iPhone 4S is launched

I've got one: Fans mob world's Apple stores as iPhone 4S is launched with THREE MILLION expected to sell this weekend

• First customer says 'I am excited about using it - once I have some sleep'
• Analysts say Apple could sell three million this weekend
• Fans in Steve Jobs masks and T-shirts honour late founder
• Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak queues overnight
  
  

Rob Shoesmith, a former binman from Coventry, became the first man with an iPhone 4S at Apple's Covent Garden store this morning, after queuing for 10 days.
A thousand people mobbed Covent Garden's Apple Store. Many had been there overnight. Shoesmith, 30, said, 'I am excited about using the new phone - once I have had some sleep.'
The scenes were mirrored throughout the UK at the 8am launch - the start of a weekend where Apple is expected to sell three million handsets worldwide. It is the first new iPhone for 15 months.

Review round-up below

Rob Shoesmith (centre), 30 from Coventry, is the first man through the door at the Apple store Covent Garden, London, for release of the iPhone 4S - having queued for 10 days

The scene outside the Apple Store in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, this morning

Duncan Hoare, the first person to leave the Apple store in Covent Garden after buying an iPhone 4S this morning, poses for the assembled cameras. Analysts say the phone could sell three million this weekend

An Apple fan wearing a mask of Apple founder Steve Jobs queues outside the Apple Store in Tokyo in advance of Today's launch

The launch attracted a fair number of weird and wonderful characters - this person (name and gender unknown) poses with newly purchased iPhone 4S smartphones outside the Apple Store in Regents Street, London
Shoesmith, who had queued outside the store for 10 days, updating a Twitter feed about the wait, said, 'I am absolutely exhausted, it has been a lot harder than I thought. I haven't slept properly the whole time'
Apple's new smartphone has already broken the pre-order record set by iPhone 4.
The queues have also been snaking around Apple stores all over the world.

More...

• First BlackBerry, now Apple crumbles: Software launch hit by glitches as tech giant struggles with massive demand
• iPhone 4S global review round-up: Same screen, same casing - different story?
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Tokyo and Australia got the phone first, due to time differences. In Tokyo hundreds jostled to gain entry, with fans glued to iPhones, iPads and Macbook laptops as they waited for stores to open.

Customers queue outside the Apple store in Covent Garden to buy an iPhone 4S on October 14, 2011 in London
One million phones were pre-ordered in the first 24 hours after launch, almost doubling the previous one-day record of 600,000 for the iPhone 4.
Analysts say Apple could sell three million phones this weekend, and up to 100 million next year.

New and improved: This is the phone they are all waiting for, and it goes on sale at 8am
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was a surprise face among the people queuing outside his local Apple store in Los Gatos, California.
Wozniak, who co-founded the company with Steve Jobs was first in the queue outside the store.
Wozniak no longer works for the company. Famously, he sold his Hewlett Packard calculator for $500 in 1976 to fund Apple's launch.
Wozniak told American TV station NBC 11 that even though he has two of the new handsets on the way, he plans on staying overnight outside the store.

Review round-up: What the experts said

The first reviews of Apple's iPhone 4S have come in - and while new features such as voice activation have met mixed reception, and the battery still barely lasts a day, overall the phone gets a cautious thumbs up.

The iPhone 4S's new 8-megapixel camera won near-universal praise, although some reviewers claimed the software 'froze' occasionally

The casing

'The iPhone 4S is
one of Apple's less dramatic updates'

Stuff.tv protested over the fact that Apple's tiny tweaks to button placing could cause some users to have to buy new cases,'If you're planning on bagging yourself the iPhone 4S this Friday,  put aside a bit of spare change for a replacement case,' it said.
But overall, reaction was good. TechCrunch said, 'I’m happy that Apple decided not to change the form factor even though they had to know there would be some backlash from a certain segment of the population (read: idiots)'.
The Wall Street Journal said, 'The iPhone 4S is one of Apple’s less dramatic updates'.

The 'Error 3200' message confused users - others reported slow download speeds and glitches once the new iOS installed

The battery

'The battery life appears to be about the same as iPhone 4 - Apple says it's better: it looks even'

The battery, never Apple's strong suit, was still a slight disappointment to many. 'While the battery still gets you through one full day, standby time is shorter than before (200 hours versus 300),' griped the New York Times.
This Is My Next was more easily impressed, 'Even after a heavy day of use (about 16 hours of making calls, browsing, downloading apps, syncing, listening to music, game playing, and more), I still had juice on the phone when I plugged it in before bed.'
CNET said, 'The battery life of the 4S appears to be about the same as the iPhone 4's - Apple is saying it's slightly better, but it looks pretty even.'

The new software download is intended to bring older iPhones in line with the functions of iPhone 4S - including a new instant-messaging app, iMessage, and the iCloud service which shares music between your Apple devices

Voice control

'It's like having the intern of my dreams at my beck and call, organising my life'

The meat of many reviews - as well as the main topic of Apple's own iPhone 4S presentation - was how the Siri voice-control software performed. Most reviewers were impressed.
USA Today said, The real power comes in the many ways you can converse with Siri and be understood. Asking 'Will it rain tomorrow?' yields the same weather results as 'What is the forecast for the week ahead?'
Daring Fireball said, 'You’re not driving or commanding the existing iPhone interface with commands. There is no syntax to memorize. You’re just, well, talking to your iPhone.'
Wired said, 'It's kind of like having the  intern of my dreams at my beck and call, organizing my life for me. I think Siri on the iPhone is a life changer, and this is only the beginning.'

The new dual-core processor and improved RAM speed things up considerably

The camera

'The camera's a major overhaul - but it can't compete with traditional cameras in low light'

Reviewers were impressed by Apple's new eight-megapixel camera, though some noted it merely brought Apple in line with competition such as Samsung's Galaxy S II.
Macworld said the camera was 'Great'
The New York Times was impressed, but groused, 'Every now and then the 4S’s camera app gets stuck on its startup screen.'
T3 said, 'The camera's had a major overhaul, now capable of taking eight-megapixel stills and recording 1080p video. Photos are crisper, no question, but it can't compete with traditional cameras with bigger lenses in low light.'

The processor

'Some may be content to skip the new hardware and enjoy the software with older models'

Most reviewers felt that the new upgraded chip gave iOS 5 a satisfying boost - but some questioned whether it was enough to let Apple compete.
Wired said, 'There will undoubtedly be smartphones with faster processors,' while T3 said, 'The new A5 dual-core processor (as seen in the iPad 2) makes things noticeably nippier.
Apps launch quicker, web pages load faster, multi-tasking is more fluid and resource-hungry apps like Pages now allow you to edit documents without any lag.'