iPhone 4S pre-orders obliterate sales records

Over one million seekers of the latest shiny-shiny surrendered their credit card info to Apple on the first day of iPhone 4S pre-order availability, securing their place in line for the latest iteration of the überpopular smartphone. iPhone 4S The iPhone 4S Although the iPhone 4S may have been met with more than a bit of a …

[SuccessCase]

The downside of obsessive secrecy

Is that the anticipation ratchets up expectation. Apple have announcements around every product launch to attempt to invest the product with a "special aura." I think they need to find a way to manage expectations when doing point releases. Albeit significant point releases.

Most users, unlike the tech world, aren't judging the product at the moment of the keynote event. Indeed most just know they like their iPhone and trust Apple enough to go for the next one. It's natural the pre-orders will be higher because there has been ever growing population of iPhone users and even though a significant portion will probably switch to Android, there are sill enough of an added population over the time of the iPhone 4 release, with enough brand loyalty (not to mention buy -in to the apps ecosystem) and who will buy based on trust in the Apple brand.

They will stop buying future products soon enough if they get burned by a bad release. Also post event, I think people have sat back a bit, looked at the package and there has been growing interest in the value of Siri, which it is fast becoming clear, has real potential to tip the balance making voice control a game changer.

[Anonymous Coward]

tj

Are these preorders actually from people wanting a phone, or just vendors preordering?

[Anonymous Coward]

@tj

They're from users.

[Anonymous Coward]

The 4S is, by definition, 4G

The Register needs to update themselves on this matter. The iPhone 4S supports HSPA+ which, like it or not, is officially recognised by the ITU as a 4G technology.

It's not even the worse example as Apple at least didn't stick a 4G in the name, unlike HTC with their Inspire 4G or Atrix 4G which are also HSPA+ phones.

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, not according to Apple

From Apple's website's "Tech Specs" for the iPhone 4S:

- UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)

[Anonymous Coward]

@AC 1857

I suggest you read this then: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2011/10/iphone-4s-features-supports-hspa.html

[Anonymous Coward]

Not in the UK

In the UK, HSPA+ is a 3G technology, LTE is going to be considered 4G. The Register is a UK based publication so therefore its 3G.

Again, HTC phones are not marketed with 4G in their name in the UK. From a quick search the Inspire 4G is the same as the Desire HD with an American radio in it.

Its the phone operators that put the 4G icons into Android, mine goes to H when on HSPA+

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure how that works since the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is a United Nations body and they have an appointment to define the global commnications standards.

If they say that HSPA+ is 4G not sure how the UK and The Register may say say otherwise?

Not flaming in an way, it's a genuine question.

[Anonymous Coward]

4G is used to describe LTE (long term evolution). HSPA (a 3.5G technology) offers speeds within the realm of 4G.

Well done ITU for clearing the confusion, eh?

Your going to see lots of advertising of 4G, however they are not using pure 4G LTE technology.

[Anonymous Coward]

If I'm honest, I don't know either, its just the way it is.

I can guess Ofcom (UK) or Europe decided that it would be too confusing to consumers so haven't embraced it.

More likely though is that if HSPA+ became 4G, Ofcom's 4G auction for LTE at 800MHz would become less valuable and are thus keeping quiet.

[Smokey Joe]

lol and/or wut?

<<<

That is all.

[LarsG]

HaHaHaHa

Can't believe it has been so easy to convince so many people to buy such an inferior product compared to other phones on the market.

Apple salesman are without doubt the best in the world!

[Lord Elpuss]

Oh go on then, I'll bite.

1. Beautifully crafted (yes, yes it is)

2. Great UI design

3. Beautiful hi-res screen

4. Decent camera with good optics, that make good photos and video (lookin' at you HTC)

5. Pocket-size (none of your 5in monstrosities please, if I wanted a tablet I'd have asked for it)

6. Top-notch build quality

7. Decent battery life (*at least* comparable to other phones with similar specs, and if you tell me your HTC, Samsung or Droid or whatever gets 6x the battery life I'll just laugh at you)

8. High-quality apps, guaranteed to work (and work well) on my device

9. Good customer service (YMMV but I've had great service so far)

10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)

11. Great accessory ecosystem

Arguably one could also add that thanks to the built-in battery, replacement batteries are cheap as chips too - although they do come in the form of an external battery pack. Potato, PoTAHto - this one

could fall in either the Debit or the Credit column depending on your point of view.

.

.

.

And in the debit column?

1. Reception, allegedly (personally never had a problem but is generally accepted as an issue)

2. Semi-Walled Garden*

3. No Flash

4. No replaceable battery (although see above, this is a plus for some i.e. me)

* 'Semi'-walled because although you can only buy apps from Apple, you CAN use/play/install media from other places. MP3 for example, and Mobi ebooks. And PDF. And HTML5. Exactly like you can on Android.

Oh and will SOMEBODY please explain to me what makes Apple's walled orchard any more constraining than WinPho, or even Android for that matter? You can play MP3s, read downloaded ebooks, watch practically any video format you like with a free app, etc etc. Android apps ALSO won't run on any other device than Android, WinPho apps run on anything other than WinPho, and WTF is nobody beating up on Microsoft for WMA/WMV any more?

