For starters, Ryan Block's live-blogging of the iPhone 5 iPhone 4S announcement for gdgt was fun and concise and humorous and perfect. Well done, sir. And next, the iPhone 4S. Which looks remarkably similar to its predecessor, the iPhone 4. Anyway. Here it is. Drink it in, Apple sect members.

Some fun features: Data can now download up to 2x as fast. According to gdgt, the iPhone 4S will come with a “dual-core CPU, 2x as fast at CPU tasks. Also dual-core graphics. Up to 7x faster in the previous iPhone. One area you really see it scream is in games.” It can also download data up to 2x as fast. Also, it's got an 8 megapixel sensor, which will be great for editing photos on-device (crop, rotate, remove red-eye). video-wise, it will feature real-time video image stabilization and real-time temporal noise reduction. Go here for more details.

The iPhone 4S (featuring something called Siri) will also do dictation. So, whenever you see a keyboard, you’ll also see a microphone. "Talk to Siri, tap done, and in the blink of an eye it comes back with your text. Speak with your natural language." Fancy.

You can purchase the iPhone 4S in stores on October 14. Available for pre-order on October 7.

So much for a swank new design or iPhone 5. As Tien Mao, our Gothamist colleague in New York City, pointed out, "Most disappointed in the new iPhone: thieves on the subway who have no way to differentiate between the 4G and 4Gs." Hear, hear.

Another issue? Still no Flash. Of course.

Also, for those of you who still insist on fetishizing paper, iOS5's "cards" feature will allow you to create cards on your phone or iPad, and then Apple will publish them on 100% cotton paper and mail them out.

In iPod Nano news, it will now be available in 16 new clock faces for people who like to wear it as a wristwatch. The iPod nano is 8GB for $129, and 16GB for $149. Available today.