iPhone 5 release date extended for 2012. “Siri” iPhone 4S plus Sprint Oct 14th.

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils the iPhone 4S and leaves the iPhone 5 on the cutting room floor until a 2012 release date, promoting the “Siri” voice assistant feature of the iPhone 4S instead. The iPhone 4S goes on sale October 14th with preorders beginning on October 7th via AT&T and Verizon, with Sprint also joining the iPhone 4S picture a day after priceless pre-game chatter which incorrectly had the iPhone 5 going to Sprint exclusively. The 4S will run Apple’s new iOS 5 operating system, which will also be released for free for older iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices on October 12th. The iPhone 4 is sticking around at $99 (including “coming soon” for Sprint, Apple now says), and the iPhone 3GS as a “free with contract” phone. While packed with enough enticing morsels to keep us parsing them for some time, today’s event comes as a letdown for those who had been waiting for the iPhone 5 since this past summer, when Apple’s tradition of new iPhones every twelve months would have placed its launch timeframe. However, despite looking almost exactly like its iPhone 4 predecessor, the 4S is a hardware dynamo with upgraded specs and features in every category, many of which had been rumored for the iPhone 5 instead. The most likely explanation is that Apple, having failed to ready the iPhone 5 for a 2011 release date due to manufacturing or other issues, opted to pack most of the iPhone 5 features into a modestly overhauled iPhone 4 shell instead. The specs on the new “iPhone 4S” are impressive…