Oh and finally I side with Apple in saying that Flash is a hopeless, steaming, bug ridden pile of crap and should be replaced forthwith with something a bit more 21st-century.

I've had (amongst many others) a Nokia N95 8GB, an HTC HD7, and a BB Storm. All of these, arguably, exceeded the iPhone's capabilities on paper. But none were anywhere near as usable on a daily basis. My N95, for example, theoretically had media sharing capabilities. I think I got it going once, before it keeled over and refused to connect any more. Allegedly it could also upload photos to Flickr but that never stayed working long enough to be anything other than tech willy waving.

My technophobe wife streams music and videos daily from her iPhone to the AppleTV, has set up her own AirPort connection upstairs for more music, uses her iPhone to post more stuff on Facebook than is wise or healthy, spends silly amounts of money buying stuff from iTMS, and is very proud of her iTunes music library. And that, my friends, is why Apple is a success.

So. Rant over. Let the flames begin.

[MooseNC]

Blinded by the light...

You missed a few;

1. Beautifully crafted (yes, yes it is)

- - - Yes, it is an interesting design, but I think most people (That don't suffer from ADOS Attention Deficit Oooh, Shiny!!) would rather have a phone that didn't shatter into a million pieces. I wonder where Dell or HP would be now if they designed a laptop with a shell made totally out of glass and metal...

2. Great UI design

- - - Very simple to use, but don't try to change it to what You may like...

3. Beautiful hi-res screen

- - - So do many other phones.

4. Decent camera with good optics, that make good photos and video (lookin' at you HTC)

- - - Comparing tech today to three years ago doesn't work. More on this with "your" point 6.

5. Pocket-size (none of your 5in monstrosities please, if I wanted a tablet I'd have asked for it)

- - - Again, most people use holsters for their phones, they want to take care of them, and make sure they have them for more than a year. But the Apple people? They don't care about the phone, they will buy a new one in a year when it gets a new swirly design on the third page of the setting menu.

6. Top-notch build quality

- - - Foxconn??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!??? The quality of their product is worse than something I could scavenge out of a few dumpsters...In Hoboken.

7. Decent battery life (*at least* comparable to other phones with similar specs, and if you tell me your HTC, Samsung or Droid or whatever gets 6x the battery life I'll just laugh at you)

- - - Again with that word "decent"... Decent for the first few months, and then it rockets downhill. Oh, and that smell coming from the phone? That's the battery leaking...

8. High-quality apps, guaranteed to work (and work well) on my device

- - - You got me here. When I push the "fart" button on my app, I want it to fart RIGHT NOW!!! Not .5ms later!!! And I love that you can suntan and get rid of pimples with the iphone apps.

9. Good customer service (YMMV but I've had great service so far)

- - - Just make sure you keep the phone in a hermetically sealed bag / container at all times. If you ever have to send it in and they smell ANYTHING on it they don't like, they won't work on it. Also, they charge roughly 2500% higher for the parts than what they paid for them.

10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)

- - - Most have this, and they are easy to use. Sadly, most don't come with a fluffy kitten or a couscous icon. And I have YET to see an Average Joe with an iPhone. Most people I see with iPhones are the pretentious, privileged type.

11. Great accessory ecosystem

- - - As long as you give Apple your 50%....

[Adam T]

@MoosNC

"most people use holsters for their phones"

Hold up, is your research limited to a select group of IT nerds who dream of being cowboys?

I don't know a single person with a phone holster. I call your bluff, sir.

The rest of your counter-argument was fair enough. In short, all smartphones are equal in value, in as much as we can all now choose the one that has the features we want.

Of course you do have iPhone to thank for that :)

[big_D]

No holsters

I've not seen any holster either, but there again, I live in Germany, not Texas. ;-)

I have a leather case for my phone, but that is one that fits in a pocket or I can toss in a bag.

[Dana W]

I wear a Holster, it has my Glock in it.

I put my phone in my POCKET like everyone else.

[Daniel Barnes]

1- Yes, it is good to look at, I'd have preferred a metal back like the original iPhone but that's down to personal preference.

2- It is a great UI, but if you want to change it, you can. There are plenty of shell replacements.

3- I'll agree with you on that one, it does have a lovely screen.

4- Can't comment on that as I've only got the galaxy to compare the cameras on (iPhone wins in comparison though)

5- If "most people" use a holster for their phone why is it when I walk down the street I don't see any holsters? According to you over half of people should be wearing a holster.

6- I've had 2 iphones and both have had brilliant build quality. think of foxconn like a baked bean company, they make beans for loads of different brands and at different qualities, so comparing your smart price beans to heinz and arguing they are both the same is pointless.

7- I've never had a problem with the battery in either of my iphones.

8- You're just being silly now, we both know the app store isn't just fart apps and other stupid things. everything in the app store is tested to make sure it works and doesn't contain anything malicious, unlike the android store where malicious code has made it through into the wild.

