The iPhone 5 News Blog

Apple’s new Siri voice assistant uses LSI and AI technologies, making it more like Google Search and less like a simple app.

If you’ve already invested in the new iPhone 4S, chances are you’re most excited about its top gadget: Siri. To be sure, Apple has touted Siri above all of the other new features on the iPhone 4S, including a much-enhanced camera array, as well as a bevy of improved hardware features that Apple has chosen to downplay into order to highlight the software side of its latest iPhone iteration. There’s no doubt that those early images of the guy jogging with his iPhone and having Siri shuffle his appointments is something right out of depictions of the future.

Of course, there is plenty that Siri cannot do, and it hasn’t taken long for the wise guys of the tech media to point them out. Fortunately for Siri, it cannot have its feelings hurt or intelligence insulted.

Yet.

In spite of its limitations, Siri is proving to be much more than simple voice recognition software. It does exhibit an intelligence; a flexibility to understand connotation and meaning that up until this point has been non-existent in the consumer end of voice recognition (who knows what the military may have). And the way that Apple is achieving this is not via a simple app, but rather through similar technologies used by Google’s own search algorithms.

As a result, I think that, with Siri, Apple just got into the search business and will be looking to go head to head against Google Search in the decades to come.

Tom’s Hardware has a comprehensive article on all of the new hardware upgrades for the iPhone 4S (thanks to Core2 for sending it to me). You’ll be surprised to see how much hardware is actually improved, from the battery to the screen, camera, video and beyond. But what I found most interesting was their in-depth look into how Siri works. I was shocked at how similar it is to Google Search.

Writer Andrew Ku explains: “. . . we should clarify that Siri isn’t just an app. Provided you’re asking questions and not giving commands, Siri is a service that interfaces with Apple’s servers to find a response. As such, the ‘intelligence’ behind Siri may change over time as the company optimizes its code.” In other words, just as Google regularly tweaks its algorithm — this year, they have rolled out several “Panda” updates in order to provide better search results to users — so too will Apple update its own search algorithms to make Siri more intuitive when you ask it something.

Ku goes on to explain that, like Google, Siri is all about processing keywords and keyword phrases: “Whenever you ask a question, Siri checks to see if it contains a keyword. This list of keywords only takes precedence over general syntax rules when Siri doesn’t recognize the string of words as a question. A given keyword sets off a function like looking up the weather. So far, we’ve worked out that this list includes: clothing, weather, food, restaurants, hospital, and clinic.” Granted, that is still a limited list, but in fact, those six categories are key search terms for mobile users, and will provide Apple with a basis for greatly expanding its search results capabilities in the very near future.

Where Siri still lags behind Google is in extrapolating sentence syntax and structure. Whereas Google Search has the ability to adjust to various syntax typed into the search box, Siri is still somewhat rigid in how you have to talk to it in order to get sensible results. Ku explains: “Syntax matters a lot. I’ve spent the better part of a day experimenting, and Siri definitely prefers the English standard of subject/verb/object, as opposed to object/subject/verb or object/verb/subject. Basically, don’t talk like Yoda. Questions, commands, or statements that contain extra or unessential words confuse Siri.”

But this shouldn’t be seen as an oversight or clumsy limitation overlooked by the Apple developers. In fact, it is a result of a much more sophisticated process that Apple is using to fetch search results with Siri: whereas Google Search benefits from you inputting the search keywords and criteria, Siri appears to be more of a two-step process, where the front end processes whether or not the voice request is a command or request, and then routes that request either to a proprietary response mechanism or to a search algorithm.

Where Is Apple Getting Its Search Results From?

I have no doubt that Apple intends Siri to become a search standard for the tech mobile community. They will be sure to keep it proprietary and heavily patented, and go after Google as soon as they try to improve their own voice recognition to mirror what Siri is already doing. As a result, I think that Apple has just gotten into the search business without actually saying that they’ve gotten into it. While many people would have expected Apple to develop an internet-based search engine like Google or Yahoo, instead, they have essentially hidden their search engine behind Siri.

Or, maybe we can simply assume that Siri is a search engine.

But I will end this article with a question: where is Siri getting its search results from? Apple has not to my knowledge admitted to building a Google, Yahoo, or Bing-like search engine, and yet Siri behaves like a search engine when it provides keyword-based results. We know that they are not tapping directly into google, since google would have already let us know about that if it were the case. The only assumption left is that Apple has its own search engine behind the scenes.

