iPhone 5 A No Show At Apple Event

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

iPhone 5 A No Show At Apple Event

Much to the chagrin of many of my feel geek bloggers during today's iPhone press event Apple did not announce the new iPhone 5, instead announcing a new iPhone 4S, the release of iOS 5; the company's new cloud computing service iCloud.

Last week Apple had sent out event invites prompting several rumors that the company would be releasing a new version of the iPhone. However most sites out there got it wrong. Apple didn't announce a new iPhone 5 as some had suggested (even posted as confirmed). Instead they announced a faster iPhone 4s.

The iPhone 4S will run on a dual-core A5 processor, which also will allow the device to run graphics up to seven times faster than prior models, said Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple. That could allow for a better gaming experience and 1080p video playback. The iPhone 4's A4 chip provides up to 720p of video playback. The iPhoone 4s also features an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and the addition of Siri voice commands.

The iPhone 4S will go on sale at 8 a.m. local time Oct. 14 in Apple's retail stores, with online and phone pre-orders beginning Friday Oct. 7. The new smartphone will be priced at $199 for a 16GB model, $299 for 32GB and $399 for a new configuration with 64GB of storage space.

To coincide with the launch of the iPhone 4S comes the launch of iOS 5, and iCloud, a new free cloud service that Apple had discussed earlier this year. iOS 5 will also be available as a free software update for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS customers allowing them to experience these amazing new features.

iCloud allows for seamless syncing with all your connected devices. The new service will work with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices. iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars, documents and more.

iCloud will be available on October 12 as a free download to iPhone, iPad or iPod touch users running iOS 5 or a Mac running OS X Lion with a valid Apple ID. iCloud includes 5GB of free cloud storage for Mail, Document Storage and Backup. Purchased music, TV shows, apps, books and Photo Stream do not count against the storage limit. iTunes Match will be available starting in the US later this month for $24.99 a year. Using iCloud with a PC requires Windows Vista or Windows 7; Outlook 2010 or 2007 is recommended for accessing contacts and calendars. Additional iCloud storage upgrades are available to purchase starting at $20 a year for 10GB, $40 a year for 20GB and $100 a year for 50GB.

For more details see the following Apple press releases: