APPLE iOS EVENT ROUNDUP

Apple held a hotly anticipated event today for their new version of iOS and device lineup. Unfortunately, the highly expected and rumored iPhone 5 was not announced.

To start our roundup of the event off we have iOS itself. Apple’s iOS 5 will be released on October 12th for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2 and the last two iPod touch generations. We’re expecting the Gold Master to be released for developers later today. Apple’s free iOS 5 software update brings over 200 new features to the platform including some big ones like redone notifications, iMessage, built-in Twitter integration, Newsstand and more.

Tim Cook then announced the "new" iPhone would be the 4S. This was expected to be the lower end iPhone with the iPhone 5 being the high end model. It turns out the iPhone 4S will be the only new model. The 4S has the same look as the existing model, however the internals have been vastly improved. To start with the chip has been upgraded to the A5, which is the same as the current iPad. Apple has also redesigned the antenna system which will "“intelligently switch between two antennas” giving users better call quality. A new 8 megapixel camera and the ability to shoot 1080p HD video are also new. Apple has including the ability to use AirPlay Mirroring right on the iPhone 4S in addition to the iPad 2, which already supports this feature.

The iPhone 4S will have a new voice feature named "Siri". The feature enables you to interact with your device much as you would with a human assistant; you can speak to your phone naturally and it will perform as a personal assistant. Apple demonstrated different voice tasks during its press conference on Tuesday, such as asking what the weather is like today, or do I need a raincoat today? More voice tasks? Wake me up at 6AM tomorrow and Siri will set your phone alarm. What’s the time in Paris? How’s the stock market doing today? Find me an italian restaurant in New York? Give me directions to a location? Siri will even read your text and email messages to you.

Additional announcements included the iPod Touch will now be available in white and the iPod nano gets a new multi-touch screen, with pricing at $129 for the nano.