Australians will be able to buy Apple’s new iPhone 4S – complete with “Siri”, the spooky-sounding female virtual “intelligent assistant – from October 14, the same launch date as in the USA, Apple Australia has announced.

Australians will be able to buy Apple’s new iPhone 4S – complete with “Siri”, the spooky-sounding female virtual “intelligent assistant – from October 14, the same launch date as in the USA, Apple Australia has announced.

Australia is one of only five countries outside North America to have shipments of the new smartphone next week. (The others are France, Germany, Japan and the UK). Some 22 more nations will get it at the end of October and still more by year’s end.

The new phone, while far from the widely-anticipated but – as it turns out – non-existent iPhone 5, has many new features. Apart from servant-girl Siri (“there to help – just ask”), they include the new iOS 5 operating system, an 8MP HD video-capable camera, a dual-core A5 processor claimed to be nine times faster than its predecessor at some tasks, and an improved antenna.

A 16GB unlocked model will cost A$799; a 32GB version will be $899; and the 64GB flagship will go for $999.

Apple will also continue to offer the older 8GB iPhone 4 at $679 unlocked; and the basic 8GB iPhone 3G S at $449.

All major carriers are expected to offer the iPhone 4S on monthly plans, some at zero upfront – or “free” as this practice is termed in the US, though in fact it’s never free.

Apple has also announced that its new iCloud online storage and synching service will be available in Australia one day before the iPhone 4 lands – October 13.

Users can store 5GB of storage free, but can upgrade to 10GB for $21 a year, 20GB for $42p.a., or 50GB for $105.

The iCloud system will automatically sync a user’s collection of music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars and documents to all the user’s Apple devices – up to 10 Macs, iPads, iPods or iPhones – with no need for cables. Everything is done wirelessly.

The iCloud service will be available as a free download to iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch users running iOS 5, or a Mac running OS X Lion with a valid Apple ID.