So, Apple: when we will hear a bit more about it?

By Michael Nace

HardMac’s Lionel notes that with the launch of the original iPhone, Apple was able to surprise the entire phone industry and corner an incredible market share in just a few years. However, he observes that many are suggesting that the relatively unambitious iPhone 4S upgrade marks the end of hardware innovation on the iPhone (although he recalls that the same was said after the iPhone 3GS launch). Apple obviously didn’t try to revolutionize the device by changing its form factor radically, concentrating instead on internal upgrades including the new dual-core A5 chip — a substantial enhancement from the single-core A4 used in iPhone 4, the new 8 megapixel camera with improved lens optics and 1080p video recording resolution, — up from the iPhone 4′s 720p — and the improved “World Phone” dual antennae.

However, Lionel thinks, the feature that will contribute most to the iPhone 4S’s success is Siri, the new personal assistant, which is not hardware-based but rather run from Apple’s servers, which he perceives to be the core dynamic of Apple’s new marketing strategy, adding services to the hardware equipment to add an extra value to the device, which also applies to iCloud, iTunes match and probably other services to be unveiled in the future.

NeoWin’s Brad also predicts that also predicts that Siri represents the future for Apple, with the iPhone 4S rollout only the start of a grand plan, not just for smartphones and touchscreen slates, but also desktop and laptop computers. Sams predicts that Apple will kill the keyboard and mouse for most tasks on all of these devices, replacing them with voice control input, and suggests that this transition is happening faster than you might think, having been underway since the day the iPad was released early last year.

Sams observes that OS X 10.7 Lion’s application launcher imports the familiar iOS icon-based layout to OS X, while its App Stores are creating a unified platform that can go anywhere and do anything, so as long as Apple says its OK, predicting that in the not so distant future direct application downloads to OS X will be gone and replaced with an iOS-style App Store-only environment

Not of course that Apple wants you to stop upgrading your Apple hardware. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Adam Turner notes, that Apple has made iCloud is an all or nothing proposition, leaving users choosing to hold off installing OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS5 out in the cold, not to mention users of older Apple hardware who would upgrade to Lion and iOS 5 if they could, but are blocked. The iOS5 upgrade doesn’t support the iPhone 2G or 3G, is reportedly not an entirely happy upgrade for 3GS iPhones, and you can’t upgrade to Lion if you’re running a pre-Intel Mac, or even some of the earliest Intel Macs.

Turner suggests that crunch time has arrived for iUsers, to wit: either be prepared hand your digital life over to iCloud or turn your back on Apple and look for other ways to sync your data – Google being an obvious choice for those looking for device-agnostic cloud services. He says that even if he was prepared to jump through Apple’s hoops this time, who’s to say he wouldn’t get burned again the next time Apple feels like introducing a new service and killing off an old one, concluding that “its time to cut the cord,” bridling at Apple’s habit of forcing users to play by its rules, and refusing to lock himself into Apple’s iWay of doing things.

And one of those things will likely be less emphasis on hardware innovation and form factor change. It’s arguable that Apple wanted to give Siri a trial run as a beta in the iPhone 4S in order to be able to offer it as a final, stable release in the iPhone 5, and have iCloud sorted out as well. Consequently, I’m still pretty confident there’ll be an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 sometime in 2012 with a quad-core A6 CPU. The question is whether Apple will accede to demand for a form factor overhaul, with a larger display and a curved back. Not everyone is displeased that Apple chose to stick with the 3.5″ Retina display with iPhone 4S, with proponents of the latter arguing that the 4″ displays in some Android smartphones makes them uncomfortable to hold and less conveniently pocketable.

Last week in a research note cited by CNET’s Brooke Crothers, Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar predicts that the next-generation iPhone will be a complete redesign, with a slimmer profile and larger screen size but with the same dimensions as the iPhone 4S, so the screen will presumably be configured to utilize more of the phone’s front surface area rather than being radically larger. Kumar also suggests that the next iPhone is also expected to have LTE/4G support, and debut around the time of Apple’s Developer’s Conference in the summer of 2012.

Rumors have long suggested that the iPhone 5 will a new form factor, with design concepts ranging from an ergonomically curved display to a sleek teardrop shape. Should Apple adopt one of these design concepts for the iPhone 5, what will its purpose be for the consumer?

