Thoughts on the iPhone 4S

By Sharon Machlis

* Is the smartphone market separating in two: powerful but portable on one side vs mini tablets on the other?

That was my first thought after realizing that this week's iPhone announcement wasn't a redesigned iPhone 5 but a device with the same form factor and screen size as the current model. Apple obviously knows that several popular smartphones sport larger screen sizes than its iPhone, yet Apple chose not to jump into a display-real-estate race right now. It could be because of design or manufacturing issues/delays, as some have speculated. But is it possible Apple feels there's still a form-factor sweet spot in the market where they are now?

The difference between a 3.5- and 4.5-inch screen may not sound like much; but when I hold devices of each size, it's quite noticeable. The iPhone size feels much more portable -- easy to pop in a pocket while out for a walk or slip into an already-crowded bag. The larger Galaxy S II looks and feels more like a little tablet -- not always pocket-sized but sporting a display that's more useful for tasks like photo editing or watching video. I'm going to be buying a new smartphone this month, and this is the first time that deciding between totability and more screen real estate is a significant factor.

* Siri, the baked-in voice and natural-language recognition, is potentially huge (if, of course, it works as advertised). Android already has some voice-recognition capabilities and there are apps to extend them, but the demo of iPhone 4S Siri appears to go beyond them.

I'd have to try one before deciding that an iPhone 4S offers a great new way to interact with a smartphone, but the potential is there. It would certainly be nice to be able to say something like "Text Sue when I'm leaving work" or "add appointment on Oct. 27 for dinner with Joe" and have my phone do the rest.

* Siri's utility can be limited based on how you use your device, though. The promotional video show people talking to their phone while driving or jogging. But what if you're in a meeting or a waiting room? Or, say, sneaking a peak at sports scores while dining out? If a lot of your smartphone use involves text-based activities in areas where speaking aloud isn't appropriate -- ironic for a phone, perhaps, but possible for those of us who rarely use our smartphones as phones -- Siri would be less useful.

* The appeal of iCloud and automatic syncing shouldn't be discounted. Of course you can sign up for cloud services and sync files on any platform; but Apple is counting on the continued appeal of "It just works" mantra. I suspect there are a lot of users out there who will be happy to have that all taken care of for them.

* Apple has long been about 2 things: industrial design and ease of use. Many industry-watchers, including me, were expecting an iPhone 5 with an emphasis on a sleek new look. The fact that the emphasis turned out to be on ease of use doesn't mean the announcement was unimportant, despite the post-event criticism. A lot depends on how well Siri works for the average user and whether a large segment of the smartphone market values ease of use and portability. I'm not sure about the former, but I suspect there's still a significant market for the latter.

Looking for details about the newest iPhone? Head over to our iPhone 4S FAQ.

Sharon Machlis is online managing editor at Computerworld. Her e-mail address is smachlis@computerworld.com. You can follow her on Twitter  @sharon000, on Facebook, on Google+ or by subscribing to her RSS feeds:
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