A day before the October 14 launch, people were already lining up outside stores for Apple's iPhone 4S. What’s all the fuss about?

The iPhone 4S features upgraded internal processors and clocks a download speed twice as fast as the iPhone 4. The phone also has a better and faster camera, dual-core graphics, a new alternating antenna system for better sound quality and reception, and best of all, a state-of-the-art personal assistant called Siri, which helps the user create and send texts and e-mails, set up meetings and reminders, get directions, call friends, and play music.

Published on Friday, the Optus ‘Smartphone Study’ highlighted that desire for the Apple iPhone 4S in regional Australia is high. Over a third (34 percent) of regional residents cite the Apple iPhone as the brand of smartphone they would most like to own.

The ‘Smartphone Study’ also indicates that the popularity of smartphones is on the rise within regional Australia. About 50 percent of regional residents surveyed now own a smartphone, closing the gap on surveyed capital city residents at 63 percent. A further 17 percent of regional residents are planning to upgrade to a smartphone in the next twelve months.

The ‘Smartphone Study’ also indicated that regional Australia is regularly making use of a broad range of smartphone features and applications.

The four most popular things surveyed regional Australians love to do on their smartphones include taking photographs and video footage (87 percent), browsing the Internet (76 percent), checking the weather (70 percent) and sending and reading emails (69 percent).

The integral role of mobile phones in our lives is also well proven, with 41 percent of surveyed regional residents claiming that they couldn’t live without their smartphone.