Anything less than the iPhone 5 would have been a disappointment, and for many people yesterday’s iPhone 4S announcement did not quite meet their high set of Apple expectations. There was no “One More Thing” and the only surprise was that there was no iPhone 5 either (or iPhones as Al Gore proclaimed). Here are a few of the reactions that emanated from the interwebs about the new iPhone 4S.

Not quite a 4, not yet a 5

Gizmodo covers the new device under the heading “the NEW old iPhone 4S”. Editor at Gizmodo, Mat Honan, summed up the general feeling beautifully when he said: “I'm a little disappointed with the new iPhone 4S. I was hoping for more.” He sites no new look for the device and no support of faster LTE connectivity (such as the Korean only LG Optimus LTE or Samsung Galaxy SII LTE) amongst his pains, also calling the Siri voice command integration “the most amazing thing I’ll never use”.

Engadget takes a more subdue line towards the new phone, claiming that the 4S is no iPhone 5, but also “far from being `last year’s iPhone`”. The new A5 processor that features inside the 4S and also the iPad 2, did a lot to impress the Engadgeteers, saying: “The dual-core A5 chip is a laudatory improvement, and whisking about pages, loading the camera application and launching -- well, just about everything -- just feels zippier.

 

But there is something new

Joshua Topolsky over at www.thisismynext.com was more complimentary towards Siri: “I wasn’t speaking slowly (as Scott did during the event) or even trying very hard to sound clear. There was background noise. But it really worked, and worked well. Some of my requests were more specific (“Show me theaters that are playing Moneyball“) and didn’t return the results I wanted. Siri knew I said Moneyball and seemed to know it was a movie (it capitalized the title), but couldn’t tell me where it was playing.”

What about the new 8 megapixel camera? www.laptopmag.com was full of praises, complimenting it not only on its brighter f/2.4 aperture lens, but also on its speed. “It captured images instantly, compared to a half-second or so lag for the iPhone 4.”

South Africa tweets

A number of South Africans followed the event online and were quick to vent their disappointment.

@jasonelk: "iPhone 4S? Meh. What's on TV?"
@YseOne: "Has Apple finally slipped up - wish I was a fly in the microsoft, samsung & nokia boardrooms right now #apple #iphone #fail"
@AkiAnastasiou: "Apple 4s. No OMG announcement. Disappointing. Would I get one? NO. Samsung, Nokia must be rubbing their hands. Microsoft is smiling WP7."

Some though saw a broader picture:

@PietSous: "No iPhone 5? Big deal. But Apple are making iOS more accessible, more devices, lower prices. Divide and conquer."
@GraigN: "As usual, Apple ensures that most current generation consumers won't feel the need to upgrade. The iPhone 4S is more for current 3GS owners."

While the most thought provoking tweet goes to the wise @jasonadriaan: "Call the iPhone 4S the iPhone 5 and give it a new case. There you go, everyone is happy."

Don’t buy the iPhone 5, or the 4S

Beforehand The Register provided Ten reasons not to buy an iPhone 5, which we suppose are also valid not for purchasing an iPhone 4S. The fact that there’s no swappable battery or no memory card slot, the encouragement of the Walled-Garden business model, unimpressive phone performance and the unfortunate label of being a follower of fashion rather than a trendsetter (we suppose buying anything with Android, such as the 10 million selling Samsung Galaxy SII), make up their Top 5.

Final word

Maybe the final word should go to new Apple CEO Tim Cook (quoted by GDGT’s live feed), who in the wake of Steve Jobs departure, made his first big presentation at yesterday’s launch. ““When you think about it, only Apple can bring all these things together in such a powerful and integrated experience. I am so incredibly proud of this company and all of the teams that work so hard to bring the innovations you’ve seen today to reality.”