New iPhone, Greeting Cards And More: Apple's 9 Biggest Surprises

At Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event, there was, indeed, a lot of talking about the iPhone: about the new iPhone 4S; about Siri, the voice controlled "personal assistant;" about Apple-branded greeting cards, and improved iPhone camera hardware and software; about iOS 5, the latest mobile operating system from Apple; about new iPods and iPod Nanos and the October 14 release date.

And there was also a LOT of talk about how many devices Apple has sold and how many apps its users are downloading per month (Hint: One million apps per month isn't cool. You know what's cool? Apple knows what's cool).

To cut through all this talk, we've put together the nine most important or surprising developments from this October's Apple media event. Scan through below for all of the heavy-hitting product launches, updates and (non-)developments from the big iPhone event:

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There Was No iPhone 5

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Title pretty much says it all. Despite months of speculation about an iPhone 5 with a redesigned home button, teardrop design and edge-to-edge glass, Apple only released an upgrade to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S, with the exact same form factor. No radically different iPhone 5--for now.

19 Wildly Specific Subreddits

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9 Best Google Glass Parodies

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Future Cars

The Samsung Galaxy S4

Steve Jobs' Best Quotes

The Lost iProducts: Apple's Prototypes

Title pretty much says it all. Despite months of speculation about an iPhone 5 with a redesigned home button, teardrop design and edge-to-edge glass, Apple only released an upgrade to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S, with the exact same form factor. No radically different iPhone 5--for now.

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Comments

[CharityCards]

01:00 PM on 11/07/2011

I run a greeting card business, and have asked my clients questions about this new Apple iCard or whatever it's called. They said they probably wouldn't use it because it would make the whole process incredibly impersonal, which is the OPPOSITE of what a Holiday Greeting Card (http://www.charitycards.com) is supposed to do!

[CT Independent]

07:52 AM on 10/05/2011

iTurnoff!!

[Trout007]

07:03 AM on 10/05/2011

I like that ITunes will let you put a CD in and instead of ripping it just recognizes you own that CD and it give you access to it on all of your devices. I can wait for that to happen with DVDs too. Then I can store all of those things in the attic.

[GibsonSG]

12:12 PM on 10/05/2011

That CD is still stored somewhere on your network or device. Why not pick up a 2TB portable drive and back them up yourself. No annoying security checks, FBI anti piracy warnings, or trailers and commercials to deal with and you can put them in the attic.

[desireaftergod]

06:39 AM on 10/05/2011

What am I missing? Everyone is talking about how disappointed they are that an Iphone 5 was not released. The Iphone 4S is a whole new Iphone. It may not look different, but isn't it ultimately what is inside that counts (i.e. Dual core processor, 8mp camera...etc) :)

[calvinwing]

06:37 AM on 10/06/2011

I think people wanted a leap forward not just a baby step that makes it almost as good as the current droids.

[sfizi]

06:29 AM on 10/05/2011

S - for suckers

[twowhitedogs]

07:37 AM on 10/05/2011

lol..... pretty much. Myself included. We are making these guys very wealthy. But iof the newest toys are your thing, and you can afford to have them then why not have them.

[calvinwing]

06:38 AM on 10/06/2011

sell your old one on ebay, if it's in good condition they bring good money

[jerkchickn]

06:17 AM on 10/05/2011

i'm complaining about a thing that i'm not gonna buy, how about you?

[Yota Daga]

06:01 AM on 10/05/2011

Absolutely disappointing, -like skipping viagra

[jubo]

05:27 AM on 10/05/2011

Droid should thank Apple for the free advertising. Man, what a letdown. Mr Rodgers' neighborhood ????

[James London]

05:25 AM on 10/05/2011

There is one more thing. It just isn't the same as it was with Steve Jobs steering the ship.

[clearthinker2008]

06:32 AM on 10/05/2011

What are you talking about? The products? The presentation? Or both? I'm mean dude just left how much can be different?

