June came and went with no word on the next iPhone, and speculation went through the roof about what many of us assumed would be called the 'iPhone 5'. (It now seems unlikely we'll ever see a product with that name, if Apple's policy with the is any indication.)

Eventually a press conference was called, the first iPhone event to be compered by Tim Cook, who had taken over from Steve Jobs after his health-related resignation.

The 4S was physically almost identical to the iPhone 4, but saw extensive incremental updates internally.

The new A5 processor was far faster and allowed for vastly improved graphics and gaming. (Apple claimed it allowed the 4S to process graphics seven times faster.) The rear-facing camera was significantly improved to an impressive 8Mp (although some were saddened that the front-facing camera remained a weedy 0.3Mp) and Apple added Siri, a voice-activated 'personal assistant' feature that turned out to be odd, quirkily humorous and not always practical - especially in this country, where local business search was among the features that didn't work. But it also caught the imagination and struck many users as something that would blossom in the future.

Inevitably, the launch was overshadowed by the death the following day of .