Apple plugs the gap until iPhone 5 is ready

Many people were hoping that Apple would debut the iPhone 5 at last night's launch event, but instead were presented with a stop-gap product to keep the faithful happy until the firm's real next-generation handset is ready to ship.

The iPhone 4S adds a dual-core processor that should make the handset more responsive, and is available with a beefier 64GB of storage on the top-end model and a higher resolution 8-megapixel camera for good measure.

But the iPhone 4S is still basically an upgrade; a mid-life kicker for the iPhone 4 aimed at fending off the competition until Apple is ready to unveil the iPhone 5, which is now likely to be sometime early next year.

Likewise, the introduction of a new entry-level 8GB version of the iPhone 4 shows that Apple is starting to feel the heat from Android vendors, which have brought increasingly impressive budget smartphones to market at around the £99 mark in the UK.

Microsoft is also looking resurgent with the Mango update for Windows Phone 7, which has been drawing praise from reviewers and attracting a lot of interest from consumers.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S also debuts iOS 5, a new release of Apple's mobile platform that adds a number of new features, including Siri, described by Apple as an intelligent assistant that lets users ask queries using natural language and then attempts to provide an answer.

Apple is shrewdly making iOS 5 available as an update for existing iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS owners, another move that should help pacify those who might consider switching to another handset. However, the firm has cryptically stated that not all iOS 5 features may be available on all products.

Overall, the improvements brought in with the iPhone 4S will no doubt be welcome, but many Apple fans will probably still be disappointed that it isn't a completely new device, while the iPhone itself is starting to look less compelling against new handsets from rivals.

05 Oct 2011