This isn't really because of the hardware; the changes between the 4 and the 4S—Apple's dual-core A5 processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and the ability to use the phone on more networks—are nice, but hardly earth-shaking. Plenty of other phones now have larger displays and some run on the faster, more advanced LTE networks. In some ways, the iPhone is falling behind its Android-based competitors in these areas.
Instead, it's the software, or rather the combination of hardware, software, and services, that makes the iPhone 4S stand out. iOS 5, the latest version of the operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, adds a number of new features that are nice, but again, other than Siri, not really surprising. Taken together, though, they make what has been the easiest to use of the major smartphones even easier.
The changes in iOS 5 are worth noting. It's good to have a single notifications panel that you pull down from the top of the screen, rather than having lots of pop-ups competing for your attention. This combines notifications from applications, text messages, reminders, and calendar items. To me, that's a clear win. As with Windows Phone, you can now take photos without unlocking the phone first. In this case, just press the camera icon on the unlock screen.
There are a couple of new applications, too. iMessage replaces the old text messaging features with a new app that lets you send texts, photos, videos, and more to groups of people, rather than just one at a time. It works much like BlackBerry Messenger. If the recipient has iMessage as well, usage is unlimited, as it doesn't use the traditional messaging service. You can turn this off, but I doubt many people will; it's a nice way of reducing texting charges.
A Reminders application lets you set reminders for yourself, which you can sync to the company's iCloud service. A new Newsstand icon is designed to bring together all of your newspapers and magazines. It's an interesting concept, but a little scattershot at this point. The New York Times app, for instance, shows up in the Newsstand, but The Wall Street Journal appears as a standard icon, instead. This could be smoother.
Other changes are relatively minor, such as the replacement of the old iPod icon with separate buttons for music and video.
Not getting much attention, but likely to be a big deal, are a number of new features aimed at making it easier for enterprises to manage the devices. Mobile device management has gotten much more consideration over the past year, and this is an area where Apple has a clear lead over all its competitors, barring BlackBerry. It still doesn't have all the security features many IT departments would like, but it's moving in the right direction.
One of the biggest changes is the iCloud service, which lets you update your phone and sync data wirelessly using Apple's new iCloud service. In practice, I found this to be very easy to use, in part because it's so well integrated within the rest of the phone. Music, contacts (except those from Exchange), and even application data seemed to move back and forth among iOS 5 devices rather seamlessly. You'll probably want to adjust which data you sync, unless you want to buy more than the 5GB of storage that comes for free, as photos can take up a lot of space.
One of the more noticeable changes is the camera, which is simply better. The application adds a couple of new features, but what impressed me the most was the improved picture quality over the earlier iPhone 4, even with the upgraded software. While it doesn't have all the features of point-and-shoot cameras (such as optical zoom), the photos I have taken are surprisingly good. More often than not, I find myself leaving a digital camera at home unless I have a specific need.
As for the faster processor, I have to say I hardly notice it. There are a few applications that gain new features on the A5, such as Vidyo being able to support more video streams, and I expect we'll see more high-end games that can really use it as well. For the most part though, it's invisible.
On the downside, I did notice some battery life issues when I originally got the phone. I fiddled some with location settings—turning the GPS off for some applications, for instance—to try to improve it. For me, these issues disappeared with the 5.0.1 software update, though others have still reported problems.
Which brings me to Siri, the iPhone 4S's signature feature. (An earlier version was available for iPhones but is no longer around.)
Siri is an impressive glimpse into the future of software and an occasionally useful convenience feature. It combines voice recognition, context awareness, and Internet connections and information sources. You hold down the single button on the phone and say something into the phone. The software and services then tries to decipher what you said, put it in context, and do the right thing. For instance, you can say, "call Michael," and it will bring up a list of all the Michaels in your contacts list. You can then narrow it down and place the call. You can also use it to search the Web, set a reminder, or create a calendar item.
I find it useful for things like weather reports. Assuming the Internet connection is good, I get a nice reasonable answer. Too often, though, I find myself waiting on a flaky Internet connection, that Siri does not understand me, or that it understands me properly but still gives me an inexplicable result. For instance, if I say, "play some Springsteen," it recognizes it properly, then plays my "Spring 11" playlist rather than Bruce Springsteen.
In short, it's fun but often comes across as just an amusing parlor trick. For some tips as to how to better use it, see this story.
As I said, there are phones with more advanced hardware features and some interesting software alternatives either out already (Windows Phone 7.5), coming very soon (Android 4.0) or due out next year (RIM's BlackBerry BBX). BlackBerry continues to have more enterprise features and Android continues to be more open, with lots more hardware choices. But for now, at least, what makes the iPhone special is the way it all works together.
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