The 'Best iPhone Ever' Is Not iPhone 5

The weekly rumors, countless product design concepts and even stolen prototype drama are all over -- and there is no iPhone 5 to show for it. Apple's much anticipated iPhone event on Tuesday anticlimactically ended months of rumors announcing a sequel to iPhone 4, iOS 5, iCloud and several new apps.

The updates to iPhone 4 -- called iPhone 4S -- make it what Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, calls "the best iPhone ever." The iPhone 4S will be getting the same dual-core processor used in iPad 2, faster wireless data speeds, an 8 megapixel camera and full video capabilities in 1080p HD resolution. The iPhone 4S will start at $199 while the traditional iPhone 4 took a price cut to $99. iPhone 3G will be free with a two year contract.

CEO Tim Cook, in his first full product launch since Steve Jobs resigned, said during the event that Apple only owns 5 percent of the global mobile phone share right now, but more than half of the iPhones sold are the iPhone 4 model. This he says presents a great opportunity for iPhone.

To work with iPhone 4S, Apple announced Siri, a program that, according to the release, "helps you get things done just by asking":

Siri is smart about using the personal information you allow it to access, for example, if you tell Siri “Remind me to call Mom when I get home” it can find “Mom” in your address book, or ask Siri “What’s the traffic like around here?” and it can figure out where “here” is based on your current location.

Watch how Siri works:

Alongside the iPhone 4S  announcement was the launch of iOS 5, an operating system that will have more than 200 new features, and iCloud, which is a set of free cloud services that work with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices. iOS5 and iCloud services will be available starting October 12.

Today, Sprint also announced its foray into the iPhone market. Earlier this week, it was rumored that Sprint could have had an exclusive deal with iPhone 5, which obviously didn't pan out. The iPhone 4S will be available to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint customers for pre-order October 7.

Mashable entertains the question if Apple failed to meet expectations with its announcement today stating that even to the end of the event, reporters were anticipating a "one more thing" surprise ending, like those traditionally given by former CEO Steve Jobs. If the market represents how the general public felt about Apple's announcement, it fell as much as 5 percent.

Mashable also asks the million dollar question: "Does this mean we have to endure one more year of iPhone 5 rumors?"