9- I've never had anything go wrong with either of my iphones but when the dvd drive died in my macbook pro it was back with me in 3 days with a new one fitted. I

10- I'm certainly not "the pretentious or privileged" type, I'm a floor layer.

11- What companies licensing terms are is nothing to do with me, or how good the iphone is.

The way apple have got everything set up is great for "most people" it's easy to use and 'just works' . If you want to play outside of the walled-garden you can jailbreak it and do what you will.

I'm no android hater, infact I quite like it, I've had a couple of android handsets and they were both good, but I prefer iOS.

[RichyS]

@MooseNC

Holsters? Fecking holsters? You rednecks are hilarious. If you'd bothered getting a passport and travelling outside of the deep south, you might notice that almost no-one outside of the good ole US of A wears their phone on a holster. They'd realise they look like a dick.

This, I suppose, explains why these ridiculous gigantaphones are largely (no pun intended) a US phenomenon.

Holsters. Christ almighty.

[Mick Sheppard]

10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)

- - - Most have this, and they are easy to use. Sadly, most don't come with a fluffy kitten or a couscous icon. And I have YET to see an Average Joe with an iPhone. Most people I see with iPhones are the pretentious, privileged type

Now who's being pretentious?

On technical sites the pretentious ones are those that won't buy anything from Apple styling those that do as being mere fanbois who have no ability to make rational decisions and are instead under the sway of the legendary RDF.

There is no doubt that you can buy cheaper Android phones with a similar feature set. If that's what you want to do go for it. You've made a rational decision based on your criteria. However accept that other people have different criteria and may make a different decision.

[Armando 123]

What?!?!

"most people use holsters for their phones,"

Dude, I spent a week in Texas this last summer, and no one IN HOUSTON used a holster. And if Texans aren't using one, ... Holster are used for holding instruments for shooting snakes and lawyers, if you'll pardon the redundancy.

The only holster users I've known are those hardcore IT types who drone on and on and on about how some piece of hardware is completely superior because of one little spec, ignoring things like build quality, usability, living with it day to day, etc. They're the geek equivalent of Oakland Raider fans.

[Haku]

4. Decent camera

They've stuck to using a camera with a rolling shutter, people who care about their footage will go for a camera that has a global shutter, which usually means the more expensive CCD route.

Rolling shutter cameras produce footage that is often horrible to look at whenever there's fast motion, sadly the cheap price of producing rolling shutter full HD CMOS camera modules means that this kind of footage has bled over into the tv and film world.

Global (CCD) vs rolling (CMOS) shutter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB740lEkEkg

Unfortunately nobody really cares about getting optimal camera footage quality.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re decent camera...

You're right that a global shutter would produce (even) better footage. But this is a phone, and when considered as such it makes decent quality photos and videos. It shouldn't be compared against dedicated high-quality camcorders. I think the point is that the iPhone is actually, once you get through all the anti-Apple vitriol, a very decent phone and has earned it's place on merit rather than hype.

Also Apple needed to make tradeoffs; to include a CCD camera with global shutter would have pushed the price up, would make the phone thicker, and would possibly have caused unacceptable vertical smearing when people photograph into a light source.

[big_D]

Sorry, but...

1. Beautifully crafted (yes, yes it is)

Meh, I prefer the design of the htc sitting next ot my iPhone. The metal and rubber back is a lot more practical as well.

2. Great UI design

Outdated and looking it. I much prefer Windows Phone 7's live tiles and, to a lesser extent, the widgets on Androids home screens. More information at a glance, when you need it. iOS is showing its age.

WP7 has the chance to be a great platform, but it stil has some teething problems, but it is still better than iOS IMHO.

3. Beautiful hi-res screen

So have my htc phones...

4. Decent camera with good optics, that make good photos and video (lookin' at you HTC)

The camera on the Sensation is ok. But that said, regardless of whether I carry the iPhone or the Sensation, I still carry an Ixsus or an EOS for taking pictures...

5. Pocket-size (none of your 5in monstrosities please, if I wanted a tablet I'd have asked for it)

The Sensation is fine, fits into my shirt pocket without problems, feels good in the hand.

6. Top-notch build quality

Hahahahaaha! We've had 12 replacement iBones for 3 users in the past 12 months! 2 iP4s were delivered with defective batteries (only usable when plugged into the power adapter), Another 2 had defective WI-Fi and BT (30cm BT range, 2M Wi-Fi). We've also had defective speaker shielding problems, batteries dying after 3 - 6 months, graphics chip problems (white display).

Couple that with the repair policy here (Germany), where they take the iPhone away and return it 2 weeks later (in one case, the same phone was sent away for a total of 6 weeks in a 7 week period, before they finally gave up and replaced it!). htc on the other hand deliver a replacement handset when they collect the old one.

7. Decent battery life (*at least* comparable to other phones with similar specs, and if you tell me your HTC, Samsung or Droid or whatever gets 6x the battery life I'll just laugh at you)

With a Mofie, maybe... The battery on my iPhone lasts about as long as the Sensation or Mozart with similar use. The advantage of the htcs, I can carry around a spare battery in my pocket, in case it runs out during a trip.

