Apple today officially introduced the iPhone 4S, the company's next-generation iPhone offering a completely redesigned interior with a number of new features.
Apple today announced iPhone 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri™, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.
One of Apple's most highly-touted features for the iPhone 4S is its camera, which checks in at 8-megapixels and contains a host of improvements over the iPhone 4's camera.
iPhone 4S includes an all new camera with the most advanced optics of any phone. The 8 megapixel sensor has 60 percent more pixels so you can take amazing high quality photos with more detail than ever. iPhone 4S includes a new custom lens, a larger f/2.4 aperture and an advanced hybrid IR filter that produce sharper, brighter and more accurate images.
Apple also notes that it has completely redesigned the antenna system for the iPhone 4S, making the device the first phone to intelligently switch between antennas for sending and receiving. The iPhone 4S is a world phone supporting both GSM and CDMA technologies, and also supports HSDPA download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, twice that of the iPhone 4.
Talk time over 3G comes in at eight hours on the iPhone 4S, with the device also offering six hours of 3G browsing. The iPhone 4S also included Bluetooth 4.0 for improved short-range wireless interfacing.
The iPhone 4S will launch on Friday, October 14th in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, with pre-orders beginning this Friday, October 7th. The iPhone 4S is available in both black and white and comes in three difference capacities: 16 GB ($199), 32 GB ($299), and 64 GB ($399). All prices are for on-contract purchases.
The iPhone 4S will debut in an additional 22 countries by the end of October. Those countries include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
With the announcement of an October 12 ship date for iOS 5, Apple today posted the Golden Master (GM) release of iOS 5 to developers this afternoon, with a build number of 9A334.
Apple notes that users "must use iTunes 10.5 beta 7 to install iOS 5 GM seed on your devices. iOS 5 GM seed is not available via over the air software update" and encourages users to back up their devices via iCloud before installing the GM.
Apple posted a GM seed of Xcode 4.2 as well, and notes that the GM seed "can now be used to submit iOS 5 applications to the App Store for review."
Apple today announced modest changes to its iPod touch lineup, dropping the price of the 8GB model from $229 to $199, breaking the important $200 price barrier.
iPod has revolutionized the way we listen to music and with over 320 million sold is the world’s most popular music player,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “iPod touch, now available in both black and white, is the best selling iPod ever, and with iOS 5 and iCloud it is better than ever.
Beyond the availability of a white version of the popular media player, no other changes to device's hardware or specifications were announced.
The updated iPod touch is compatible with iOS 5 and is scheduled for release alongside the latest version of iOS on October 12. It will also work with iCloud, Apple's revamped cloud service formerly dubbed MobileMe.
Apple announced updates to the iPod nano today with user interface changes to improve navigation and 16 clock faces to facilitate its use as a watch. Its fitness features have also improved with Nike+ compatibility out of the box with no requirement for additional accessories to track walks and runs.
The nano's interface now sports larger icons for easier navigation. The new clock faces include a range of designs, including one mimicking an analog Mickey Mouse watch to classic digital and Roman numeral designs.
Nike+ compatibility for tracking walks and runs no longer requires a dongle that was part of an accessory kit sold separately. The updated nano is now capable of tracking distance traveled, pace, time and more out of the box.
The updated nano will cost $129 for the 8GB model and $149 for the 16GB model, down from $149 and $179, respectively. Both are available starting today. The available colors for both capacities are silver, graphite, blue, green, orange, pink, and red.
Apple's rumored "Find My Friends" feature has arrived as an App to locate (with permission) users' friends and family with iOS devices on a map, much like Google Latitude.
Users can easily set privacy controls including only sharing location during certain times of day and more. “At the end of the day, location sharing stops automatically. Easily locate friends and family, temp sharing options, simple privacy controls…”
At the iPhone 4S launch event today, Apple launched two new apps: Find My Friends, and Cards.
Cards is an iOS version of the greeting card-maker built-in to iPhoto, but with a twist -- instead of printing and shipping cards to the user, who then has to buy stamps, address and mail the cards -- Apple takes care of printing, mailing, and postage and sends the card directly to the recipient, with a push notification going to the senders iPhone upon delivery.
As iOS SVP Scott Forstall explains, "you create the card on your iPhone, and we'll do the rest."
Users will take pictures, design the card (choosing from 21 different designs), customize the greeting and Apple takes care of the rest. Cards will cost $2.99 each when mailed within the US, $4.99 internationally. The Cards app itself will be a free download, launching October 12th, with iOS 5.
