iPhone 4S: Beauty is not just skin-deep

This was the title of my report on the newly announced iPhone 4S. Well, it's all the thing of the past now, as I was outvoted in terms of the message that we want to convey. I think people in general are disappointed with what Apple has announced and some people do not dare to go against public opinion.

Well I disagree.

Okay, first let's get the negative points out of the way - because there sure are some things Apple could have done better.

1. Apple made a blunder in terms of managing expectations around their launches. First they delayed the event which is normally held in June - making people think that there is something really special... like a new iPhone 5. And Apple's policy of absolute secrecy can't help to dispell the rumors of the iPhone 5.

2. Bigger screen, please? Ok, this is quite a disappointment - because if the 4S has a 4-inch screen everyone will kind of shut up. 3.5 inch is too small unfortunately, especially with all the things the iPhone can do.

Hmm.. that's pretty much it, really. Of course, I would have preferred if the 4S doesn't look exactly like the 4. Change the design a bit, and it's an entirely new phone. I mean... how is 4S to 4 any different from Galaxy S II to the Galaxy S, or Sensation to the Desire HD. They've all got new dual core processors, better camera. The latter two have better screens, I suppose, but can anyone really say the Retina Display sucks?

So really, in terms of specs that REALLY matter (and no, LTE or WiMAX do not count because 1. You need to be in the US or Norway or Sweden or Japan or Korea and 2. The data plan is a lot more expensive (I wonder if those bashers considered that before bashing the iPhone)), iPhone 4S is up there with the best. I'm not saying it's the best - obviously there are better ones. But it's competitive enough for the moment... for most people anyway.

A disclaimer... I'm not even an Apple fan/user (although I sure wish sometimes that I have an iOS device to play all those delectable iOS-only games). Read my posts and you can tell I'm pro-Android. I'm just disagreeing with all the negativity around and the bashing of iPhone 4S.

Dual-core - for me this is one of the biggest selling point of course. SOME people may not think it matters - but for gaming you gotta have a good processor and graphics processor as well. How many iPhone users play iOS games? I'm betting there are a lot. Okay, obviously there are a lot. There are loads of good and yummy-looking games on the App Store which requires significant processing power. With dual-core, you can expect the iOS games to be even better than ever, and I'm just drooling with envy.

Bye-bye PCs - Apple has made it so that with the iPhone 4S (and iOS 5) you don't need your PCs anymore (to do iPhone-related stuff, at least). You can activate it over-the-air (finally! thank goodness!) and you can edit pictures and videos on the phone itself. Nifty. With iCloud, you can store your documents in the clouds and seamlessly share it to your other iOS devices. iMessage brings uncomplicated messaging... also across iOS devices - so you can start a conversation on your iPhone, ditch it in the bedroom, and continue it on your iPad in the living room. Eat that BlackBerry and your PIN and BlackBerry ID system.

To be fair, a lot of the features were already available via Apps - but new users will definitely welcome the simplicity of it all.

As for Siri, I can see that it has potential. But I can't say too much without seeing it used in real-life. But from what I've seen, it looks awesome. And Apple has made the interaction more natural and conversational so that even if you are Siri-ing on the bus, people will just think you are talking to someone on the phone. At least, that's what I hope. I do wonder though, how accurate Siri will be for people with ermm... accents? Texas accent, British accent, Scottish accent, Irish accent, Australian accent, European-English accent (well the French and German can use their local language), Japanese-English accent, Korean-English accent, Chinese-English accent... Tee-hee.

In conclusion, I do not think the iPhone 4S is revolutionary in any way - no. But it will be a good upgrade for iPhone 4 users looking for that extra oomph, or iPhone 3GS users looking to upgrade, or for Sprint users.

And what I thought was one of the best announcement, was the price cut of iPhones 4 and 3GS. It might be cheap enough to tackle that lower-end to mid-end consumer segment, which Apple just can't do much at. And no one argue that these are old phones and wouldn't be attractive since they are perfectly good phones and will be attractive for new smart phone users.

I guess Apple is so harshly judged because it is Apple - and people just hold Apple to a different standard. Which is probably fair... because it is Apple. But what I'm irked about is that people forget that Apple is not a product-oriented company. People only look at the raw specs and design and do not see what is beneath. Apple is a consumer-oriented company (for marketing students, think of 4Ps of marketing versus 4Cs). And in terms of pleasing the consumers, making the products as easy as can be to use, Apple wins hands down. And no amount of comparison table can put a value to that.