Apple unveils new iPhone 4S model, but iPhone 5 a no-show

Well there was no grand unveiling of the iPhone 5, but Apple has instead revealed another model - the iPhone 4S, complete with a built-in 'personal assistant' that responds to voice commands.

Claimed to be twice as fast as the previous iPhone 4, the new model will use the same speedy A5 processor as the iPad 2. And though the 4S does look the same as its predecessor, Apple chiefs say it has been completely rebuilt on the inside.

The iPhone 4S will go on sale on 14 October and will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models - in both black and white.

There was disappointment in the air as Apple boss Tim Cook made the announcement in San Francisco at the company's Cupertino HQ, in his first landmark unveiling since taking over from Steve Jobs, who stepped down due to illness.

He said: "Only Apple can make such amazing software, hardware and services and bring them together into such a powerful yet integrated experience."

But investors and fans failed to be completely persuaded by this latest step-up model, evidenced by Apple shares dropping more than four per cent on Wall Street within a couple of hours.

The iPhone 4S device may be seen as a stop gap between the iPhone 4 and forthcoming iPhone 5, which is now expected to launch in the summer of 2012.

Devoted Apple fans now face the conundrum on whether it has enough new features to justify upgrading.

Battery life on the 4S has been given a fairly big bump, with the 4S getting eight hours of 3G talktime or nine hours of use via Wi-Fi.

Also upgraded is the phone's camera, going up to an eight megapixel sensor that's 30 per cent sharper and has 3264x2448 resolution.

In a bid to match traditional point and shoot snappers, Apple has added the ability to detect up to 10 faces in any photo and given owners the ability to take a picture within 1.1 seconds with just half a second between shots.

The iPhone 4S will also feature Apple's latest iOS 5 operating system with up to 200 new software features and iCloud, which allows them to backup all their content and share it between an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and a Mac computer.

Part of the new model is what Apple is plugging as an intelligent voice recognition system known as Siri. Described as a personal assistant, it can apparently understand the meaning behind words to bring up information such as the weather or the latest news.

It will also search for answers to questions over the internet and reply with answers, a feature which was demoed live by asking for the time in Paris.

Other features shown off with Siri include automatically setting a wake-up alarm by telling it what time you want to get up.

Siri can also be used to read messages such as texts or emails that are received while you're using a hands-free headset, for example while you're driving.

The iPhone 4S will be available in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Britain on 14 October with pre-orders starting a week prior.

Prices in the US will start at $199 (£128) for a 16 gigabyte model and finish at $399 (£257) for one with 64 gigabytes of memory.