Apple's "Find My Friends" feature was hinted at earlier this year, and has now arrived as an App to locate (with permission) users' friends and family with iOS devices on a map, much like Google Latitude.
Users can easily set privacy controls including only sharing location during certain times of day and more. “At the end of the day, location sharing stops automatically. Easily locate friends and family, temp sharing options, simple privacy controls…”
Find My Friends is free with iOS 5 and will launch October 12.
During his keynote address to announce the next generation iPhone, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company has sold more than 6 million copies of Lion since it launched in July. "This is 80% more than Snow Leopard."
"For another metric, we measure adoption. If you look at Windows 7, it took them about 20 weeks to reach 10% of their base. It took Lion 2 weeks."
Lion is available for $29.99 at the Mac App Store.
The Guardian reports that Apple has secured agreements with major music labels to offer its iTunes in the Cloud service in a number of European markets, with the United Kingdom set to see the first expansion beyond the United States.
The expansion of “iTunes in the Cloud” from the US, where it was made available in the US in June, will allow people who have bought songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store to synchronize them among multiple devices such as PCs, iPhones and iPads via wireless connections. Previously they would have to connect them to a computer and synchronize them.
The technology giant has been locked in negotiations with the four major music groups—EMI, Sony (NYSE: SNE), Warner and Universal—to seal the “iTunes in the Cloud” deal in time for Tuesday’s announcement.
The agreements will not, however, see Apple launching the paid iTunes Match component of its cloud-based music services yet. iTunes Match scans users' music libraries and automatically mirrors any content that is available through the iTunes Store into iCloud, allowing users to bypass the process of uploading each and every track from their libraries. iTunes Match is priced at $24.99 per year in the United States.
The Guardian also confirms that Apple will be discontinuing the iPod classic as has been rumored.
Apple is holding a media event today at its Town Hall auditorium on its campus in Cupertino, California, where it is set to introduce the next-generation iPhone. The event is scheduled to kick off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
Apple will not be providing live video coverage of the event to the public, but a number of news sites will be on hand to provide text and photo updates, and we're including links to several of them here. We will also be updating this article with coverage as the media event unfolds and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account. Separate news stories regarding the event announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
- Media attendees are seated and waiting for event to begin. - Tim Cook on stage, welcoming attendees to the campus. Going over history of Town Hall auditorium...original iPod, MacBook Air launched here. - Today is about innovations in software and hardware. - Apple has tremendous momentum. Highlighting retail stores. Shanghai store saw 100,000 people in opening weekend. Hong Kong had more opening day Mac sales than any other store. - Brief video of the new Shanghai/Hong Kong store openings. - Six stores in China with a lot more to come. 357 total stores in 11 countries. - Walking through each of Apple's four product areas. Starting with the Mac and Lion. - 6 million copies of Lion sold so far...up 80% over Snow Leopard. Took two weeks to reach 10% of installed Mac base. Windows 7 took 20 weeks to reach 10% of Windows base. - 23% year-over-year growth for Mac, 58 million users. - Now talking music. Market share has been above 70% for very long time. iPod has 78% share now. Over 300 million iPods sold. - iTunes Store now has 20 million tracks, with over 16 billion downloads. - Now iPhone. 125% year-over-year growth. iPhone 4 responsible for over half of our total iPhone sales ever. #1 smartphone in the world. But despite success, still only 5% of worldwide mobile phone market. - Now iPad. Highlighting customer satisfaction ratings. iPads showing up everywhere...every U.S. state has at least a pilot program for schools. Higher education too. Airplane cockpits. Hospitals. Momemtum in consumer, enterprise, everywhere. - iPad has 75% market share in the U.S. - Now over 250 million total iOS devices sold.
- Scott Forstall on stage to talk about iOS. - iOS #1 mobile operating system with 43% of market. Apple has paid out $3 billion to developers. 18 billion App Store downloads. - Talking about new Cards app to order greeting cards. Apple will print with your photo/design and even mail them. Cards will be free download on October 12th. Cards are $2.99 mailed in U.S., $4.99 anywhere in the world. - Now recapping iOS 5 highlights. Notifications Center, iMessage, Reminders app, Twitter integration, Newsstand, Camera app (lock screen shortcut, volume button for shutter) - Game Center. 67 million accounts so far. Adding achievement points, profile photos, etc. - Safari, Mail, PC Free...basically recap of WWDC. - iOS 5 debuts October 12th.
