCloud. The handset also has a new camera with an eight-megapixel sensor and full 1080p HD resolution video recording.

Forrester analyst for consumer product strategy, Thomas Husson, says the new Siri Assistant is a new user interface paradigm.

“This is a powerful harbinger of the future use of mobile devices - not just the power of voice but, more importantly, the ability to contextualise a statement or request.”

According to Apple, Siri's ability to understand context allows the software to understand natural speech.

“For example, if you ask 'Will I need an umbrella this weekend?' it understands you are looking for a weather forecast,” says Apple.

Siri can also assist in making calls, sending text messages or e-mails, scheduling meetings and reminders, completing Web searches, finding locations and getting directions.

Husson says: “Apple product strategists revolutionised the UI with touch-screen technology, and Siri will do so again, as mobile phones increasingly become the remote control of our personal daily lives and act as personal digital assistants.

“However, Forrester believes that Siri's revolution will take much longer to play out, given consumers' tepid embrace of voice interfaces to date,” adds Husson.

For those who don't want to buy the new iPhone but do want to upgrade their older models and have access to some of the new features, Apple's latest mobile software update, iOS 5, became available for download via iTunes on Wednesday. The upgrade is compatible with the iPhone 3S, iPhone 4, as well as the iPod Touch and iPad models.

The release was, however, hampered by complaints regarding download problems such as error messages and slow download times. The update also includes iCloud, which allows users to access and sync photos, music, e-mails and other media through the cloud.

Husson says the iCloud services will enable a superior consumer experience across Apple's entire product portfolio and will further secure Apple's expanding base of loyal customers.

“This is not so much about the product and technology features, but mainly about the ability to develop a new service ecosystem and to maintain desire for an emotional brand experience.”

According to Apple, iOS 5 has over 200 new features including the notification centre, integrated Twitter functionality and iMessage.

Speculation is growing that iMessage, Apple's messaging service that works across Apple devices, may deliver yet another blow to Research In Motion as it will further undercut the value proposition of BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry as a result.