WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
Apple's new iPhone 4S makes its global debut in Australia and Japan.
The critics panned it, but these guys obviously didn't read the reviews. Apple fans in Sydney roughed it out on chilly morning Friday (October 14), some in line for as many as three days for the launch of the new iPhone 4S. Student Tom Mosca was the first in line.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, TOM MOSCA, SAYING: "I've been here about 80 hours." In typical Apple style, the doors were flung open at 8am local time to let hundreds through. For Mosca, it was also a tribute to the late Steve Jobs, and the last product launched while he was still alive.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, TOM MOSCA, SAYING: "Definitely, it was the last iPhone he was behind, so, of course we are. (Reporter: What are you going to ask the phone?") Where's Steve?" Others instantly raved about its new voice-recognition capability, known as Siri, that lets you use voice commands instead of keying in text.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER, SAYING: "It's better. It's faster, and it has artificial intelligence on it, so it's really good. I really like it. I only had, like, two minutes with it, and I really like it." It was a scene repeated in Japan an hour later, as the smartphone made its debut there. Fans like Yoshie Tomabechi were unstinting in their praise.
(SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) 26-YEAR-OLD CUSTOMER AND BUSINESSWOMAN YOSHIE TOMABECHI SAYING: "As "4S" is said to mean "for Steve," this product contains the spirit that Steve Jobs has been built up."
Japan and Australia are the only two countries in Asia to be part of the first phase of the new iPhone's global launch. Apart from the U.S., others include Canada, Germany and the U.K
