Apple today announced iPhone 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet, packed with new features like Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an 8MP camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. iPhone 4S also ships with iOS 5 — the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, with over 200 new features — and
iCloud.

A new iPhone, some new carriers, a new battle that will rage on AT&T has yet another thing to gloat about – besides being able to talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time. The iPhone 4S uses HSPA+ on the AT&T GSM network at speeds of 14.4Mb/s. On Verizon and Sprint – CDMA networks, the iPhone 4S will only achieve download speeds of the iPhone 4′s top speed; 7.2Mb/s.

Scott Forstall asked the iPhone 4S running Siri “Who are you?”

“A humble personal assistant,” Siri replied.

Right….for now.

Today Apple showed off their latest innovation in mobile technology (which we speculated about last night) and surprisingly it wasn’t a brand spankin new device, rather it was an incredibly innovative voice

The folks over at Gizmodo have done it again. They managed to get their hands on one of the new iPhone 4’s said to be released on Tuesday ahead of time. The leaked images show proof of the N90A. The device codenamed “N90A” for clarification is not the iPhone 4S (which is codenamed N94). Although the iPhone 4S is still said to be coming, the photo is of the cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 which is also said to be launching next week too.

Everyone already knows that new iPhones are going to be announced on Tuesday October 4th during Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event. For those of you who are on AT&T and Verizon, you may be wondering if you are eligible for an upgrade with your carrier. It is widely known that if you don’t buy off contract, early upgrade fees can be extremely expensive for smartphones, especially for an iPhone.

Instead of wondering if you’ll be eligible for the upgrade or calling in and sitting through generally horrendous customer support, there is an easier alternative for both carriers. Check below:

Picture proof of a 64GB iPhone 5 has surfaced recently and tweeted by iH8sn0w, the developer behind numerous iOS device utilities such as f0recast, iDetector, iFaith, iREB, and sn0wbreeze. The picture shows an iPhone 5 label very similar to a previously leaked Chinese iPhone 4S label. The information that it provides is new though, providing proof of the existence of 64 GB capacities for the upcoming iteration of the iPhone said to be announced at Apple’s October 4th event.

During a presentation at this week’s Macworld Asia a China Unicom executive reportedly confirmed the iPhone 5 will support HSPA+ “4G” technology.

Japanese Blog Macotakara made the report with another Japanese site, PC Watch, snapping the above photograph.

Rumors surrounding Apple supporting the faster LTE 4G technology—if Wenliang is right—appear to be false. Apple has held off in supporting 4G technologies citing the current 4G chips needed still don’t meet Apple’s size and power consumption criteria. However, if the iPhone 5 does support HSPA+ it is a small victory for those hoping for a faster 4G experience, even if the technology is probably more accurately described as “3.5G.”

According to mobile ad company InMobi, 41 percent of U.S. mobile users plan to buy the iPhone 5.

InMobi questioned 1,086 users across an “even demographic split” and found that 50 percent of those planning to buy an iPhone 5 will do so within the first six months. PaidContent posits—based on this survey and others—there is pent-up demand for the iPhone 5. This coupled with Sprints 52 Million users being able to purchase the new phone could increase Apple’s overall market share.

If consumers put their money where their mouths are, these numbers could go a long way to bumping up Apple’s overall market share in the UK and the U.S.. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, in Q2 Apple had an 18.3 percent share of the UK smartphone market; another research group, comScore, puts it around 20 percent. If people follow through with their purchasing intent, InMobi says this share would go up to 40 percent. In the U.S., the market share would grow to 41 percent.

AT&T is reportedly planning for the iPhone 5 release with excessive attention to detail and all that will be required to make the mad rush a seamless experience for those looking to obtain what is poised to become the hottest smartphone release since… well, the last-gen iPhone was released in 2010.

Following the lead of Apple and Sprint (which have reportedly blocked employee vacation time within the release zone), AT&T has begun doing the same. One source at an AT&T retail location in downtown Chicago, Illinois confirms the vacation blackout period to me, which spans the first two weeks of October, beginning October 3rd, the eve of the iPhone 5 introduction.

At this time, however, it isn’t clear if the iPhone 5 will be available for purchase at AT&T the following day, later in the week, or at another time. With regard to Sprint, which is supposedly getting the iPhone next month here in the US, we can’t yet confirm if the iPhone 5 will arrive on the Sprint network this year. Several conflicting reports suggest that the iPhone 4 will arrive first with the iPhone 5 to follow in early 2012.

AppleInsider is reporting Apple is blacking out vacation time during the 2nd week of October.

Apple is “quietly” denying employee requests for vacation time between October 9-12th and 12-15th. Apple commonly practices vacation blackouts during new product launches and the blacked out dates are usually the best indicator of when a new product will launch.

The first set of dates—October 9-12—most likely represents the iOS 5 launch. Apple has informed AppleCare to expect an increase in support calls starting October 10th, which coincides with Twitter’s announcement of their own developer session on the same date with a “heavy focus on the iOS 5 Twitter integration.”