- Eddy Cue on stage to discuss iCloud. - Integrated right into apps, everything happens automatically. Discussing iTunes in the Cloud...download and redownload iTunes music purchases anytime on any device. - Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud. Daily backups of contacts and calendars across devices. - Find My Friends. Can easily see where my family is at Disneyland or whether my son made it to school today. Can set time period to limit location sharing. Simple privacy controls. - iTunes Match. Scan and match entire library to iTunes catalog. Create and edit playlists, updated across devices. $24.99 per year. - iCloud launches October 12th. iTunes Match at end of October in United States.
- Phil Schiller on stage to talk about iPod. Updates to two of the lines today. - iPod nano update: Easier to navigate with large icons, swipe between them. Improved fitness tools...track walks and runs right out of the box. 16 new clock faces. - $129 for 8 GB, $149 for 16 GB. Available today. - iPod touch update...will run iOS 5. Some features like iMessage and Game Center improvements make sense for the touch. - iPod touch now in black and white $199 8 GB, $299 32 GB, $399 64 GB. Available October 12th. Shuffle still sticking around at 2 GB/$49.
- iPhone 4S. Outside the same, inside all different. A5 chip inside, dual-core graphics up to 7x faster than iPhone 4. - Mike Capps from Epic Games on stage for demo. Showing off Infinity Blade 2. - Phil back on stage. iPhone 4S battery has 8 hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours 3G browsing. - Wireless system updated. Stainless steel band with two antennas, switch intelligently between them. - Data speed twice as fast...14.4 Mbps HSDPA. It's what competitors call 4G. - World phone...both CDMA and GSM in one phone. - New camera system. iPhone 4 is top camera on Flickr. We wanted to make the 4S better than point and shoot. - Eight megapixels...3264x2448. Backside illuminated sensor...73% more light per pixel than iPhone 4. 33% faster capture. Hybrid IR filter, better color accuracy and uniformity. Five element lens, 30% more sharpness, f/2.4 aperture. Face detection, better white balance, and fast photos. - Time to first photo: 1.1 seconds. Half a second for next shot. - Schiller demoing photos taken with iPhone 4S. 1080p HD video recording, video image stabilization, noise reduction. Wrapping up camera discussion. - AirPlay mirroring. Gaming on the TV screen...wired or wireless. - Phil recapping iPhone 4S specs..."entirely new" on the inside. - Most amazing iPhone yet, but Phil left out one thing...all about our voice. - We've long wished devices could really understand us. - Demo time for Siri, the personal assistant.
- Scott Forstall on stage for Siri demo. "What is the weather like today?" iPhone answers "Here is the forecast for today..."
- "Wake me up tomorrow at 6am." iPhone sets alarm and confirms. - "How's the NASDAQ doing today". iPhone brings up stock chart. - "Find me a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto." iPhone brings up options. - "Give me directions to Hoover Tower" iPhone brings up map and directions. - Siri can read text messages aloud, check appointment calendar, and take down dictated response. - "Remind me to call my wife when I leave work." iPhone sets up a geofence to alert Scott when he leaves the campus. - "Search Wikipedia for Neil Armstrong." Info page pops up. - "Define 'mitosis'." iPhone checks WolframAlpha. Same for currency conversions. - Siri includes lists of example requests to help users learn.
- Phil Schiller back on stage. Showing off dictation capabilities in Mail. Works out of the box, but improves as it learns your voice. - Works in English (US, UK, Australia), French, and German. Beta to start, with more languages and services coming. - Recapping the iPhone 4S, and now showing a video.
- iPhone 4S pricing: $199 16 GB, $299 32 GB, $399, 64 GB, with contract. Black and white versions available. - 8 GB iPhone 4 at $99, 8 GB iPhone 3GS free.
- Preorders for iPhone 4S start this Friday, October 7th. Launches in U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan on October 14th. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the U.S.
- 22 more countries on October 28th, and 70 by the end of the year.
- Tim Cook back on stage to wrap up. - "These products are great and fantastic and industry-leading. But what puts Apple way out in front is how they work so well together. I'm so proud of this company and all of the teams who have brought you the innovations you've seen today."
Apple has prematurely updated its Japanese retail store sites, disclosing that the iPhone 4S will launch in that country at 8:00 AM on October 14th.
The site appears to also reveal an updated iPod nano, although images are not yet live. The description of the iPod nano includes references to a new user interface, improvements to fitness functions, and a new clock face. Pricing also appears to begin at 10,800 yen, down from the current 13,800 yen.
