After months of speculation and one very high profile case of a prototype being lost in a bar, Apple today announced details of their new fourth generation iPhone, the Apple iPhone 4.
One immediately obvious feature is the new design with a flat glass front and back and a stainless steel band around the outside of the phone which doubles as a pair of antennae to give improved reception for GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and also GSM and UMTS signals. The iPhone 4 is also much thinner than previous models at just 9.3mm thick, and Apple say that this is the thinnest smartphone available today. The iPhone 4 will be available in two colour schemes as before, black and white.
One side effect of the different size of the iPhone 4 is that the accessories will be different, especially when it comes to docking stations. Perhaps some enterprising company will make an adapter to ensure that the iPhone 4 can fit in older docks.
Another widely rumoured feature was a high density display, and the Apple iPhone 4 has a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, which is actually better than many printers. In order to maintain compatibility with old models, Apple have simple doubled the number of pixels along each axis giving four times the pixel count overall. This gives the iPhone 4 a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels which is much higher than anything else comparable on the market, although the display size remains the same as the previous versions at 3.5". The resolution is still less than the iPad though, but Apple's choice seems to be a logical one.
One the back is a 5 megapixel camera, which was pretty much the minimum upgrade you would expect from the 3 megapixels on the 3GS. Although this doesn't sound particularly impressive, Apple have done a lot of work on the optics and electronics to offer high quality results. In fact, the previous iPhone also managed to produce excellent photographs from quite a limited resolution, so Apple fans will probably be looking forward to the results.
Not only are stills photos better, but the iPhone 4 can also record HD 720p video at 30 frames per second. Users can edit videos on the iPhone 4 itself using an optional version of iMovie (priced at less than $5 in the US). Video capture can use the LED flash as a camera light, something that some other phones rather annoyingly omit.
The Apple iPhone 4 is the first iPhone to have a front facing camera allowing video calling, using Apple's own "FaceTime" technology which is restricted to the iPhone 4 only at the moment, but it is based on open standards that Apple seem to be keen to promote and allow on other devices. Apple say that more work needs to be done with cellular carriers to make it work over 3G networks. Unusually, video calling can be made with the rear camera too. Incidentally, the FaceTime name is already in use by another technology company who may not appreciate Apple's use of it.
One side effect of the different size of the iPhone 4 is that the accessories will be different, especially when it comes to docking stations. Perhaps some enterprising company will make an adapter to ensure that the iPhone 4 can fit in older docks.
Another widely rumoured feature was a high density display, and the Apple iPhone 4 has a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, which is actually better than many printers. In order to maintain compatibility with old models, Apple have simple doubled the number of pixels along each axis giving four times the pixel count overall. This gives the iPhone 4 a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels which is much higher than anything else comparable on the market, although the display size remains the same as the previous versions at 3.5". The resolution is still less than the iPad though, but Apple's choice seems to be a logical one.
One the back is a 5 megapixel camera, which was pretty much the minimum upgrade you would expect from the 3 megapixels on the 3GS. Although this doesn't sound particularly impressive, Apple have done a lot of work on the optics and electronics to offer high quality results. In fact, the previous iPhone also managed to produce excellent photographs from quite a limited resolution, so Apple fans will probably be looking forward to the results.
Not only are stills photos better, but the iPhone 4 can also record HD 720p video at 30 frames per second. Users can edit videos on the iPhone 4 itself using an optional version of iMovie (priced at less than $5 in the US). Video capture can use the LED flash as a camera light, something that some other phones rather annoyingly omit.
The Apple iPhone 4 is the first iPhone to have a front facing camera allowing video calling, using Apple's own "FaceTime" technology which is restricted to the iPhone 4 only at the moment, but it is based on open standards that Apple seem to be keen to promote and allow on other devices. Apple say that more work needs to be done with cellular carriers to make it work over 3G networks. Unusually, video calling can be made with the rear camera too. Incidentally, the FaceTime name is already in use by another technology company who may not appreciate Apple's use of it.
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