8. High-quality apps, guaranteed to work (and work well) on my device

Same for WP7 and Android. I have the same apps (with the exception of the lack of an Audible app on WP7) on all my phones and they all work - although since iOS 4.3, iTunes has a tendancy to corrupt my Audible collection on a regular basis, one of the reasons I got the Sensation.

9. Good customer service (YMMV but I've had great service so far)

See 6 above, Apple's support here is dreadful, unless you want to take out an extra 50€ "protection" plan, then the service rivals htc's standard service.

10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)

I have wireless sync between my desktop and my Sensation of podcasts (I don't have any music on any of my phones). I will give Apple a plus point here, it does (sometimes) remember where you stopped listening to a podcast on the iMac and carries on where it left off on the iPhone, but it has become less reliable with each update.

11. Great accessory ecosystem

I have desktop docking stations for the Sensation and the iPhone... But the Sensation's docking station also has a tray for recharging a 2nd battery. I also have a nice Bugatti leather case for the Sensation, my Hi-Fi has USB and Audio in for playing back media from any of the phones...

I bought my iPhone 3GS, because it was the best at the time. With each new release it has become slower and less reliable, even the hand-me-down iPhone 4 (the owner switched to a Samsung Galaxy SII) failed to impress and the Mozart I got through work was much better. For my private contract, I now use the Sensation, the iPhones sit in a corner.

Apple have lost their lead and the 4S refresh seems very much "me too" in terms of hardware features, as opposed to being a clear market leader. The iPhone 4S isn't bad, but the rest of the market has caught up, and in many places, it has overtaken the iPhone.

[Roger 11]

Huh-uh

She's cheating on you.

[Darren Barratt]

"4. No replaceable battery (although see above, this is a plus for some i.e. me)"

How can the lack of repaceable battery ever be a plus? You might as well wish to lose a foot because of the excellent selection of walking sticks out there.

[Lord Elpuss]

Because it means a nice looking, streamlined bit of design and solid build quality. Which would be spoiled by a battery flap.

[IT Builders LLC]

"Apple salesman are without doubt the best in the world!"

Except that nasty little detail about brand loyalty. 89% of iPhone users say their next phone will be another iPhone, compared to <40% for other handset manufacturers:

http://gigaom.com/apple/iphone-owners-very-loyal-blackberry-not-so-much/

Advertising and evangelism affect initial sales. Repeat buyers are more influenced by quality, user experience, customer service, and overall value.

[Andrew 59]

Re: user experience

I'm posting this from my iPod touch. This device is the only reason I got an iPhone. I plan to upgrade to whatever iPhone is out when my contract runs out next year.

And to whoever's bleating about battery life: my 18-month old iPhone still runs for 2-3 days on a full charge... Just like when it was new.

YMMV, as they say, but that's my experience.

[davemcwish]

Re: HaHaHaHa

Quite easily LarsG. Given the extensive coverage the general media (e.g. BBC, Guardian et al. & not El Reg) gives to Apple product announcements, all the sates staff have to do is get the punters to decide on the spec and colour. A job so easy, even Paris could do it.

[Anonymous Coward]

if you can't believe it might be because of the blinding rage you show in your posts.

/where is the ignore user button when you need it?

[Wibble]

What do Microsoft & Nokia think?

One would expect that Microsoft and Nokia dream of selling this number of phones in total, not just in one day!

Maybe in a couple or three years they'll catch up. Or maybe not.

[Dazed and Confused]

Nokia's daily sales

Perhaps now they might dream of that, but a few years ago Nokia was selling far more than that every day, day in day out, all year round. They sold 440 Million phones in 2007.

[IT Builders LLC]

Nokia *still* outsells Apple 5-to-1 in mobile phones:

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1764714

Smartphones, not so much. And Nokia has dozens of models, compared to Apple's 4-5 models. That results in higher development, manufacturing, distribution, and advertising costs and less profit per phone.

[Anonymous Coward]

RE: What do Microsoft & Nokia think?

MS probably think "We'd better get our asses into gear because nearly everything we make is like a pile of steaming donkey poo".

[Jim Morrow]

re What do Microsoft & Nokia think?

simple. we're fucked. well and truly fucked.

[Anonymous Coward]

So

So, IPhones get one refresh per year where as those choosing the android path have a large number of options in terms of what to update to. Do no real surprise about the numbers, especially with Job's flock, already letting heart generally overrule head, reacting to his departure.

Best look at phones activations over the year than the headline "How many have signed up for Jesus phones" just after its announcement.

[IT Builders LLC]

Yet all Apple iOS devices benefit from firmware updates -- at least one major release per year and several incremental releases in between.

When is the last time your Android device had a firmware update with new features and security patches? The core Android is evolving, but that doesn't seem to be trickling down through handset manufacturers and wireless carriers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Each to their own

Personally I cant see the point in chasing the new Iphone every release, have a 3gs and it does everything I want it to, sure maybe the screen is better on the 4 and the 4s supports 4g networks but ultimately in this country the data networks are at best patchy and at worst completely shit.

I have an ipad and I like that compared to the couple of droid ones I have used.