Update: As noted by 9to5Mac, images for the iPhone 4S in black and white have also been prematurely posted to Apple's site. The iPhone 4S images appear identical to the CDMA iPhone 4.
TheNextWeb offers some last minute information based on "sources familiar" with the situation.
Sources familiar with Apple’s plans have revealed to us that Apple will indeed debut the new iPhone 4S today, featuring an 8-megapixel camera with “enhanced optics” and “more definitive GPS features” thanks to Apple’s new A5 processor.
Their report mirrors much of what has been expected. Apple will released an iPhone 4S today with an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 processor. The only new information is the claim that the new iPhone will have "more definitive GPS features". The site doesn't clarify what those might be.
They also report that the teardrop "iPhone 5" design that we've seen for months is a prototype iPhone "which won't be available any time soon" and the iPhone 4S will have the same dimensions as the iPhone 4. The focus of the new device will be the Assistant recognizer that we've previously profiled.
Overall, the information is consistent with what we've heard about today's announcements. Apple's event kicks off today at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern.
Last week, Samsung proposed a deal to Apple behind closed doors in an attempt to find a way to launch its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. Samsung has delayed the device's introduction there for two months while a court has heard Apple's case for a preliminary injunction to bar Samsung from the selling the device due to infringement of Apple's intellectual property rights.
Reuters reported late yesterday that Apple has rejected the deal, pressing forward with its position that Samsung should be barred from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia.
"[The proposed deal] is one we don't accept and there is no surprise. The main reason we are here is to prevent the launch (of the Galaxy 10.1) and maintain the status quo," Apple lawyer Steven Burley told the court.
Samsung has been forced to delay the launch of its new Galaxy in Australia until after the court makes a ruling.
"It is not going to be achievable your honour, given the positions advanced by each party," a Samsung lawyer told the court when asked about the prospects of a settlement.
Bloomberg follows up with a new report today noting that the federal judge in the case has yet to issue a ruling on Apple's request for a temporary injunction as the hearing comes to a close, reporting that she will need a "little" time to reach a decision.
For its part, Samsung has noted that if it can not win clearance to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia within the next two weeks it may simply scrap the launch altogether.
Samsung is willing to abandon plans to launch the product because missing the Christmas season would result in the new tablet being “dead,” Neil Young, a lawyer representing the Suwon, South Korea-based company, told Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett in Sydney today.
[...]
“We’re willing to pull out all the stops to get it out by mid-October,” Young said. “We’re absolutely desperate.”
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a patent dispute ranging across a number of countries. Apple has had its most success in Australia and Germany, where it has been able to delay the launch of Samsung's products as the legal proceedings play out.
Satellite TV truck outside Covent Garden retail store in London (Thanks, Connor)
The Wall Street Journal confirms the widely-held belief that the iPhone 4S/5 set to be introduced later tonight will not support the fastest current data networks built on LTE and WiMax technology. The news is not much of a surprise, but such last-minute reports by mainstream news outlets such as the Journal are frequently thought to be controlled leaks by Apple to help frame expectations for its upcoming announcements.
According to people familiar with the company’s plans, the hotly anticipated device won’t operate on long-term evolution or WiMAX fourth-generation networks. Those wireless networks promise speedier downloading to mobile devices of episodes of television programs, as well as cute baby photos.
The people said the device will work on 3G networks, which are broadly in use today and are the standard for the current iPhone 4. AT&T says its HSPA+ network has 4G-like speeds.
The specific mention of a lack of WiMAX compatibility would seem to put a significant damper on yesterday's highly questionable rumor that a redesigned iPhone 5 could in fact debut today as a WiMAX-capable device exclusive to Sprint until an LTE version comes out next year.
Covent Garden retail store transformed into theater for press simulcast of media event (via Matt Brian)
Meanwhile, 9to5Mac shares a couple of "uncorroborated" tips it has received claiming that the next iPhone will launch on October 14th and that the iPhone 4S could come in at $99/$199/$299 price points for 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB models. Such a pricing structure would likely mean that the 8 GB iPhone 4 reportedly set for introduction would be priced at $49 with an iPhone 3GS potentially available for free. All of the listed prices would be for on-contract devices.
October 14th has been rumored as a likely launch date based on vacation blackouts at Apple retail stores. The date would also match up with previous intervals between iPhone announcements and launches, as well as claims of a "mid-October" launch for the device.
