8 June, 2010

iPhone 4 announced – Apple WWDC

Apple: “iPhone 4 – This changes everything. Again…”

Update: watch the Apple keynote

Ok, it’s official – the iPhone 4 is coming …

As expected at the Apple WWDC Keynote speech, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4.

“What’s the iPhone 4 look like?”

Visually, it is exactly like Gizmodo reported – thinner, flatter, with less curves.

According to Apple, it’s the “thinnest smartphone ever” – in fact the iPhone 4 is 115.2 mmH x 58.6 mmW x 9.3 mmD thin

It weighs in at 137 grams.

Available in white or black.

The rim is made of stainless steel rim, which gives strength and structure to the iPhone and acts as an antenna for 3G and Wi-Fi to increase the iPhone’s reception.

You’ll notice the volume buttons are now split.

The front and back are both made of glass, “comparable in strength to sapphire crystal but 30 times harder than plastic”, Apple says.

The “Retina” display is the highest resolution yet to be used in a mobile phone. The display is a 3.5 inch, 960 x 640, or 326 pixels per inch (up to four times previous iPhones). A process of laminating the cover glass to the display which eliminates light refraction has also been used to add even more sharpness and clarity to the ultra hi-res display.

“Does it pack a mean punch?”

Inside is the rumoured Apple A4 chip, the same chip onboard the iPad. Faster than all previous iPhones and consuming less power. It will come with iOS 4 (not yet available), the renamed iPhone OS. Starting at 16Gb, capped at the 32GB size.

You’ll be happy to know that it’s got a larger battery, allowing up to 40% more talk time… although some of the new features will surely suck the life straight out of that as well.

The camera – finally caught up to industry standard – a 5Mp with auto-focus, backlit and LED flash. Bigger sensor and lenses resulting in better quality photos, even in low light.

“What’s it do?”

Ok – firstly… for those who’ve been waiting half a lifetime for Apple to catch up …

Multi-tasking: So you can finally switch between apps easily (have they mastered it – or will there be massive battery drain??).

Camera – Other than 5Mp, it also records 720xp HD video at up to 30 frames/sec (edit using iMovie). The flash works with the video as well. A second mic built on for noise-reduction.

But what else have they put these features in for? Video conferencing… now this is ‘the main focus’ of the Apple iPhone 4 launch… Video conferencing – or “face time”. You can switch between front and back camera during conferencing. But, before you get too excited, video conferencing will only work iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 (over Wi-Fi).

Mail – Single inbox: Sync your messages from across multiple accounts. Organised / grouped by thread /topic.

Folders: Easy organisation / grouping of all your apps by category.

“Who’s getting the iPhone 4 – and when?”

Yes, well, we have to wait. Ho-hum!

The iPhone 4 will be available in the US, UK, France and Germany on 24 June. It will be rolled out across 88 countries thereafter (Australia in late July).