For work I have a desire HD which, again I like.

If I had to choose now I would go droid, its nice and so much more for your cash

[Anonymous Coward]

"Personally I cant see the point in chasing the new Iphone every release, have a 3gs and it does everything I want it to, sure maybe the screen is better on the 4 and the 4s"

It's faster (if that is an issue), better battery life, significantly thinner, the screen is noticably better and the camera is a massive upgrade from the 3GS to the 4 and now again to the 4S.

You can get cheap Android handsets but for one that is comparable - the cost is also comparable and I much prefer iOS over Android.

[HollyHopDrive]

nice to see....

....that even in a recession that there are still punters willing to shell out on very overpriced crap. Gives me hope that we may get back to a period of decent economic growth.....

Thank god that fools and their cash are easily parted....

[andreas koch]

@ HollyHopDrive

As we all well know, the Apples are no fools and don't part with their cash, no matter how much they take in; ask the shareholders. I would see them as a black hole for money.

So now economic growth there, sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah Mr Stallman...

... it's good to see you peddling your eccentric fantasy-world views once again.

It's perhaps worthy of note that well managed companies, making marketable gear and executing it well prosper regardless of economic difficulties.

Economic hard times usually sort the men from the boys.

[Bear Features]

oh... and this "information" is all according to Apple. Of course it is. And all the media write about it. It's al so transparent and obvious you could set your watch by it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well...

AT&T alone had previously said they sold 200,000, so considering all the other mobile network across the launch countries it doesn't seem too difficult to reach a million.

[Kristian Walsh]

... and there's the reason

This is the first iPhone model to have a wide-ranging launch, covering all of the US's major carriers (iPhone 4 was AT&T only; 4S is on Verizon and Sprint too). The iPhone's core market is the USA, but over half that market was closed to it until Summer.

So, now that 80% of the US market's customers can get an iPhone (if they want one) as opposed to 30%, it's not really a surprise that preorders are up compared to the previous launches.

Is the pre-order number up in proportion to the enlargement of the population who can make a pre-order? Well, that's the question that would have been useful to ask (and answer) in the article...

[Field Marshal Von Krakenfart]

... and there's the reason

Samsung Galaxy S 2 more popular than the iPhone 4 for two months running

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/samsung-galaxy-s-2-more-popular-than-the-iphone-4-for-two-months-running-50004278/

Maybe crapple saw that the sales of S 2 were increasing and the iPhoney 5 wouldn't be ready in time to halt the rising S2 sales, quick rush out the iPhoney 4S so the fanbois will rush out and push the Galaxy S 2 off the top of the pile.

[Anonymous Coward]

A whole two month?

Wow, Shitsung did really well there.

[BillCo]

i can see both sides here

I just ditched my iPhone3GS in favour of a Samsung GSII. The GSII is a superior phone by far and I'm never going back, BUT

- the UI does not behave consistently everywhere

- i haven't found a media player that can ID and organise my music properly yet

- syncing to various accounts and backing up phone is a bit tricky

- The Andriod store is missing some vital specialist apps that I am missing like crazy

- in short it's like a 90's PC (of sorts) ...a compendium of parts and processes from various vendors that don't always play together properly

I can deal with this stuff because i'm a developer and i love to be able to generally take proper control over the phone. For me it is worth the trade-off. But i would recommend for my Mum to go iPhone, especially since they have fixed the stupid reception problems on the 4S

oh and i have a couple of stuck pixels on the screen... like it or not, that would not have happened on an iPhone

[Piro]

I was almost with you there..

Until the last line.

Just google: stuck pixels iPhone 4

There's nothing special about Apple's build quality. At all. There have been a huge number of build quality related gaffes in Apple desktops and laptops throughout the years.

If you had a dual G5, the watercooler pump seals probably went on you and leaked into your power supply.

If you had an iMac a few generations ago, the capacitors probably started failing on you.

If you have a Macbook Pro, it probably burns your nuts off.

I don't know where this myth comes from. They do make things that have a VERY NICE FEEL out of the box, I'll definitely give you that.

[Piro]

Huh?

How did I get a thumbs down? Does someone really think Apple products are immune from failure?

[Eradicate all BB entrants]

unfortunately....

....your post was the equivalent of walking into the Westboro Baptist Church in a Liberace costume shouting 'Darwin rules'

The Job squad is the same as the God squad, can't accept/discuss intelligent rebuttals of their claims.

[Peter 48]

if you have been relying on itunes to organize your music that may be part of the problem. it can be a real dog when it comes to treating the id3 tag of the tracks, particularly with mp3s. (windows media player is just as bad btw). if you use a windowsmachine, have you tried mediamonkey? rather ugly interface, but it has the best file management out there and can sync to every device out there incl ipods.

[Anonymous Coward]

"This quality Android based phone comes complete with a cigar lighter, cash machine, car jack, sex toy, beer dispenser, firearm, can watch all pay-per-view and porn for free and is made out of solid gold"

"But is it an iPhone 4S?"

"No, it's a quality android based phone"

"That's not an iPhone though"

"Correct, this is a far SUPERIOR phone to an iPhone"

"But it's not an iPhone 4S?"