CultofMac profiles one case manufacturer who remains confident in the tapered iPhone 5 design that has been circulating for months.
Hard Candy is in the process of manufacturing 50,000 of these cases and sending them to stores. The company based their cases on dimensions received by three different sources.
What stood out to us, however, was that their dimensions seem very different than the ones from other case manufacturers. The specs from Hard Candy include:
- Large 4.44-inch screen. - It is significantly bigger than the iPhone 4, but the case tapers, making it feel a lot thinner. - Large, lozenge-shaped Home button (This is rumored to be integrated with new Assistant function, allowing tasks to be controlled by voice).
While the general shape is identical to the other tapered designs, Hard Candy's cases fit an iPhone with a 4.44-inch screen. This is notably larger than the other cases that we've seen.
We're not sure why there is such a discrepancy, but at least some of these early cases are going to be wrong, if not all of them.
There's been some ongoing debate about whether or not Apple will release an iPhone 4-liked design or a new tapered design as shown above. Apple is holding their media event at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern on October 4th, so we'll find out soon enough.
With Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" media event set for tomorrow, we've put together this rumor roundup as a summary of major rumors that have been circulating in the lead-up to Apple's highly-anticipated iPhone introduction and the formal launch of iOS 5 and iCloud. The iPhone 4 is now nearly 16 months old, and the rumor mill has been in high gear trying to determine Apple's plans for its next-generation hardware.
iOS 5
There aren't too many surprises expected for iOS 5 tomorrow, as Apple offered an extensive preview of the next-generation mobile operating system at its Worldwide Developers Conference in early June. Apple has also posted a number of promotional materials for iOS 5, describing several of the over 200 new features included in the release.
One remaining question about iOS 5 is its public release date, which would need to come at or before the launch of the new iPhone hardware, as it will undoubtedly come preinstalled on those devices. Apple typically releases its major iOS updates to existing users a few days prior to the hardware launch, and some claims have pegged Monday, October 10th as a possible launch day. Officially, Apple has only said that iOS 5 will launch in the "fall".
Rumors of an announcement regarding some sort of partnership with Facebook have also been circulating, with some suggesting that tomorrow's event may see the launch of Facebook's iPad app, a revamped iPhone app, and Facebook's new "Project Spartan" HTML5-based tools. Others have also suggested that Apple may be looking to launch systemwide Facebook integration, similar to the Twitter integration already previewed for iOS 5. But a fresh report from Business Insider claims that no such Facebook announcement is planned for tomorrow.
Video is out: Link to Video. Note Apple may put spoilers on the page, but at time of publication there were no spoilers.
With Apple reportedly not providing a video stream of tomorrow's "Let's Talk iPhone" media event, some users are undoubtedly interested in avoiding all of tomorrow's announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with the link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow tomorrow's events refrain from making any posts in the thread about tomorrow's announcements.
Growl 1.3 comes in a new app form that has a menubar icon to activate/pause notifications, and a new Preferences window to see notification history, supported apps, configure themes, and more. History can be customized to show only a certain amount of recent items and days, and you can even search past notifications and events. The new Growl comes with almost 20 themes pre-installed, and you can style an application’s overlay notifications (the ones that Growl will briefly display on screen) in Growl’s Preferences. You can also create and install your own themes with basic CSS/XHTML/Javascript language.
Perhaps the biggest new feature -- at least from a user perspective -- is the new Rollup feature that captures multiple notifications when the user is idle. Growl opens an iOS 5-style notification window that lists notifications sorted by app, keeping multiple notifications organized and contained.
Notably missing from the new version is GrowlMail, an add-on for the software that provides notifications support for AppleMail, allowing users to receive alerts about emails as they receive them. The software notoriously broke with nearly every update to Mail, and the Growl team stated that GrowlMail was more difficult to keep running than the main Growl project. The team notes that the main developer of GrowlMail, Rudy Richter, will receive ownership of it, and will continue to work on it independent of Growl.
Growl 1.3 is available on the Mac App Store for $1.99. [iTunes]
With Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" media event set for tomorrow, we've put together this rumor roundup as a summary of major rumors that have been circulating in the lead-up to Apple's highly-anticipated iPhone introduction and the formal launch of iOS 5 and iCloud. The iPhone 4 is now nearly 16 months old, and the rumor mill has been in high gear trying to determine Apple's plans for its next-generation hardware.
Mac OS X notification service 
