What's in a name? To Apple fans, apparently a lot.
Apple announced its new phone Tuesday, with most of the features that its fans wanted, but left some disappointed by only calling it the iPhone 4S, and not the long-expected iPhone 5.
The latest iPhone will be more powerful, operating up to twice as fast at many tasks, and have a significantly sharper camera, compared to its predecessor.
The iPhone 4S will include the A5 chip that now powers the iPad, a development which was widely expected by analysts.
Despite numerous rumours to the contrary, the iPhone 4S physically looks the same as the previous model.
If there was a game changer announced for Apple it was Siri, an intelligent virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S that can be activated by voice alone.
Siri, in response to a user's voice commands, can forecast weather, send text messages, find nearby restaurants and even search Wikipedia for trivia answers.
The new smartphone will be powered by a dual-core CPU that Apple's Phil Schiller said will double the phone's speed for most tasks, but without sacrificing battery life, which has been extended to eight hours of talk time.
Data can now be downloaded twice as quickly as with the iPhone 3.
The new phone has also been upgraded to include an 8-megapixel camera sensor and will be capable of shooting high-definition video in 1080p, an improvement over the iPhone 4's 720p capabilities.
Apple also announced American pricing for the iPhone 4S at $199 for a 16 gigabyte (GB) model, $299 for a 32GB model and $399 for a 64GB phone. Canadian prices were not immediately announced.
Pre-orders for the device begin on Oct. 7 and will be available in U.S. and Canadian stores on Oct. 14.
Analysts had suggested that Apple could unveil a cheaper model of the iPhone to help it combat phones using Google's Android, which has recently become the biggest player in the smartphone market.
Apple also said its new operating system, iOS 5, will be available on Oct. 12. The operating system, with over 200 new features, is compatible with the iPhone 4 and 3GS, both iPad models and later versions of the iPod Touch.
The new operating system includes iMessage, a rival system to Research In Motion's popular BlackBerry Messenger. iOS 5 also allows users to sync to their computers wirelessly.
As usual, Apple provided few details about the announcement other than saying "let's talk iPhone" in an invitation to media.
Tuesday's event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. was the first in years not led by Steve Jobs, who resigned from his post as CEO earlier this summer for medical reasons.
Jobs' successor Tim Cook, wearing a navy blue button-down shirt and jeans, led the show Tuesday.
He called his 14 years at Apple, "the privilege of a lifetime."
Cook, who was formerly Jobs' second-in-command as chief operating officer, has been running Apple since January. He is no stranger to the company's upper echelons, having run Apple's day-to-day operations for years. He is also the brains behind Apple's supply network and wildly successful network of stores.
Cook also served as Apple's leader in 2004 for two months while Jobs battled cancer, and in 2009 for five-and-a-half months when Jobs received a liver transplant.
In addition to talking about the iPhone, Apple used the gathering to unveil a new line of iPods, including a Nano with a multi-touch display, and updates to its iTunes software.
Apple's stock fell $10.08, or 2.7 per cent after the announcement in afternoon trading.
The iPhone is Apple's most critical product, accounting for almost half of its revenue in the latest quarter, at about $13 billion.
