Apple Inc, in its first product unveiling since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer, introduced an iPhone with a speedier processor and a higher- resolution camera on Tuesday to help it vie with Google Inc's Android.
The A5 chip in the iPhone 4S will be seven times faster than the processor in the old model, Apple said at a press conference at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The update of Apple's best-selling product marks an early test for Tim Cook, CEO since August 24, who hasn't yet shown he can match his predecessor's skills at product design and marketing. While the iPhone is the world's most popular smartphone, Google's Android is more widely used software, showing up in devices from Samsung Electronics Co and HTC Corp.
pple's new iPhone camera has 60 percent more pixels and can handle high-definition video. The device also relies on an "intelligent antenna system" that's designed to improve call quality and works with both CDMA and GSM wireless standards. Users will have up to eight hours of talk time on one charge.
"For many customers, the iPhone 4S will be the best still camera they've ever owned, the best video camera they've ever owned, and it's with them all the time," said Phil Schiller, a senior vice president in charge of product marketing.
The phone has an "intelligent assistant" that works via voice recognition. That lets users check weather, get directions or set an alarm -- without having to touch their phone. Apple already has basic voice-control abilities on the iPhone for placing a call or accessing a song.
Apple also demonstrated iCloud, a new service for storing files such as pictures and music on Apple's remote servers. That means they can be accessed through iPads, iPhones and Macs, and mobile devices no longer have to sync up to a computer. Apple will give away advertising-free e-mail as part of the service, which comes out October 12.
Apple showed off other new software features, including an integration with Twitter Inc that lets users quickly post updates to the social-blogging service. Apple's new iOS operating system, which runs its mobile devices, also will be available for free on October 12.
The iPhone accounted for almost half Apple's sales in the most recent period. Combined, the iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod Touch touch-screen media player have sold 250 million units in total, Apple said on Tuesday. There are now more than 500,000 applications in the company's App Store, which has generated US$3 billion for developers since its debut in 2008.
"In three years, customers have downloaded 18 billion apps -- and it's accelerating," Scott Forstall, a senior vice president in charge of iPhone software, said at Tuesday's event. The rate is now more than 1 billion per month, he said.
The company also is making inroads with corporate users. Ninety-three percent of Fortune 500 companies are testing the iPhone for use by their employees, and 92 percent are trying out the iPad, Apple said.
At stake is leadership in the market for smartphones, which is projected to double by 2015, when 1 billion of the handsets will be sold, according to research firm IDC. While Apple is the single biggest smartphone maker, the Android coalition leads the market, accounting for 41.7 percent.
It's been 16 months since the last iPhone release -- a longer lag than the usual. The pent-up demand may help Apple sell a record 25 million iPhones during the December quarter, according to estimates by Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos.
Apple is looking to China to fuel a new wave of growth. Apple plans "a lot more" stores for the country, Cook said on Tuesday. The company's retail outlet in Shanghai had 100,000 visitors on its opening weekend, he said.
Apple also gave updated figures on its Mac computer division. The new OS X Lion operating system has been downloaded 6 million times, and the Mac business has an installed user base of 58 million, Cook said.
The A5 chip in the iPhone 4S will be seven times faster than the processor in the old model, Apple said at a press conference at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The update of Apple's best-selling product marks an early test for Tim Cook, CEO since August 24, who hasn't yet shown he can match his predecessor's skills at product design and marketing. While the iPhone is the world's most popular smartphone, Google's Android is more widely used software, showing up in devices from Samsung Electronics Co and HTC Corp.
pple's new iPhone camera has 60 percent more pixels and can handle high-definition video. The device also relies on an "intelligent antenna system" that's designed to improve call quality and works with both CDMA and GSM wireless standards. Users will have up to eight hours of talk time on one charge.
"For many customers, the iPhone 4S will be the best still camera they've ever owned, the best video camera they've ever owned, and it's with them all the time," said Phil Schiller, a senior vice president in charge of product marketing.
The phone has an "intelligent assistant" that works via voice recognition. That lets users check weather, get directions or set an alarm -- without having to touch their phone. Apple already has basic voice-control abilities on the iPhone for placing a call or accessing a song.
Apple also demonstrated iCloud, a new service for storing files such as pictures and music on Apple's remote servers. That means they can be accessed through iPads, iPhones and Macs, and mobile devices no longer have to sync up to a computer. Apple will give away advertising-free e-mail as part of the service, which comes out October 12.
Apple showed off other new software features, including an integration with Twitter Inc that lets users quickly post updates to the social-blogging service. Apple's new iOS operating system, which runs its mobile devices, also will be available for free on October 12.
The iPhone accounted for almost half Apple's sales in the most recent period. Combined, the iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod Touch touch-screen media player have sold 250 million units in total, Apple said on Tuesday. There are now more than 500,000 applications in the company's App Store, which has generated US$3 billion for developers since its debut in 2008.
"In three years, customers have downloaded 18 billion apps -- and it's accelerating," Scott Forstall, a senior vice president in charge of iPhone software, said at Tuesday's event. The rate is now more than 1 billion per month, he said.
The company also is making inroads with corporate users. Ninety-three percent of Fortune 500 companies are testing the iPhone for use by their employees, and 92 percent are trying out the iPad, Apple said.
At stake is leadership in the market for smartphones, which is projected to double by 2015, when 1 billion of the handsets will be sold, according to research firm IDC. While Apple is the single biggest smartphone maker, the Android coalition leads the market, accounting for 41.7 percent.
It's been 16 months since the last iPhone release -- a longer lag than the usual. The pent-up demand may help Apple sell a record 25 million iPhones during the December quarter, according to estimates by Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos.
Apple is looking to China to fuel a new wave of growth. Apple plans "a lot more" stores for the country, Cook said on Tuesday. The company's retail outlet in Shanghai had 100,000 visitors on its opening weekend, he said.
Apple also gave updated figures on its Mac computer division. The new OS X Lion operating system has been downloaded 6 million times, and the Mac business has an installed user base of 58 million, Cook said.
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