Fail.

[Anonymous Coward]

There seems to be a superfluous "and" between "view" and "porn".

(If someone invents a PC keyboard that allows me to type one handed while watching the above I would be very grateful)

Damn, just got hit in the eye by some slimy white stuff!!!!

[Metz]

The Great P.Y. Barnum would be proud...

..."There's a sucker born every minute."

Why are people so desperate to defend this phone....if it was so good, it wouldn't need defending.

In truth, it's just another phone. There's nothing remarkable about it. It doesn't do anything that any one of 30 other devices can do.

iTunes? Nothing special, except the price you pay is higher than anywhere else... and you can use it on non-apple phone anyway.

Battery? Trying to claim it is better than other manufacturers to make up for the fact that it can't be replaced is just stupid. Come on. Admit it... it's not better than anyone elses battery... it's made in the same factories, using the same technology as batteries in HTC, Nokias, whatever. It's just a battery, and we're all disapointed in the way they perform. But atleast non-apple users can go on ebay and spend £20 on a new one if they need to.

AppStore? There's no doubt that the 'average' quality of apps in the AppStore is better than the Android Marketplace...but that's like saying that the average quality of person in the exclusive nightclub in your town is better. They have a man on the door to keep the hillbillies out. It's doesn't mean that the posh folk can't go into the redneck bar down the road, does it. Also, don't forget that the Marketplace is a few years behind the AppStore...and it's catching up fast.

The only real difference about the iPhone are the people who buy it.... they are more willing to suspend disbelief and splash the cash for the badge on the back.

Paris....because she's a sucker too. :)

[Anonymous Coward]

@Metz

"Why are people so desperate to defend this phone....if it was so good, it wouldn't need defending."

They aren't defending the phone, they are defending their decision to buy the phone (or covet it anyhow).

But equally you haven't addressed the singular counter that seems to be "why are people so desperate to prove their phone is better than this phone ...if theirs was so good we wouldn't be talking about the iPhone 4S"

"The only real difference about the iPhone are the people who buy it.... they are more willing to suspend disbelief and splash the cash for the badge on the back."

Might as well say: "The only real difference about the iPhone are (sic) the people who actively don't buy it...they are more willing to suspend common sense and splash cash on something they don't really want for the badge not on the back"

[It'sa Mea... Mario]

Point well made Lee

Cannot understand down votes you got, there is really nothing to argue with.

[TheItCat]

The best marketing tool ever:

a high profile death.

Profiting from death is almost an American tradition now. Just look at the charts to see Michael Jackson's work still selling well and I see Columbo DVDs did pretty well for a few weeks when he kicked the bucket.

People need to stop being such morons.

[Anonymous Coward]

oh that's nice.

You're giving tasteless a bad name.

[Alistair MacRae]

What I want to know is...

How does it know who your wife is.

I watched the video about SIRI and he says "Tell my wife I'm running late" and it does it. HOW!?

Unless his contact is down in the phone as "my wife"

[jai]

Because you can tell Siri "My wife is ...." and then when you tell it to send messages to your wife, it looks up the previous contact you linked.

Seem to work for most familial relations. Although, not sure if caters for the more convoluted family trees such as "brother-uncle" "mother-sister" etc etc.

Maybe it auto-sets a bango ringtone for those contacts

[Anonymous Coward]

Well duh

If it doesn't know who your wife is, it'll ask you by popping up a list of contacts for you to choose.

Next time it'll know who your wife is.

[Peter 48]

not sure but

maybe there is a field in the contact description that allows you to add a releationship to the contact i.e. wife, son, boss, doctor etc? Can any iphone owners elaborate?

[Silverburn]

...also...

...how late is 'late'? 2 mins? an hour? a day? can it tell how late you'll be, even if you youself don't even know by how much?

and 'tell' - will it phone her up and say "X is running late". Or will it txt? or email?

[Brett Weaver]

@Alistair - Sorry to be the one to tell you...

But everyone knows your wife :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah the usual

"Mine is better than yours"

Its down to personal choice really - if someone wants to buy Apple crap (IMO) then that is their choice.

Mines the one with the Samsung Galaxy S2 in the pocket.

[Ian Bremner]

iPhones are like string

Every yo-yo wants one

[eSeM]

Spin?

Of course this will break records for first day sales as it is simultaneously being launched in 7 countries as opposed to just the US.

Does anyone know how this figure compares to the sum of the sales figures for previous fist day launches in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan?

[Miek]

"We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S,"

Looks like they were expecting a flop.

[Armando 123]

Nah, just more marketing blah, which is what we should all expect from all companies.

[Joey]

What I get out of this article...

... is that the 'tecnocrati' who said 'meh' haven't a clue about what *people* want. They know what *they* want but they just overvalue their own opinions and when they see somebody else getting it right, they have a hissy fit. Technology should be transparent, it is only a means to an end. No matter how many 'features' a phone has, the user has to find them useful and be comfortable using them. The trick is knowing what to leave out! That's why Apple get it right.

