Apple iPhone 4S review

The iPhone 4S is perhaps the most divisive smartphone Apple has released yet. Due to the rampant rumours on the internet before its release, many were expecting a completely redesigned iPhone 5. What we got instead was an upgraded smartphone that's externally almost identical to the iPhone 4, apart from a few differences in the look of the antenna. There are still plenty of noteworthy new features that set the iPhone 4S apart, not only from its predecessor but from other smartphones too.

Lip reading

The standout new feature of the iPhone 4S has to be Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant. Simply hold down the Home button, the Siri interface pops up and you then tell it what to do, such as checking the weather, checking whether you have any upcoming appointments on a certain date, setting a reminder or dictating replies to texts and emails. Siri isn't like the traditional voice recognition and command systems on desktop computers where voice is used to control the cursor and onscreen controls. It's a completely separate, alternative iPhone interface in its own right – one driven by voice rather than touch.

Create a reminder or check if you have any appointments on any given day using Siri.

The beauty of Siri is that it talks back to you. So if you ask it to send an email to someone, it can ask you whether you want to send it to that person's home or work address. If you tag your relatives with the appropriate labels in your address book (wife, brother, husband etc), you can command Siri to email your brother rather than having to say his full name. Siri also recognises the context of your question, so if you just asked it to check whether you have any appointments on Monday, if you follow it up by asking 'how about Tuesday', it will know to check your calendar for the following day.

If you're not a fan of touchscreen keyboards, voice dictation may be a viable alternative.