When it comes to dreaming about the new form factor for the iPhone 5, there are two sides to that dream: the front and the back. The front of the iPhone 5 is all about a larger screen, and maybe even an edge-to-edge screen, smart bezel, or some other new design concept that would enhance the mobile computing experience. But it is on the rear face of the fabled iPhone 5 that everyone hopes for a new shape.

While many have attempted to create renderings and mock-ups of how the iPhone 5 could look, most of the concepts center on two prevailing rumored shapes: teardrop and curved. The reason why these shape concepts exist is that top rumor sites claimed that Apple was indeed working on chassis (plural) for the iPhone 5 in these shapes. You’ll recall how Digitimes broke the story of Apple investing in 200 to 300 glass cutting machines for the purposes of crafting curved glass displays for an iPhone 5 design that would be similar in shape to the convex Nexus S.

There’s no doubt that a new shape to the iPhone 5 will breathe some renewed excitement into the iPhone franchise, since the iPhone 4 form factor will have been the form factor standard for about 2+ years by the time the new iPhone is released. But aside from the aesthetic shift, what do the curved and teardrop designs do to improve the iPhone 5, if at all?

Curved iPhone 5: Ergonomic

The prevailing logic behind a curved glass, curved body iPhone 5 is ergonomics. First championed by the Nexus S, the idea is that the chassis of the phone wraps around your face slightly, providing for a more comfortable telephonic experience. It remains to be seen, however, how much of a real benefit this feature is to the user. Much like the rise of 3D screens on smartphones, the rationale for an ergonomic, curved glass design has obviously not proven to be valuable enough to see mainstream adoption across the wide range of smartphones on the market today. Yes, a few others have followed suit, but by and large, consumers have not flocked to this sort of design; the iPhone 4/4S, for example, is flat as a board and continues to outsell other smartphones pound for pound.

The other factor to consider with a curved iPhone 5 design is that, if the back is also curved, the phone won’t sit flush on a flat surface. Given the amount of time that smartphones spend docked on a desk or table for charging, users may not appreciate the wobbly effect of a curved back to match the pitch of the curved front.

The "wobble" factor on this teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 would be high.

The Teardrop iPhone 5: I’m Bored to It

Even more unsubstantiated is the proposed “teardrop” iPhone 5 design, which has also made it rounds throughout the iPhone 5 rumor mill. The teardrop design, after all, was the groundbreaking new form factor that shamed iPhone case companies like Case-Mate, Hard Candy, and all of those shyster el cheap-o Chinese case manufacturers bet the farm on with their premature iPhone case ejaculations.

I have scoured the Internet in search of any article, analysis, or other piece of content that explains the purpose of a teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 above and beyond “it looks way cool.” Some renderings of the teardrop design actually show it to be a curved back but flat front. If Apple were to adopt this preposterous design, the iPhone 5 user would end up getting the worst of both worlds: they get a flat front that doesn’t curve with their face, and a wobbly back.

Still others feature a flat back that slopes downward, so that the top of the phone is rounded and thicker than the bottom — a more realistic “teardrop” design as well. In this way, the iPhone 5 wouldn’t wobble when flat, but what kind of benefit could it have to the user? The shape, after all, would seemingly throw iPhone case designers for a loop, since the case would have to be meticulously crafted to stay tightly fastened to the chassis.

The only possible functional purpose for a teardrop design would be if Apple chooses to feature a pico projector. Some have speculated on a tiny projector that could effectively project presentations, videos, photos, and anything else up onto a wall or screen from the top and/or bottom of the phone while sitting on a flat surface. A slanted, pitched screen as a result of the teardrop back could put the touch screen at a better angle for viewing in tandem with the projection.

Another idea I’ve seen related to the pico projector is to make it holographic, allowing the user to project a large virtual keyboard onto any flat surface and type on it. This kind of innovation would substantiate the pitched screen even moreso.

But truth be told, features like these are pipe dreams for right now.

In the end, my guess is that Apple likes the general concept behind the iPhone 4/4S’s form factor. They’re sticking with it. I remain unconvinced that Apple will necessarily feature an asymmetrical curved design just for the sake of aesthetics. they will have to consider functionality as well. But even if the iPhone remains flat, that doesn’t mean that Apple won’t somehow make it cooler.

By Michael Nace

Wall Street is frowning on an earnings report from Apple today that shows they failed to meet analysts’ iPhone sales predictions for Q3 2011. The long, painful wait for the iPhone 5 certainly played a role.

