Apple Speeds Up IPhone 4 as It Tussles With Android Devices

Submitted: October 4, 2011 - 7:51pm
Last updated: October 5, 2011 - 9:12am

Source: Bloomberg

Location:

Apple, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA, 95014, United States

Apple, in its first product unveiling since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer, introduced a faster iPhone with voice features and a higher-resolution camera to help it vie with Google’s Android. The new iPhone 4S’s A5 chip will make graphics seven times faster than the old processor. The model will cost $199, $299 and $399, depending on features, and will be sold by Sprint Nextel for the first time.

Apple already has agreements with AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Apple let down some investors by not unveiling a more groundbreaking iPhone 5 model, though shares rebounded late in the day. The iPhone 4S, available Oct. 14, will have a camera with 60 percent more pixels and can handle high-definition video. The device also relies on an “intelligent antenna system” that’s designed to improve call quality and works with both CDMA and GSM wireless standards. Users will have up to 8 hours of talk time on one charge. A new voice-recognition system, meanwhile, will turn the device into a hands-free personal assistant. The technology lets users check weather, get directions or surf the Web using speech commands. Apple already had basic voice-control abilities on the iPhone for placing a call or accessing a song. The company also demonstrated iCloud, a new service for storing files such as pictures and music on Apple’s remote servers. That means the files can be accessed through iPads, iPhones and Macs, and mobile devices no longer have to sync up to a computer. Apple will give away advertising-free e-mail as part of the service, which comes out Oct. 12.

Additional coverage:

IPhone Gets Its Upgrade, All Under the Hood (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/technology/apple-introduces-a-new-iphone-with-a-personal-assistant.html?ref=todayspaper

New iPhone Bows but Fails to Wow (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576610991978907616.html?mod=ITP_marketplace_0

No High Five for Apple (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576611320691612728.html?mod=ITP_moneyandinvesting_7

Apple unveils modest iPhone update (FT)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/72052fa8-eeb7-11e0-959a-00144feab49a.html

Apple unveils new iPhone (SJ Mercury News)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_19038240

Apple's iPhone 4S adds Siri personal assistant (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/04/BUEB1LD9FG.DTL