What is the iPhone 4S missing? The number "5" for starters...

With any new phone release, most consumers have come to expect a few basics:

1. It should run/feel faster....check (see Dual-core A5)
2. It should have better hardware features (ie - camera, screen resolution)....check
3. It should look and feel new....oops...missed this one

With that said, Apple met only 2 of 3 basic requirements that most consumers expect. It failed to provide something that looks and feels new...detracting from some of the cache that many customers seek in purchasing Apple products. I'll grade Apple a C+ for meeting basic expectations.

The following expectations are in addition to what most phone-makers are required to do. There are no "gimme's" when you're the undisputed world leader in the market, and arguably the world's most valuable company. Apple is in some ways the victim of its own history of exceeding customer expectations.

Now on to what most customers have come to expect from Apple, with a new phone release:

It should fundamentally change the way I perform a basic task or approach a routine activity....potentially yes (a la Siri)...but NTC technology to enable mobile payments would have been revolutionary

On this front, I think Apple only partially succeeded. As mentioned above, an iWallet feature would have been truly breakthrough. Also, if the new phone is so much faster at processing data, why not allow FaceTime through 3G networks. Currently this is only allowed when on wifi. If you don't think 3G is fast enough for this technology, think again. I did this routinely on my jailbroken iPhone 4 a year ago. This is Apple's olive branch to wireless carriers, whose networks might otherwise be overwhelmed with data usage.  

If this were a typical phone manufacturer, this release would meet consumer expectations. But who are we kidding, we are talking about Apple, and we have come to expect more...

Here are just a few more reactions to today's release:

1. We missed Steve Jobs. Tim Cook did okay, but he's no Jobs.
2. The World Phone technology is great for those of us that travel internationally.
3. Welcome to the game Sprint. That's a big $20B bet you made, and hopefully the extra competition helps keep data fees low.
4. Twitter integration in iOS 5 looks cool...but where's the Facebook integration?
5. Really wish that some of the renderings floating around for a new design would have been included (wall to wall screen, rounded edges, slimmer profile, etc). Perhaps iPhone 5 is coming sooner than expected... Christmas 2011?