We assume unless you've been sleeping in late today and have yet to check almost any website, you're well aware Apple presented the iPhone 4G to anticipated fanfare. We were pleasantly surprised despite some of the fun being dampened by the (in)famous Gizmodo early reveal; the 4x retina display, iMovie app and FaceTime video calling makes the new iPhone more than solid update to Apple's cash cow in our eyes.
But what did you think? Was this enough to sway you away from your existing iPhone, or the option of an Android mobile, or to upgrade from something else?
An interesting note is Jobs addressed the much nitpicked seams in the new iPhone's metal side design, revealing each of the panels operates as an integrated antenna. Form follows function this time, and we begrudgingly admit this detail is acceptable due to its utility. Anyone who has followed tech and Apple blogs should pretty much know most of the details of the phone (slimmer form factor, multitasking, upgraded 5 megapixel camera with LED flash), but label us as pleasantly surprised with the announcement of a 3-axis gyroscope alongside a better iBooks app to use on both the iPhone and iPad.
All the details of the new iPhone available at Apple.
But where was the Mac Mini/Apple TV updates? Guess Steve is keeping them as hobbies for now.
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- the hardware is still tied exclusive to at&t
- at&t's tethering plan requires you to pay $20 but no extra data allotment. why is this bad? it encourages you to not go over your existing data allotment otherwise pay more, making it a moot point for many. rogers gives you 6gb extra for data at $30.
- facetime is wifi only, whereas the android evo streams video chat via wifi, 3g, and 4g (whatever is available)
- there is no 64gb model. the max is 32gb -is that enough storage for hi-def video & editing? not in my opinion.
-facetime is supposed to work only from iphone 4 to iphone 4, but it's a wait-and-see because they also said that it would be set as an open standard.
-the antenna is the edge of the iphone. i ponder the loss of signal strength if some jackets and external battery cases cover this up.
-holding off until i see the display for myself. but i hear it's awesome.
- the iphone needs a rotate on/off switch like the ipad. it has been very annoying when an app persistently shows a sideways display to you.
-the flash for the camera was a great addition
-consciously choosing to not shrink the camera sensors make for less grainy images in lower light levels and enhances overall improvement in picture quality -megapixels notwithstanding.
-the trend thus far has been to add a new sensor to the iphone in almost every generation -from the accelerometer, the compass, and now the gyroscope. i'm loving the potential for more capabilities with the gyroscope.
the android still has compelling benefits but so does apple's iphone 4 and ios4. it's great to see competition keeping notable advancements happening. i would be happy with either os.
@blackfeathers
- since rogers is in canada, at&t probably doesn't feel the need to compete with their tethering prices. that being said, paying an additional $20 is bogus.
- during the keynote, jobs noted that facetime is only available on wi-fi because they are having trouble getting carriers to approve it - hopefully it'll come soon cause this would be huge in grocery stores.
i'm an original iPhone 2G owner here. i love the new features of the iPhone 4, and can't wait to see the new smaller size, the higher res display, and iMovie in action.
i do have a feeling an iPhone on verizon is coming though. apple knows that they could easily add a million customers by making a CDMA iPhone. in fact, since the stainless steel band works as the antenna - they would just have to make another steel band for a CDMA antenna instead of making a new iPhone for other networks.
but if i don't see a verizon iPhone by January, then i'll just have to be happy with an iPad.
They finally got it right except for the one missing feature already mentioned - the Verizon feature.
I don't see the benefit of video chat. we can do that now on our laptop. This is just iChat for the iPhone...
Says what you want. I'm getting 2!
The answer is smartphones are being seen as laptop replacements. More and more smartphones are becoming the mobile computing option while laptops are the home computing option.
"The answer is smartphones are being seen as laptop replacements. "
Indeed - I no longer carry my laptop when I travel as I can write and blog almost as well from my iPhone.
bepsf - where do you blog, out of interest?