[kstib98509]

04:58 AM on 10/05/2011

I don't understand the whole thing. I have a cell phone that costs $10 a month for emergencies. My family and friends know not to call me at work unless there's a MAJOR EMERGENCY. When I am at home, the people that work for me know not to call me unless there is a MAJOR EMERGENCY, because they get paid to run things when I'm not around. When at work I concentrate on work. When I'm home I concentrate on family and on fun time.

[twowhitedogs]

05:28 AM on 10/05/2011

You don't have to understand it. To each his own. It is a huge thing in the way of convenience when you have a busy life.

[clearthinker2008]

06:33 AM on 10/05/2011

Good point.

[sfizi]

06:31 AM on 10/05/2011

Amen ! Its nice to know that there's people out there that still have sanity..

[mzodarg]

04:31 AM on 10/05/2011

Well I waited to see what Apple would come out with,what a dissapointment- oh well Infuse here I come!

[clearthinker2008]

06:34 AM on 10/05/2011

What were expecting? Seriously what announcements would have excited you? I'm not being sarcastic btw.

[Dogma]

04:28 AM on 10/05/2011

At least they could have let this poor guy Cook debut with an exciting new hardware product...

[calvinwing]

04:20 AM on 10/05/2011

I have a Samsung Infuse now. I recommend you all do the same. It's just much better and cheaper.

[twowhitedogs]

05:30 AM on 10/05/2011

I had a droid inc. and my daughter begged me to get the iphone 4. Since my son wanted my droid I caved. I want my droid back. There is nothing special about the iphone.

[sfizi]

06:34 AM on 10/05/2011

Yes it is special .. the price and that it is worthless less tha a year after you buy it cuz a new ( pseudo ) one is out

[clearthinker2008]

06:35 AM on 10/05/2011

Why is it better?

[calvinwing]

06:34 AM on 10/06/2011

It has an 8 mp camera with hd video, no itunes, changeable battery (bought two spares for 5 bucks a piece), bigger and better looking screen, drop down menu is better, google integration is nice, swipe, and of course, free angry birds and amazon app of the day. Plus mine when it first came out was only 150 bucks for a 16gb and my sister got a refurbished one for 20 dollars.

[General Public]

03:27 AM on 10/05/2011

It seems that now that Steve Jobs isn't in charge anymore, Apple is suddenly boring. Way to go, Tim Cook! The new phone is almost exactly the same as the old phone, except for a small number of minor changes: bringing in a faster CPU that is already used in iPads, adding a thing for voice commands made by a company called Siri that Apple bought out (so it wasn't even developed by Apple, plus all the other smartphones have voice commands already), and those 2 are about it. As for supporting both CDMA and GSM, the Verizon iPhone 4 already has that feature, so that isn't new. And the new iOS version 5 also works on older models so that's not a selling point of the new model either. They should have just called this the iPhone 4.01, to have the version number accurately reflect how much it has changed. Looks like the competitors to the iPhone will have it easy for the next year or so (with the exception of Research in Motion's BlackBerry), until Apple actually makes more substantive improvements. I'm betting Android will continue to be the most popular smartphone.

[drpmindmender]

03:22 AM on 10/05/2011

I realize that I am an old fuddy-duddy - I admit it! But what is the point in having any brand of smart phone that does so many things? The Law of Diminishing Returns tells us that the more, different tasks a device, or for that matter, a person does, the less effectively any one task gets done. Apple offers four hundred and twenty-five THOUSAND apps? You'll be dead before you can read the entire list, let alone download and use them. Pay at least $15/mo. (and probably much more!) to download and watch a movie on a 3" screen? People who pay this kind of money are likely to have multiple 40" to 80" flat screen tvs in their homes. Texting someone who is sitting in the same room as you? Unless both parties are deaf-mutes, what's the point?

Get a life, people! There is so much more to the world than just that over-priced electronic do-dad in your pocket or purse.

[Macintosh Sauce]

04:55 AM on 10/05/2011

OK Grandpa... Time for your meds before beddy-bye.

[mairs]

01:10 PM on 10/05/2011

Hey, just the fact that I don't have to buy paper maps in gas stations anymore when I travel makes them worth it.