Apple is dealing with a rare loss on Wall Street today after reports indicate they fell short of analysts’ expectations that Cupertino would sell at least 20 million iPhone units in the third quarter of 2011. According to WSJ.com, “Apple said Tuesday it sold more than 17 million iPhones in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 24, up from more than 14 million a year ago but lower than the 20 million or more that analysts had been expecting.” The news comes as a surprise in the midst of a virtual sales boom for the iPhone 4S, which saw over 4 million sales in the first weekend of its release alone.

In spite of Wall Street’s audacious expectations for iPhone sales in Q3, the third quarter can be a daunting sales quarter for businesses in the northern hemisphere who have to contend with Summertime vacationers who are typically less apt to spend their disposable income on luxury goods like the iPhone. But Apple CEO Tim Cook, “speaking on a conference call, said iPhone sales slowed toward the end of the quarter amid speculation over the debut of a new model.”

Mr. Cook’s recognition that missing iPhone sales estimates may have been a result over iPhone 5 speculation underscores the belief that Apple failed to properly manage expectations for the new iPhone, particularly considering that the release of the iPhone 4S came almost four months later than most analysts and consumers had expected, and failed to deliver the larger screen and form factor overhaul that was anticipated for the now fabled “iPhone 5.”

In spite of Apple’s underperformance, current sales of the iPhone 4S indicate that it will easily surpass all over sales benchmarks established by previous iPhone iterations. On his conference call, Mr. Cook was”very confident that we will set an all-time record in the December quarter for iPhone sales.” In addition to these positive sales forecasts, Apple also has the opportunity to brand its 2012 iPhone release as the “iPhone 5,” thus cashing in on the unprecedented buzz that still surrounds this still-rumored but much-anticipated smartphone.

By Michael Nace

Here’s a potpourri of iPhone-related items crossing my desk today that I thought would merit passing along to iPhone 5 News Blog readers, offered as purely informational. This site has no commercial relationship or conflict of interest with any of the firms cited.

iPhone and iPad Users Can Get 50 GB Cloud Storage Free From Box.net

Finding Apple’s iCloud buggy? Or perhaps like me you don’t have OS X 10.7 Lion installed on your Mac so you’re blocked from using iCloud to sync. documents between your iOS devices and your Mac? There’s more than one way to enter the Cloud.

Box.net’s Social Media Manager Mark Saldana blogs that as evidenced by the overwhelming crowds during past iPhone and iPad launches, it’s clear that our lives more and more revolve around mobile computing.

In recognition of that, Box.net have announced they’re giving away 50 GB of free storage to anyone who uses a Box personal account on an iOS device. That would be 50 GB in the cloud completely free, forever, and not to only your mobile device — you can access it anywhere with Internet access that you can use your Box account, such as on your laptop or office desktop computer.

This promotion started last weekend and runs for only 50 days. Keep in mind that you’ll need to download or update to the newest Box for iPhone and iPad app, version 2.4.3, then log into Box in order to get your 50 GB. Your account will also have an increased file size upload limit of 100MB instead of the usual 25MB.

Saldana notes that Box has also updated their app with a few features that’ll make your free 50 GB even more powerful, such as using AirPlay, you can now wirelessly stream Box content to an Apple TV for projection of photos, videos, presentations and more.

I decided that for me to take advantage of this offer it was a no-brainer. I’m still running Snow Leopard on my Mac, and have no plans to upgrade to Lion in the near-term future, so iCloud is presently terra incognita to my Mac, and consequently I haven’t bothered to activate an iCloud account in iOS 5. Fifty GB is ten times the amount of storage Apple gives you for free with iCloud. Downloading the Box.net app. and creating an account took about three minutes. I also use Dropbox for synchronizing work-in-progress files among devices, but it only gives me 2 GB of free capacity, so this Box.net offer is looking very attractive in the early going at least.

For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/qHw1PP

BareFeats’ rob-ART morgan notes that Apple is claiming the iPhone 4S’a A5 dual-core CPU is “up to two times faster” than the iPhone 4, with its GPU is claimed to be “up to seven times faster.”

