iPHONE 4S SHIPS WITH SIRI RELATED SECURITY THREAT

The popular virtual assistant feature on the iPhone 4S that allows users to schedule appointments, search the web, check the weather and more, may be a security threat to users who want to keep private information away from prying eyes — and ears. CNET discovered that Siri’s default security setting allows users to access the iPhone 4S feature even when the phone is locked. That means if you leave your iPhone in a cab, for example, a thief could easily access your address book, appointments and other personal information. Thankfully, there is an easy way to turn the setting off. Simply visit Settings and click General, then click Passcode Lock and toggle the option for “Allow access to Siri when locked with a passcode” to Off. The iPhone 4S will now require the the phone to be unlocked before it allows access to Siri.

iPHONE 4S SIRI HAS PLENTY TO SAY

With the launch of the iPhone 4S and its personal assistant Siri people have been asking a lot of weird things of her. ThisIsMyNext has compiled a list of questions and answers from Siri. From "Open the pod bay doors", to whic Siri responds "I'm sorry Joshua, I'm afraid I can't do that" to a user asking "What is the meaning of life", Siri answers "42" of course. Hit the link above or here to see the rest.

iPHONE 4S PRE-SALES HIT ONE MILLION IN ONE DAY

Overwhelming demand for Apple’s new iPhone 4S during the first weekend of preorders has sent unit sales for the device skyrocketing. Apple sold more than one million in the first 24 hours the handset was on sale — a new record, according to a statement released by the company. Indeed, AT&T received more than 200,000 requests for the iPhone 4S in the first 12 hours of availability for preorder on Friday, surpassing even record demand for the iPhone 4 last year.

Though the iPhone 4S officially goes on sale on Oct. 14, shipping times on Apple’s Web site have already shifted to “one to two weeks,” or as late as Oct. 23.

SPRINT CONFIRMS UNLIMITED DATA PLANS FOR iPHONE 4S

A Sprint spokesperson has confirmed that the newly announced iPhone 4S will be eligible for the carrier's unlimited data plan. According to Sprint, pricing will start at $69.99 for unlimited data and 450 talk minutes, with the Simply Everything unlimited calling and data running you $99.99. At the very least, the company's confirmation that the plan is sticking around will help the third US carrier to nab the iPhone stand out among its predecessors.

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.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 DELAYED UNTIL END OF YEAR OR NEXT YEAR DUE TO OVERHEATING PROCESSOR; NEW iPHONE STILL COMING IN FALL

Apple may have delayed the iPhone 5 launch until next year due to an overheating dual-core A5 chip, a new report from Sohu.com [translated] suggests. Rumor has it (and it’s purely a rumor right now) that Apple will instead launch the iPhone 5 later this year or early next when the A6 chip is available — or after it figures out the A5 overheating problems. Sohu.com also said Apple will instead introduce a slightly upgraded “iPhone 4S” device, with the same form factor as the iPhone 4, in September or October. The device is expected to feature an 8-megapixel camera, and it will also sport a faster dual-core processor, two specs that are on a par with earlier reports. With all the recent chatter surrounding a more significant iPhone update due later this year, it’s likely that Sohu.com is working with old intel in this instance.

RUMOR: iPHONE 4S TO HAVE CURVED GLASS SCREEN

DigiTimes has been canvassing its manufacturing industry sources again, and today it's managed to extract some intel regarding Apple's typically secretive supply chain. Steve Jobs' team are said to have purchased between 200 and 300 glass-cutting machines, specifically in order to use them to slice up curved glass display covers for the iPhone 4S. This move has apparently been in an effort to accelerate production, with glass makers reportedly showing a reluctance to buy the machinery themselves due to its prohibitive cost.

Lest you think this sense of urgency might accelerate the iPhone 4S from its earlier-rumored September launch, DigiTimes also reports that yields of curved glass are not yet good enough to start using said fancy machines. So the iPhone may be headed for the same curvacious look as we've already seen on Dell's Venue and HTC's Sensation, but as it is Apple's wont, it looks like that will be done with a tailor-made, custom solution. At least those Cupertino designers have a couple of generations of curved iPod nano screens under their belt, giving them a good idea of how to handle the atypical glass frontage.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 TO BE NAMED iPHONE 4S; COMPATIBLE WITH SPRINT AND T-MOBILE

In a note to investors on Friday, Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek claimed knowledge of Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone. While most are now in agreement that Apple will not unveil its new iPhone until September this year at the earliest, thereby breaking its annual summer release cycle for the first time, the feature set coming in Apple’s next iPhone remains a topic of debate.

Misek’s channel checks found that the next iPhone will be called the “iPhone 4S,” and it will feature minor cosmetic updates, Apple’s A5 processor, better cameras and HSPA+ support. More interestingly, perhaps, Misek claims that the next-gen iPhone will be picked up by both Sprint and T-Mobile. Of course we already knew Apple was testing an iPhone compatible with T-Mobile’s network, but Misek’s note is the first confident claim that the device will launch on T-Mobile since our exclusive report.

Regarding 4G LTE compatibility, Misek says the Qualcomm LTE chip Apple would use in a 4G model is not available in the quantities Apple would need for the huge production volumes that are expected. This claim jibes with earlier reports that Apple’s iPhone is not likely to support LTE until next year at the earliest.