[sheep++;]

Not an Apple fanboi

I have no Apple products and can't see me buying one. They may be decent quality or better, but they are expensive and seem to lock you in to their evil empire (apologies to the late Mr. Jobs)

I went to buy a new MP3 player recently and the Sony one I got before was perfectly OK at around £40 or less. But the Apple ones were in the hundreds of £'s which is just ridiculous and then you (I think) are tied into ITunes and DRM issues.

Pah! I say PAH!

For the record my phone is a Samsung Galaxy S (the first one, not the new one) and I love it. If you've never tried it, you have to give the Swype system a try - creating a text or other document without (mostly) typing. Run your fingers around the screen keys and it usually gets it right. You don't even need to be that accurate. Much faster than typing on a screen keyboard. Wish I had something similar in my programming editor.

Oh well, that's my rant over.

[HelenaHandcart]

"most people use holsters for their phones"

I have never seen a woman carrying a phone in a holster.

[Anonymous Coward]

".....iPhone 4 is proving be quite the tasty, tempting treat to Mr. and Ms. Average Joe and Jane."

My god, I could not have put it better myself.

AVERAGE! Average, tech illiterate people buying a phone to give them some status.

[Mick Sheppard]

Its so easy to mock. Far too many technologists have no idea how to make technology that is usable ordinary people. Its possible to have too much choice.

[Armando 123]

"buying a phone to give them some status."

And how many geeks buy things to give them some status among other geeks?

I have an iPhone because it does all I need, it's been very reliable, does all I want very simply, and Apple's after-sale service has been second to none for the last few years. I would prefer not being on AT&T, but until I can convince my wife to move all of us to Sprint, that ain't happening no matter WHAT phone I buy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Er...

Are you saying you would prefer to own a company whose products are only usable by techies? As gigantic as the "techie" market may be, I'm pretty sure that's not what Apple's competitors are aiming for.

[Hugo CHAV]

Jurno's epic fail

http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/fail_32.png, Given the reception in the press after the launch, I would hope that pretty much every technology journalist and pundit go's back to school. Clearly most of the industry experts completely missed this. what is happening here?

[Anonymous Coward]

"....My technophobe wife streams music and videos daily from her iPhone to the AppleTV....da da da da...."

See! What have I been saying?

Apple = technically illiterate. (the shame of the grandparents not being able to program the VCR)

Be seen with an iPhone and be seen as "a bit thick".

[uhuznaa]

The more I read such idiotic comments about the "tech illiterate" the more I prefer to be lumped in with the average instead of with the "tech literate" idiots. I AM a techie, but the sheer arrogance and aggressive blindness of my fellow geeks shames me really.

[Anonymous Coward]

If your upset over the term "tech illiterate" then your options are 2:

Take the shame

Learn something new

Personally I'd prefer to see the standard raised. Not everyone brought down!

[Armando 123]

"If your upset over the term "tech illiterate" then your options are 2:

Take the shame

Learn something new"

*facepalm* And perhaps you can learn something new, like the apostrophe.

[Lallabalalla]

Dick

Apple = I have better things to do than constantly prove my "technical literacy" by dicking around with my phone settings trying to get the thing to sync/work/get on wifi etc. Like get on with my job/play with my kids.... actually I'd even rather gnaw my own leg off than go back to fighting my OS every day. Is why I ditched the windows box at home.

I bet your car has an aftermarket exhaust and bolt-on go-faster bits, and you're constantly fiddling with the EMS settings (if and when you can get the lappy to boot without demanding an hour of updates).

[Lord Elpuss]

Actually most truly smart people choose to spend their time doing stuff which is important to them. My wife has other priorities than fighting with tech to get it to do what she wants. She also has an MBA and a Porsche.

Your post smacks of rank desperation to 'belong': the words of a child who when realizing a coveted object is out of reach, responds with a petulant "Didn't want it anyway, so nyaaah".

[uhuznaa]

First benchmarks are in...

For all of you still interested in specs -- anandtech.com has the first benchmarks (SunSpider, GLBenchmark, Rightware) of the 4S.

It's nearly twice as fast as the Samsung Galaxy S2 accross the board.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahem ...

Sources, please.

[uhuznaa]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4951/iphone-4s-preliminary-benchmarks-800mhz-a5-slightly-slower-gpu-than-ipad-2

[Mick Sheppard]

Don't worry. The fanbois will be along in a moment to say that Samsung will announce a new phone shortly, at the delayed presentation, that will be twice as quick as the 4S and at half the price.

Who are these people anyway doing benchmarks? You can't introduce facts to the anti-Apple zealots. There is only one true way !Apple.

[uhuznaa]

Guys, if you don't like the benchmarks, thumb down Anandtech, not my comment please. Or even better, stick the thumbs into your eyes.

Anandtech is not an Apple Fanboi site, by the way. Rather the opposite.

[Kristian Walsh]

Agreed: last year the same Anandtech systematically dismissed Apple's excuses about the iPhone 4 reception issues and showed that it was misconceived antenna design at fault, and they did it without resorting to name-calling or gloating. Just someone with actual knowledge of how stuff works applying that knowledge, rather than regurgitating what Apple's PR handed out to the faithful.

