Apple Inc. finally unveiled on Tuesday a new iPhone in its Cupertino, Calif. headquarters. It's not the iPhone 5; it's just a new iPhone that is not aesthetically different from Apple's best selling smartphone, the iPhone 4, although it's faster.

What would have been an opportunity for new Tim Cook to stride out of Steve Jobs' shadow ended with analysts shaking their heads, some consumers disappointed, and shareholders selling the stock at a loss. Given that the new products launched were developed during Jobs' helm and the hype for a new iPhone, the Oct. 4 event was pre-written as a photo op for Cook in touting another magical, record breaking device from Apple. But after an Apple executive instead touted an upgrade of the iPhone 4, pre-written praises for Cook's debut were quickly scrapped.

"Don't be deceived because inside it is all new", Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, explains, downplaying the similarity of the new iPhone with the iPhone 4.

The new phone, called iPhone 4S, features, among others, a faster processor and an 8 megapixel camera. The A5 chip in the iPhone 4S will be seven times faster than the processor in the previous model. The new camera has 60 percent more pixels than the iPhone 4's camera, and is capable of capturing video in 1080p HD, an improvement from the current 720p. It's also a "world phone," working on both CDMA and GSM connections. The new phone can switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, for faster downloading and better call quality.

What could be the face-saver of the new iPhone is the built-in digital assistant, called Siri. "What we really want to do is talk to our device. Siri is your intelligent assistant and helps you get things done, just by asking," says Schiller.

Siri takes voice commands and translates speech into text. It currently supports English, French and German but more languages will be added later. Schiller and iOS Chief Scott Forstall demonstrated Siri answering questions from Forstall, setting a reminder, converting currency, pulling weather data, searching Wikipedia, and finding restaurants via Yelp, based on their instructions, all by voice. Wolfram Alpha is also providing data and definitions for Siri to access.

The iPhone 4S will come in the 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB.

Apple will start taking pre-orders at the end of the week. The iPhone 4S will go on sale in the U.S, Australia and other countries Oct. 14.

New CEO Tim Cook opened the "Let's Talk iPhone event" discussing about Apple's expansion in China and other markets and a round-up of Apple's existing portfolio. He revealed that the iPod is a "very important business for us," noting of 300 million iPods sold in 10 years and 45 million in the past year, refuting rumors that Apple is retiring the device. Cook also pointed out that MacBook Book Pro are the number #1 best selling notebook and desktop in the U.S. As to smartphones, Cook said the iPhone 4 is the best selling handset in the world. On tablets, he says that schools in every state in the U.S. are deploying iPads.

Forstall talked about the iOS5, the new operating system for Apple's mobile devices, which he says will be available for FREE starting on Oct. 12. The new platform features a 'Cards' app, which lets users create and mail cards. Other new features include an integration with Twitter.

Eddie Cue, Apple's iTunes chief, talked about iCloud, a new service for storing files such as pictures and music on Apple's remote servers. Each user is given free storage of 5 GB and additional space is available for a fee. He described a new app, named Find My Friends, which lets people find the location of their contacts. To resolve privacy issues, the app sets location sharing to be temporary and ends automatically. He added that iTunes Match, will be available in the U.S. by the end of the month and everywhere by the end of the year.

Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief, took the stage to talk about the iPod. Apple has cut the price of its iPod Touch, with the 8 GB version now only $199. There's also a new $129 version of the iPod Nano.

"What sets [these products] apart and what puts Apple way out front is how they're engineered to work together so well," the company's new CEO, Tim Cook, said at the event.

"I am so incredibly proud of this company and all of the teams that worked so hard to bring all the amazing things you've seen to reality."

Pricing for Locked and Unlocked Models

Prices in the U.S. are $199, $299 and $399 on a two-year contract. It will be available on the Sprint wireless network (for the first time), AT&T and Verizon. The iPhone 4 will be cut to $99, which is a consolation for those wanting to switch to an iPhone from an Android.

Apple Stores accepting orders for unlocked versions of the iPhone 4S. The 16 GB model is priced at $649, the 32 GM is at $749 and the 64 GB is priced at $849.

The unlocked iPhone 4S works only on supported GSM networks, such as AT&T in the U.S. When you travel outside the U.S., you can use a micro-SIM card from a local GSM carrier.

Death of Steve Jobs

iPhone 4S sales are expected to get a bump with the death of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. The creative genius and visionary died at 56 on Wednesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

AT&T, Apple's original wireless carrier in the U.S, has reported that it had receive more than 200,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4S in the first 12 hours on offer. The figures make this the most successful iPhone launch in the network's history.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates Apple will sell 25 million handsets in the current quarter.

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Is the iPhone 4S another iconic device for Apple? Or is it a disappointment?

Siri drew applause from the audience. But everyone was expecting an iPhone 5.

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