Morgan used four benchmark apps to measure CPU and GPU power on both iPhones plus both iPads, and shares what he observed, noting that while Apple’s claims are a bit extravagant, the the iPhone 4S is definitely faster than the iPhone 4. Geekbench’s overall benchmark were scores 63% to 68% faster rather than twice as fast in processor speed and in the graphics column, 4.7 to 6.2 times faster than an iPhone 4 running GLBenchmark’s “Egypt High” — also not shabby, but not seven times faster. Morgan also measured improved performance for Javascript and OpenGL based apps, and concludes that while it would have been nice to have LTE 4G support, overall he’s very pleased with the new iPhone 4S.

For the full report visit here:
http://barefeats.com/iph4s01.html

Orange Public Relations’ Ashley Halberstadt tells me that Boston-based NextWorth (http://www.NextWorth.com) is now guaranteeing $200 for iPhone 4 trade-ins through next Monday, October 24th. Currently, the estimated wait time for a new iPhone 4S is one to two weeks, so consumers trading in a 16GB or 32GB iPhone 4 with NextWorth can lock in a $200 value now, and all quotes are valid for 21 days — leaving time to receive your new iPhone 4S before sending your old one in to NextWorth.

The offer is good for all 16GB and 32GB AT&T iPhone 4 models traded in through NextWorth.com. To qualify, phones must be in good working condition with no heavy scratches or cracks (that would be “good” condition, as opposed to “flawless” or “like new”).

Also make sure to check with your carrier to see if you’re eligible for an upgrade. Some may be able to upgrade from iPhone 4 to 4S for essentially free if the cost of upgrading to an iPhone 4S is $199, since that’s lower than the guaranteed trade-in value for an iPhone 4.

Trading in this week from NextWorth.com locks in the $200 value for 21 days, giving people time to receive their new phone before sending in the old phone.
To qualify for the $200 guarantee, the 16GB or 32GB iPhone 4 must be in good working condition with no heavy scratches or cracks. Well-used iPhones are encouraged for trade-in but NextWorth doesn’t expect phones to be flawless when they receive them, and removed the “like new” category earlier this year because only 0.5% of all iPhone trades they received met those standards.

To get started, go to http://www.nextworth.com, select the appropriate iPhone 4 and answer a few questions about its condition. NextWorth offers free, fully-insured UPS shipping service to online customers, and the choice of cash or a gift card for trade ins.

Speaking of trading up to the iPhone 4S, if you’re planning an online purchase, a new independent study by STELLAService reports that after an extensive evaluation of all online retailers who sell iPhones, as well as an in-depth look into the policies and customer service phone support of authorized online stores that sell the iPhone (BestBuy.com, VerizonWireless.com, ATT.com, and Sprint.com), an study has concluded that Apple.com offers by far the most consumer-friendly services and policies, including superior customer service phone support (which was measured and rated by mystery shoppers) and an expansive AppleCare+ warranty program.

Drawbacks at other online resellers include in-store pick-up only, expensive and limited warranty programs, and cumbersome return policies.

Consequently, for consumers seeking to avoid lineups by purchasing the iPhone 4S online, a STELLAService finds no reason to look at buying from the Web’s other four iPhone 4S sellers, and rates Apple.com as the hands-down best choice over the four other online resellers.

“Apple.com outperformed its reseller partners hands down when it comes to customer service, and we found no reason that consumers should look anywhere else, says STELLAService co-founder and CEO Jordy Leiser. “With pricing for the iPhone 4S uniform across all online sellers, the overall quality of customer service should be the deciding factor in choosing where to buy the iPhone 4S online.”

In addition to evaluating Web resellers’ key policies and features, such as return and warranty policies, STELLAService rated the quality of customer service phone support based on factors such as product knowledge, issue resolution, and overall tone and attitude of the customer support representatives, by placing ten phone calls to each retailer and asking ten questions — from how to buy insurance to how to change a pass code lock.

Apple.coms representatives earned the highest score overall (4 out of 5), significantly outpacing others when it came to their ability to address questions (4.4 for Apple vs. 3.6 for AT&T and Verizon). STELLAService said the average customer service quality score for consumer electronics retailers was 3.7. Apple.com’s AppleCare+ warranty program was rated by far the most cost-effective. Even though it does not cover loss and theft, the monthly fees and deductions for BestBuy’s Geek Squad and AT&Ts and Verizon’s Asurion warranties come close to the cost of buying a completely a new iPhone.

Leiser says STELLAService conducted the study to provide consumers with clear guidance in light of unclear policies, misinformation, rumors, and scams relating to online retailers selling Apple products, and points out that Apple.com, which provides a list of authorized online resellers for its popular products, such as the iPod and iPad, does not provide a list of authorized online sellers for the iPhone.

