Apple Inc. unveiled an iPhone 4S, which features a new chip that's also in the iPad.

The iPhone 4 came in two flavors -- GSM and CDMA -- depending on the carrier. But the iPhone 4S is a world phone, and will work on both networks. This system will benefit people who travel around the world -- and want to switch wireless carriers.

It also showed off its service that will back up and synchronize data between Apple's devices and computers.

Dubbed "iCloud," the service allows customers to tie its gadgets together and share photos, music, address book contacts, calendars and other data through the Internet. Apple first unveiled the free service in June but is making it available now, shipping Oct. 12.

In addition to iCloud, Apple also said iOS5--its new operating system for wireless devices--will be available as a free update on Oct. 12. The new operating system includes features like a new messaging service, more Twitter integration and ways to edit photos.

Chief Executive Tim Cook is hosting the event, his first such move since taking over as chief executive for Steve Jobs in August. Jobs had been on medical leave since January for an undisclosed illness. Cook was wearing a black button-down shirt and jeans but no turtleneck, unlike his predecessor.

"This is my first product launch since being named CEO--I'm sure you didn't know that." Cook said. He noted the company "has enormous momentum" and spoke about the success that the company has had with its retail stores and devices. Apple shares recently slid $2.48 to 372.12.

The iCloud product is seen competing with a rival service introduced last week by Amazon.com Inc. With its Fire tablet, Amazon also unveiled cloud features such as a Web browser that the company said is faster than others because it's powered by software in Amazon's servers.

Amazon's tablet also offers free storage of digital media purchased through Amazon in the company's servers and automatically syncs information such as e-reader bookmarks between Kindles and other devices.

Alongside iCloud, Apple launched a service called "iTunes Match," that would for the first time--and with the blessing of record labels--give legitimacy to digital music that users have saved on their computers, whether it was ripped from a CD, purchased from a competing service or illegally copied.

For $24.99 per year, Apple's iTunes service would let users remotely access and stream thousands of songs from collections they placed on Apple's servers. The service was built as an addition to Apple's free iCloud offerings, which lets users re-download any music or apps they purchased from the company's iTunes store.

The new iTunes service is an effort by Apple to increase its dominance as the world's biggest music reseller, while competitors like Google Inc. and Amazon attempt to build up similar services.

The effort also helps keep Apple's feature list competitive against Google's Android mobile operating system, which has touted its unrestrictive nature and its tie-ins with Google's services.

The free iCloud eliminates a $99-per-year fee Apple had charged for its pervious cloud-storage service, called "Mobile Me," which could synchronize information such as passwords between multiple computers and devices, host family websites and remotely store files.

Apple has said that although iCloud shared many of its features with Mobile Me, the code used to create them was different.

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