iPhone 4S Quick Review - Camera, Notifications, iCloud, Siri

Taken with iPhone 4S in Clark Park, West Philly

After waiting at UPS on a long enough line that it may as well have been an Apple store, I finally have my iPhone 4S.  The picture above shows that the camera is a very impressive point-and-shoot.

NOTIFICATIONS, ICLOUD, SIRI

Below, I give a quick review of the new notification screen, iCloud backup, and Siri voice recognition. If you can't see the video, click here.

VIDEO

I also tried out the video camera at the park. The iPhone 4S camera does a much better job at eliminating the jerkiness of filming a scene with your hand.  With the iPhone 4 and previous phones, videos come out pretty shaky unless your phone is mounted on a tripod.  Because I uploaded the video on my 3G connection, it's only in standard definition.  Check out the video below:

THE VERDICT

As cool as the 4S is, I still don't recommend iPhone 4 owners pay for the upgrade.  Now, if you can get it for free as I described in a previous post, I say go for it!

Don't Buy the iPhone 4S. Unless ..

So, Apple announced the iPhone 4S today.  The gory details are up on Apple's website. It's the same physical size, but its faster and has a few more features.  Most notably, it has an improved voice notification system called Siri that promises to interpret voice commands into emails, texts, reminders, etc.  If it works well, it could very well be the future of computing input. Pre orders start on October 7th, with the release on October 14th.

Ok, now that all that is out of the way, I wouldn't recommend the upgrade if you already own an iPhone 4.  However, if you're willing to part with your iPhone 4, there's a great option available: Gazelle.com.

Gazelle is an online retailer that accepts trade-ins for devices.  It has a strong emphasis on electronics and gadgets, and the prices are decent.  They offer PayPal, Amazon Gift card, or a physical check.  For my Black 16GB iPhone 4 in mint condition (not flawless), I received an offer of $191 - basically enough to cover the $200 price of the 16GB iPhone 4S.  Best of all, my offer is locked in for 30 days, so I don't have to trade it in until after I receive the iPhone 4S on October 14th.

Because I'm getting it basically for free, I'm looking forward to the iPhone 4S. I'll definitely do a video review on the site.