Another point, while BestBuy.com allows customers to purchase the iPhone 4S online, it does not offer shipping and delivery. As of the days leading up to the iPhone 4S release, customers could only pick-up the product in stores.

Apple.com and BestBuy.com offer the most generous return window for a refund (30 days) versus 14 days for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Apple.com and BestBuy.com also don’t charge customers for returning an iPhone 4S, while AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon each have a $35 restocking fee. AT&T is only online seller that does not allow customers to trade-in old phones by mail. AT&T customers can only trade-in phones in-store.

Over the past decade or so, I’ve made most of my Apple hardware purchases online from Apple.com, and have been unreservedly pleased with the service. No complaints. However, I did buy my iPad 2 last spring from my nearest Apple authorized reseller in the interest of supporting local business.

[Publisher's Note: This is not a paid post, and the iPhone 5 News Blog received no remuneration from any of the companies mentioned in this post for writing about their products and services. It is simply a collection of iPhone-related deals that Charles found interesting.] 

In his MondayNote blog, Jean-Louis Gassée, former head of Apple France, later appointed to Steve Jobs’s former position as head of Macintosh development by Apple CEO John Sculley after Sculley fired Jobs in 1985, observes that what many of us had expected was for Apple to introduce the iPhone 5 on October 4 with twice the processor speed; seven times the graphics oomph; a new camera with an Apple-designed lens, 8 megapixels and improved image processing; the power of the new iOS 5; iCloud, upon which the “kommentariat” would gush approvingly approvingly.

What actually happened, Gassée observes, is that we did get that very phone just described, but Apple called it 4S instead of 5. “This changes everything,” he notes. “The pundits are indignant: The iPhone 4S is a lame, evolutionary product; management’s presentation… is flat, uninspiring. This dog won’t sell. Apple has lost its mojo,” reports that 45 percent of current current iPhone users were vowing not to buy iPhone 4S and to hold out for a “real” iPhone 5, yada, yada, yada.

Well, so much for those pundits. Apple today announced it sold more than four million iPhone 4S’s in the span of just three days after the new phone’s launch Friday — the most ever for an Apple phone model and more than double the rate sold at the iPhone 4′s launch during its first three days,” says Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller. In addition, more than 25 million customers upgraded to iOS 5 in the first five days following its release, and more than 20 million have signed up for iCloud. So which dog would that be that’s not selling?

Jean-Louis Gassée, who was himself responsible for development of several Macintosh products in the late 80s including the 1989 Macintosh Portable (ancestor of MacBooks) and the “wicked fast” Macintosh IIfx, observes that the obsessiveness with which Apple jealously guards its unreleased product secrets serves to trigger an escalade of fantasies among what he calls “inquisitive barbarians,” noting that for months certain regions of the blogosphere had become a gigantic echo chamber for iPhone 5 rumors ranging from the bizarre (a new teardrop design) to saner predictions such as adoption of the iPad 2′s A5 processor and a better camera. He contends that while keeping everything tightly under wraps may protect revenue, preserve flexibility, and enhance the Apple mystique, the price Apple pays for totally clamming up is that they lose control of public discourse about unannounced products, leading to unreasonable expectations being formed, and as we’ve just seen, exposing the company to the perception of a letdown.

One antidote to that he thinks would be for Apple to tell one or two trusted friends, discreetly, to euthanize the more noxious rumors, although such practice must be handled very carefully since it carries with it serious potential for insider trading.

And given that the supposed “letdown” appears to have not hurt iPhone 4S sales a whit, perhaps Apple’s obsessive secrecy policies are on the right track after all. What do you think?

Today marks the official launch of the iPhone 4S. Apple stores are reporting record-breaking lines; analysts are projecting that as many as 4 million units could sell this weekend alone.

After a week of staggering pre-order sales that raked in over a million units sold in first 24 hours alone, Apple and its mobile carrier partners are officially launching the iPhone 4S today amidst an unprecedented level of consumer interest. Tech analysts are forecasting that iPhone 4S sales will top 4 million this weekend alone between Apple’s own sales and the sales of all its affiliates. The newest iteration of Apple’s flagship smartphone is now on sale in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK.

For as much as the first weekend of iPhone 4 sales in 2010 was impressive — with 1.7 million units sold — the expectation of 4 million iPhone 4S sales is almost unfathomable. Just to put it in perspective, the tech media is touting the short-term success of Amazon’s new 7-inch, $199 Kindle Fire tablet, which is expected to sell 5 million units throughout the entire fourth quarter of 2011.

