I have been an avid Android user for several years now and have extolled the virtues of Google's operating system many times. Android always, or nearly always, does the job of running a super-connected modern smartphone very, very well. I have always had considered reasons why I have discounted owning an iPhone and rarely, if ever, come across anything an iPhone could do that I couldn't do with my cheaper, open source powered phone. There seemed no reason to pay the Apple premium price or subscribe to the iTunes ecosystem.

However, will the new hardware of the iPhone 4S and the upgraded features of the latest iOS 5 operating system be enough to tempt me away from Android and towards Apple? Maybe, just maybe, and here are some reasons why.

Notifications

Android has always had a superior notification system to iOS, with the latest notifications appearing at the top of the screen and a full list easily accessible via a pull down menu, compared to the simple pop-ups of iOS. Apple have caught up, however, with the notification center in iOS 5. Problem sorted.

Camera

I use my phone more and more for taking photos and I have got in to iPhoneography, or whatever you call it. The iPhone 4S camera looks, on paper, technically superior to the camera on any current Android phone. The example photos on the Apple site certainly do look impressive. The iPhone 4S may be the device that makes iPhoneography grow up.

Siri

Siri is like Android Voice Actions brought forward a decade. Very, very clever stuff.

Apple have certainly set the bar high for other handset manufacturers, but the iPhone and associated contract still comes at a premium price when compared to Android smartphones. I can't decide at the moment whether the new features are enough to justify the cost if I did decide to go the Apple route for my new phone upgrade, but I just might be tempted..