Summary of Apple “Let’s talk iPhone” event

Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, took to the stage today for Apple’s “Let’s talk iPhone” event. Here is the event’s summary:

• Background:
• Town Hall where today’s event took place is also where the first iPod was unveiled 10 years ago.
• Apple Stores overview: 357 locations across the world including store in Hong Kong where 100,000 visitors came by on opening weekend alone
• Mac OS X Lion: Downloaded over 6 million times
• Mac product line growth outpacing PC market by almost 6 times
• Apple nearing 60 million Mac users in US alone
• Apple iPod launched 10 years ago. Has now sold over 300 million. Despite slowing sales, 45 million iPods still sold in year ending in June with about half going to first time buyers
• iTunes now has over 20 million songs and has recorded 16 billion downloads
• Current iPhone and iPad:
• iPhone 4 accounts for half of all iPhones sold to date. iPhones now account for 5 percent of the worldwide mobile phone (not just smartphones) market
• iPad accounts for 75 percent of tablet sales in US
• Over 250 million iOS devices sold to date, accounting for 61 percent of all mobile browser usage
• Over 500,000 iOS apps with 140,000 for the iPad. 18 billion apps downloaded to date
• New Apple apps:
• Cards: Lets you design a card on your phone. Apple will then print a physical card and send it on your behalf. It will be a free download available October 12^th but cards will cost US$2.99 in the US, US$4.99 anywhere else
• Family and Friends: Find friends and family easily. Sams privacy controls and can be turned on or off
• iOS 5 feature review:
• New notifications center, Reminders (supporting geo-location), Newstand, improved Camera, improvements to Safari
• iMessage: Messaging service for iOS users using both 3G and Wi-Fi
• Twitter integration (including into some apps like Camera)
• iOS 5 will be a free update available October 12^th for the iPads, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third and fourth generation iPod touch devices
• Review of iCloud including iTunes Match available for US$24.95
• iCloud to ship October 12^th
• iPod nano
• Improved interface (multi-touch display with bigger icons) and 16 new clock faces
• To sell for US$129 for 8GB model and US$149 for 16GB one. Available today in 7 colours
• iPod touch
• Updated version runs on iOS 5 and includes iCloud
• Selling for US$199 for 8GB model, US$299 for 32GB, and US$399 for 64GB models. Available in black or white
• iPhone 4S
• Same design as iPhone 4
• With dual-core A5 processor and dual-core GPU (up to 7 times faster than iPhone 4)
• Improved battery life now offering up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 9 hours of Wi-Fi browsing or 10 hours of video playback
• Improved antenna system (Goodbye AntennaGate?) capable of up to 14.4Mbps download and 5.8Mbps upload speeds
• Supports both GSM and CDMA
• Camera now has 8MP sensor, CMOS backside illuminated sensor, f2.4 aperture, and improved performance (1.1 seconds to first shot)
• Also supports 1080p video recording and includes real-time video image stabilization
• iPhone 4S pricing same as that of the iPhone 4: US$199 for 16GB model, US$299 for 32GB model and new 64GB model for US$399 (with two-year contract)
• iPhone 4S pre-orders begin on October 7^th and shipments begin on October 14^th.
• Sprint added to list of carriers that will offer the iPhone
• iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS:
• Apple will continue to sell both: 8GB iPhone 3GS for free and 8GB iPhone 4 for US$99 with contracts
• Siri voice functionality
• Scott Forstall: “What we really want to do is just talk to our device!”
• Based on Apple’s Siri acquisition, it lets users ask spoken questions or orders to their device (Eg, “What is the weather like today?” or “Wake me up at 6am.”). Can also read out loud messages in the notification queue
• If you ask Siri “Who are you?”, it replies, “I am your humble personal assistant.”
• Built-in with support for English, French, and German
• Beta for now with more languages and services to come in the future

And that’s a wrap! It looks like the iPhone 5 rumours will live on…