The S stands for “sucks”, right?

I’ve been asked by a few people about what I think of the iPhone 4S. I think it’s literally a wishlist of what people wanted the iPhone 4 to have. I reckon if they had it in a new design with Jonny Ive talking about how revolutionary it is to hold a phone with curved glass, with the same specs internally, people would be gushing over it.

But instead it’s an evolutionary phone.

People expected two launches yesterday. The 4S (who’s name was leaked via iTunes and a Japanese carrier) and a 5. The point being that Apple would cover all bases and push iOS out to everyone who ever had a mild thought about Android. Gruber even commented prior to the event that he would only expect one phone.

It doesn’t make sense for Apple to launch two competing products at the same time. They have the 3GS and iPhone 4 already. The ideal scenario for Apple is everyone ditches the last generation of whatever product they released and migrate to the new one. Kind of in the same vein as the iPod. A new Nano comes out and the old one dies – no one cares. Granted the iPod range is greater than the iPhone range, but you’re dealing with very different target markets and metrics.

What I want from a new iPhone is a better battery (check, even if only marginally), better camera (check, 8MP with better optics and a new sensor) and toys to play with (check, iCloud and Siri). Ideally I would have liked a new case design too, just to make it feel fresh but in the real world Apple were always pitching a 4S given the 3G to 3GS cycle. The iPhone 4 is also still the most solidly designed phone I’ve ever held. No matter what orientation or situation the iPhone 4 is held, it feels right.

iCloud changes the game a lot. Today I installed the GM seed of iOS5 (this is the version of iOS that everyone is getting in a few days). I didn’t do a backup or restore through iTunes, instead opting to go the iCloud route. It was very quick, painless and flawless. Not much else has changed in iCloud outside of what I’ve said before.

The big game changer is probably Siri. I’ve never owned anything except old Symbian Nokia’s and then the iPhone. I have no experience with talking to my phone to get it to do things. Siri does this effortlessly, or so the demo’s suggest. It responds to natural language well, and the A.I. is bound to improve over time. The real test is whether it picks up European accents, although it did say “Schiller” fine.

The only problem with Siri is the name. “Siri”. I would rather Apple just give it a generic, Apple-esque name and stick to their usual convention. iVoice or something. Why? Because giving small additional features or products silly names is a very Sony thing to do. Why did Sony call the PSP2 the PSP Vita? It confuses the market and sounds stupid. Naming conventions are important to people. “iPhone 4S” gives a clear message. This is the iPhone you know and love, but faster, better and with more features. “Siri” says nothing to anyone. At least not right now. As cool and as useful a feature it might be, naming it “Siri” feels very un-Apple esque. To make Siri work Apple bought Nuance… calling the product Nuance actually would be been a better idea than Siri!

Update: The name “Siri” is explained below as per Google+ comment. Thanks Mark. The point still stands as per Sony naming conventions, etc.

Fan expectation was set ridiculously high, which has been the case for many Apple keynotes in the past few years. This lead to bitter disappointment. Shares dropped immediately after the keynote because of this. Of course, that’ll bounce back when money goes into tills.

If you’re waiting for the iPhone 5 clearly next year is the time to buy. Apparently Apple are waiting for LTE (4G, basically), NFC and a few other pieces of mobile technologies to mature. The 4S is about refining the mobile experience that was shaped by apps and how people use them (cameras, etc.). The 5 will be about refining how you and your phone interact with the world around you.

As I said on Facebook, forget the shape of it lads, it’s a legend of a phone…

As an aside, it’s worth noting that while Tim Cooke remained quiet and didn’t put himself in the fore of the keynote, he was an excellent speaker. Not as brash as Jobs, but he didn’t have to be. The point was simple and direct: We’ve made the best phone better.