Apple will easily top that number by Sunday night with iPhone 4S sales.

There are three contributing factors to the early success of the iPhone 4S. First and foremost is the success of the iPhone 4, which has exponentially outperformed every other single competing smartphone on the market today (Android smartphones as a block account for more sales, but this block includes a multiplicity of different Android models) and has enjoyed more sales than all other sales of previous iPhone iterations combined. The iPhone 4 injected the iPhone into the mainstream, paving the way for the iPhone 4S’s success.

A second factor is the addition of Sprint as a mobile carrier partner for Apple in the U.S. Sprint is the third-largest U.S. mobile network, and most of their subscribership losses over the past years have come from their lack of the iPhone in their roster of smartphones. The addition of the iPhone — a gamble for Sprint — is bound to bolster Apple’s iPhone 4S sales in the U.S.

Third, the buzz surrounding the “iPhone 5″ over the past year clearly intensified interest and excitement for the iPhone 4S. While it is true that hardcore iPhone enthusiasts were disappointed by the lack of new form factor, larger screen, and “iPhone 5″ product name, the iPhone 4S’s groundbreaking new features, such as Siri voice activation, an improved camera function, and the launch of iCloud, are slowly winning over Apple devoteés as well.

It’s worth remembering that analysts predicted that the iPhone 5 would sell anywhere between 15 and 25 units in 2011 alone, and that 35% of all consumers would eventually come to own an iPhone within a year’s time. With the Christmas season fast approaching and the excitement for the iPhone 4S continuing to build, those numbers still seem entirely realistic.

By Michael Nace

On the eve of the official launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S, which has enjoyed record pre-orders, RIM‘s technology crashes, forcing many of its business users to rethink its mobile computing strategy

Blackberry gets little attention on an Apple-oriented blog like this one, where the iPhone and its primary competitor Android takes center stage. But the recent news of RIM’s technological meltdown, with a reported half of all Blackberry users experiencing service interruptions, is worth mentioning in the context of Apple and the iPhone 4S: while Apple goes up, RIM goes down.

The RIM outages, which began in Europe, have quickly spread to North America. AP reports that “It was the biggest outage in years for BlackBerry users, and strained their relationship with an already tarnished brand. It came on the eve of the launch of a mighty competitor — a new iPhone model.” You might recall that speculation has surrounded the [unlikely] possibility of Apple someday acquiring RIM, thus giving them an instant access to mobile business users, a demographic that Cupertino has long since tried to court with its iPhone.

With the iPhone 4, however, Apple has made significant inroads into the business community, with more and more major corporations onboarding the iPhone for its employees over Android and RIM smartphone models.

Now, with this major breakdown, Blackberry may officially be on its death knell. Reports indicate that business users are abandoning their Blackberry devices en masse. In many ways, RIM’s epic fail comes at a perfect time for Apple, as frustrated blackberry fans now have the opportunity to jump into the iPhone 4S, with features like speed and Siri that would appeal to business users

Apple’s Siri Versus Thumbing on a Blackberry

Blackberry’s features have long since managed to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Android smartphones. While Blackberry users feel safe and secure with their smartphone’s blinking red light when they have e-mail or their trusty thumb-operated keyboard, the speed, agility, and versatility of the contemporary smartphone has all but passed RIM by.

And the iPhone 4S is going directly after business users my highlighting features like Siri in their marketing pitch.

Given all of these new development, it would seems apparent that Apple may no longer need to even consider buying up a brand like Blackberry in order to up its profile as a leader in mobile business computing devices. And if that’s the case, then RIM may no longer have any further purpose in the smartphone marketplace.

Back on May 8th, when the iPhone 5 News Blog ran its article entitled, “Redrawing the 4G Line: Is a “Fake” 4G Tagline Coming to the iPhone 5?” it may have seemed like little more than a facile claim at a time when the iPhone 5 was still occupying people’s’ thoughts and minds. But news stories today are reporting that AT&T, seeking to capitalize on its industry-leading HSPA+ technology — which approaches LTE standards — may want to tag their version of the iPhone 4S with a “4g” tag.

It would give them a huge marketing advantage for all of the 4G enthusiasts out there who were hoping that the new iPhone would indeed be 4G.

