After months of leaks and drama, Apple announced the iPhone 4 today and gave us details on the device and release information. The actual name of the phone is "iPhone 4," rather than iPhone HD or 4G. The device has a glass front and back with a stainless steel band around the phone that actually functions as the antenna system with the Wi-Fi, GSM/UMTS, Bluetooth, etc. radios stuffed in. There is a front-facing camera to take advantage of Apple's new video calling feature, titled FaceTime, that will be available only on iPhone 4. The new, higher res display has a 960x640 resolution and has quadruple the pixel count of previous iPhones. Apple calls the display technology Retina Display. The new display is also rated at 326 ppi, which is beyond the maximum of 300 ppi that the human eye is capable of perceiving, and it is an IPS display similar to what's on the iPad. Screen size has remained the same at 3.5 inches. Under the hood there is an Apple A4 processor, like in the iPad, running the show. While the device is slimmer than previous generations at 9.3 mm thin, the battery is actually larger and is rated to provide 7 hours of 3G talk time. 802.11n is available for Wi-Fi, and the camera around back has been bumped up to 5 megapixels with 5x digital zoom, includes an LED flash, and is capable of shooting HD video at 720p and 30 fps.
While there have been several hardware changes, there have been just as many software changes. The new operating system, now titled iOS4, will automatically upscale text and buttons, though Steve Jobs urged developers to make their apps fully compatible with the new device. iOS4 will be availble for free for eligible devices on June 21st. FaceTime, mentioned earlier, will be available only on iPhone 4, can use either the front or rear cameras, and will only be available for use over Wi-Fi in 2010. There is a new gyroscope, along with the GPS and accelerometer already in the phone, to provide six axis control. To compliment the new HD video camera, Apple is releasing an iMovie app for $4.99 that will allow users to edit video, add transitions and titles, and use several other standard iMovie features right on the iPhone. Finally, Bing has been added to the search options that users can choose, although Google is still there as well.
The new iPhone 4 will be available on AT&T starting June 24th in either white or black. Pricing is $199 for the 16 GB version and $299 for the 32 GB, with an 8 GB iPhone 3GS available for $99. It's interesting that the storage capacities have stayed the same considering a storage increase was one of the few things people were sure would come to iPhone 4. If your AT&T contract expires any time in 2010, the carrier will be giving you the option to upgrade to the iPhone 4 on June 24th as long as you're willing to sign a new 2 year contract. Pre-orders for the device will be starting on June 15th. Apple will be making its own case, similar to what they did for the iPad, and dock for the new iPhone for $29 each.
Check back with PhoneDog often for more information on the iPhone 4, and be sure to check out Noah's video footage of WWDC 2010!
Via Engadget
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