So if this year, they found the iPhone 4S to be twice as fast as the Galaxy S2, then it probably is twice as fast.

[Peter 48]

benchmark results don't add up

There is something very fishy about those results - I just ran the javascript sunpider test on my Galaxy S2 as supplied by Three with the stock browser and got a score of 3300, not the 4100 they had listed. Not that benchmarks mean much anyway. The iphone4 was already fast enough for pretty much every app on the market and the same goes for 90% of android and winmo phones released over the last year.

What I want to see is a reliable battery test result for the iphone4S. Considering the battery is at best a 1600mAh (up from 1420mAh on the iphone4) whilst running a chip that is over twice as fast and considerably more power hungry as a result (it is only slightly slower than the A5 in the ipad2 and that has a battery with 4x the capacity - 6900mAh). That would be interesting. iOS is already one of the most optimized platforms out there. Will they be able to squeeze any more juice out of iOS5 or have they crippled the A5 for everyday task to eek more life out of it?

[uhuznaa]

From the benchmarks it looks as if the A5 in the 4S runs only with 800 MHz (exactly like the A4 in the iPhone 4). This will lower the power draw dramatically. And then the iPad has a much larger screen which is the major power hog anyway. And the A5-powered iPad 2 does actually have a slightly better battery life than the A4-powered iPad 1. I don't see why this should be different with the iPhone.

Well, we will see soon.

[Grey Area]

Just tried sunspider on Galaxy S2 as well. Got 3431 on mine.

[Olafthemighty]

" world's most appropriately named marketing chieftan"

<SPLOOOOOOOOT>

[TonyJ]

I've used but never owned 'droids.

I've owned seven BlackBerry handsets over the years, going way back to when they looked like a desktop calculator.

I had a dally with an HTC HD7 earlier this year - quite liked it, but like the original iPhone, it's lack of features I take for granted was a huge problem for me (me, personally - others may not be so bothered about a lack of cut and paste, for example). I also found it uncomfortably large. Now my elderly neihbour, to whom I gave it, loves the fact that he can read everything on it and it has big tiles he can mash with his fingers.

I've had an iPhone 3GS and now have a 4. I switched to iPhones because I got tired of the poor build quality of my BB's. When the annual handset renewal comes up in January, I'll no doubt look to get the 4S.

I also didn't like the fact that on a BlackBerry, to sync more than just email (e.g. calendars), I needed an additional server component (BES) whereas the others just connect and work.

And really, for me, that's the crux of it. I like how it looks and I like how it feels but at the end of the day it's just a phone and for me, it works as well as I need.

It isn't a fashion statement or a statement of wealth and privilege. It might be seen as a mindless following and I will admit that I didn't really put any thought into it beyond "BlackBerry's seem to be ridiculously unreliable so what else should I try?".

If you want to hate me for my choice of a mobile telephone/car/computer then I feel quite sorry for you. I certainly don't judge a person by the _things_ they own.

I feel no need to defend my choice - if you don't like it for reasons x, y and z that's fine. It's your decision. I respect that.

But...it's just a thing and in 100 years it, me and these silly extremist point of view arguments won't matter a jot.

[Jonathan White]

@TheItCat - you're seriously suggesting people are throwing several hundred dollars/pounds/euros/whatever at a new phone, that they can't even actually have yet, simply because Steve Jobs dies last week? Seriously?

No, come on, seriously?

Chuffing hell.

[Dave 15]

Amazing to commit several hundred anything on something you can't try - unless you have more money than sense....ohh, Apple buyers...

[Dave 15]

Apple have media such as the BBC doing their advertising for them - uncritically. No other manufacturer or product gets the airtime and free publiciity the iPhone does.

The camera on the iPhone is outshone in performance - anyway you measure it - by cameras on the last years Nokia phones. The lockdown of the iPhone to only apps from the appstore seems to me to be a bit of a shot in the foot, but I guess few really care.

The biggest difference iPhone vs the rest is the free coverage provided by the BBC and others. No other product manufacturer gets so much free advertising. The BBC especially should be ashamed of themselves for the uncritical, biased, often factually incorrect coverage. (I will never forget them telling me the iPhone was the first phone to download applications - more than 10 years after I was doing exactly that with SonyEricsson and Nokia smartphones - all running on an operating system created in BRITAIN by a BRITISH company employing BRITISH engineers - but then you wouldn't expect the BRITISH broadcasting corporation to do anything but stab the licence fee victims in the back would you)

[uhuznaa]

Well, it's very like with the steam engine. Which wasn't invented by James Watt but by the Greeks back in 100 AD. They treated it as a mere toy though. At the beginning of the industrial revolution things were different and people suddenly realised you can use it to do real work.

Same with the touchscreen phone/tablet, apps, and now maybe with natural language recognition -- nothing of this is really new, nothing of this is invented by Apple, but others before just weren't able to put it to work. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong implementation, wrong execution, wrong markets... whatever.

Apple news is news because many people care for it. Like it or not. Nobody in general cared for Nokia apps back then.