According to IBTimes, this is more than just a faint rumor: “According to a leaked internal memo from the Verge, AT&T has requested Apple to show “4G” near the signal indicator when the phone is on the HSPA+ network.”

It can be said that Apple has empowered some of this behavior on AT&T’s part, as the IBTimes article points out: “Previously in the “Let’s talk iPhone” media event held on October 4, Apple claimed that the new iPhone 4S would be capable of delivering 4G-like speeds because of its compatibility with HSPA+ technology.” In spite of that claim, it remains to be seen if Apple will give AT&T its blessing on branding its own iPhone 4S as a 4G smartphone: not only is the verdict still out on whether or not HSPA+ should be considered to be in line with LTE, but also Apple will have to be careful how it balances its relationship with Verizon and Sprint as well.

The iPhone 4S is already enjoying heaps of lavish praise from the tech media this week, as new speed benchmarks are revealing that the iPhone 4S is indeed over 68% faster than the iPhone 4 and leaves Android competitors in the dust when it comes to processing power. TG Daily puts it brilliantly in their article, “Apple’s iPhone 4S is screaming fast.” AT&T’s ability to compound the speed of the 4S by boasting of 4G network speeds would provide AT&T iPhone users with the fastest iPhone experience.

What remains to be seen, however, is if Apple is willing to let AT&T spoil the “4G” moniker before they roll out a truly 4G LTE iPhone in the future. We wrote in a recent article about how Sprint’s press conference may hint at the 2012 iPhone 5 as the first possible LTE iPhone. If Apple indeed plans on releasing a real 4G iPhone in the very near future, they might put the brakes on AT&T’s branding of the iPhone 4S as 4G.

Google keyword searches for “iPhone 4S,” “iPhone 5″ drop off sharply as the new iPhone and Steve Jobs’ death bring a level of sobriety to iPhone mania.

It’s awfully quiet around here these days.

And that isn’t just an anecdotal observation: traffic and buzz all around the web for the iPhone is way down after the cathartic release of the iPhone 4S and subsequent disappointments of Steve Jobs’ death on October 5th — the day that an “iPhone 5″ media event maybe would have been scheduled had Cupertino lived up to expectations of a bold overhaul of the iPhone 4.

Many who have already experienced throngs of avid iPhone users clamoring to pre-order the iPhone 4S might find the news of a sleepy iPhone 4S/5 blogosphere incongruous, but it is indeed true. Google’s own data bears this out:

As you can see in this graph, taken from Google’s own AdWords keyword research tool, the search traffic for the “iPhone 5″ keyword, which reached a fever pitch the day of the media event, took a sharp tumble once it was revealed that the new iPhone was in fact the iPhone 4S. This wouldn’t seem surprising, until you see the iPhone 4S keyword search data side by side:

The red line, which indicates the iPhone 4S keyword search traffic, rose sharply on the day of the iPhone 4S’s announcement, and still more the day after, but then sharply declined after the 5th. Since that time, both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 keyword searches have bottomed out to some degree. It would seem that Steve Jobs’ death would have something to do with this phenomenon:

The orange line is for the search term “Steve Jobs,” which, as you can see, spiked the day after his death, which actually crossed the news wires on the night of October 5th. It appears that Jobs’ death did have an effect on internet interest in the new iPhone 4S, as keyword searches for it declined at the same time that searches for “Steve Jobs” spiked.

Another possible contributing factor to the sleepy pace of iPhone interest on the web right now is a sense of disillusionment and confusion for iPhone devoteés who were expecting an iPhone 5 but feel they were stuck with an undesirable iPhone 4S. Although the iPhone 5 rumor mill is attempting to churn out rumors of a January-released iPhone 5, those reports are feeble at best. At present, it would seem that the next possible release window for the iPhone 5 to be at the 2012 WWDC in June.

Finally, the question still remains: will we be looking at an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 in 2012? If the sixth generation iPhone is numbered with a “5,” it would not be the first time that Apple ascribed the wrong number to a generational iPhone release — the iPhone 3G was in fact the second-generation iPhone. But the 3G was aptly named for being the first 3G iPhone — naming the sixth-generation iPhone “iPhone 5″ would bear little logic, with the exception of maybe not confusing consumers.

Still, it remains to be seen if the next iPhone will be given “iPhone 5″ or “iPhone 6″ as its working title. As the rumor mill continues to work that out, iPhone users remain uninspired.

By Michael Nace