Leaks and Releases

Here again, is a quick overview of the iPhone’s new stuff:

• New design. The metal side casing acts as an antenna for the various radios. ‘Extra strong’ glass front and back. Apple says the glass is “thirty times stronger than plastic.”
• Camera on the front for video chat, called “FaceTime.” This camera can also be used to take photos of yourself in the Camera app.
• Camera on the back has been bumped up to five megapixels and uses a special backlit sensor to help with low-light photos. By all accounts, Apple’s choice to go with a lower pixel count to improve quality was an accurate one. Megapixels are purely the print size and have little to do with quality. LED flash.
• Screen is probably one of the biggest things here. Apple calls it a “retina display.” That’s mostly a buzz term for what is a truly incredible improvement. Resolution bumped up to 960×640. IPS for really wide angle viewing. 326 ppi, which is about 100 ppi higher than art magazines.
• Processor is now an A4, which is the same as the iPad processor.
• New gyroscopic sensor. My favorite comment about this addition was something like “With two cameras, light sensor, motion sensor, gyroscope and compass…, the iPhone 4 is like a tricorder.”
• More GSM bands supported, along with 802.11n.

Comparison

Compared to the 3GS, this is quite the improvement, far greater than the 3G to 3GS bump. I’m actually somewhat regretting my choice to upgrade a year ago. I can’t imagine how 2G and 3G owners must be feeling right now, they’re due for quite the improvement. As for iPhone 4 not being “competitive enough” when compared to other phones…, I think that’s poppycock.

Think of it this way. When someone buys an iPhone, they get a guarantee that it will be supported, useable and competitive for the next two years. When someone buys an Android phone, they become outdated and irrelevant in a matter of months. Other complainers seem to focus on particular elements like, “the processor is only X MHz.” I ask, what does a 1 GHz processor in a Nexus One DO? Compared to an iPhone, scrolling is still choppy and 3D games are few and far between. As long as the iPhone runs well, runs apps well, and does its job without being slow then the details like that don’t matter. Anyway, rant mode over, the iPhone 4 is still a very powerful, attractive phone and there shouldn’t be any doubt that it will continue to be for some time.

Gaming Potential

While Apple has always fancied the iPhone as a gaming device, I think iPhone 4 makes even more inroads in this territory. The addition of the gyroscope is the equivalent of the Wii Remote getting the Wii MotionPlus adapter. Games will get even more precise control and will make up for the accelerometer’s shortcomings (although personally, I haven’t played a game that didn’t control exactly how I wanted to via accelerometer).

On top of better controls, Apple’s Game Center will be the unification of the game platform. Before there were several gaming networks, Plus+, Crystal, and OpenFeint are some of the popular ones. To the best of my knowledge, all of these networks are committed to handing things over to Apple. Apple is playing hardball, and on the surface, it appears that they are in the right spot. They have a super great media player, great games from indie and accomplished publishers/developers, online play, friends lists, DLC ecosystem, capacity for many games on the device at a time, cheap prices and mobile downloads. Of course, the common complaint is “no buttons,” but as gamers change, their taste’s change. I don’t think “no buttons” is a problem for anyone that isn’t some sort of gaming elitist.

Construction

I really hope that people will appreciate the hardware design of iPhone 4. Metal, glass, really nice screen, the right blend of hard edge straight lines and curved ones. Awesome. That’s all.

FaceTime

Video calling is finally here! Actually, we’ve had it for awhile in numerous forms. Heck, even the web version of Gmail can do it. Other phones have had front facing cameras for a very long time but the idea has never been popular. I think the current success of the Evo and the eventual success of iPhone 4 (come on, you know it will happen) will popularize the concept (finally). Since developers can access this camera and the FaceTime framework, I expect to see this everythwere, with the ability to interface with other phones. I’m told the problem with current phones with front facing cameras is that they have no capacity to talk to other models (sans Android devices). That it’s a per phone, per model, per OS basis. I can’t actually verify that though. The wifi only limitation sucks. AT&T’s data caps don’t make me very hopeful for the future.

New Subscribers / Upgrades

It’s a bummer that anyone changing to AT&T or moving up from a dumbphone will get stuck with AT&T’s crappy new data plans. Especially with all this new, good stuff that the iPhone can do, that data is going to get sucked up so fast. Netflix and tethering are two huge things that lots of people will want to use all the time, but will be scared to because of this 2 GB cap. I can’t completely recommend iPhone 4 to new AT&T subscribers for this reason. Apple too. As if AT&T wasn’t already a big downer for Apple, it’s going to get a lot worse. Many may upgrade, but I foresee lackluster new subscribers.

Speaking of upgrades, AT&T is offering quite the interesting upgrade. Gizmodo seems to think that AT&T is being too generous, and that there is an ulterior motive at hand. Their interpretation is that AT&T wants to get as many people on contracts as possible because the iPhone will likely be moving to other carriers very soon. By locking users in now, they can prevent the massive “abandon-ship” to another carrier. While this certainly wouldn’t surprise me, I’d like to think they aren’t completely disingenuous. My guess is that AT&T is aware that iPhone subscribers are loyal (to the platform), want upgrades, have gotten breaks in the past and are a major revenue source for them. By cutting the evangelists a deal, they can hope that it will have a positive effect on everyone on the network.

To summarize, I’m confident the iPhone 4 will be a big seller, and will get positive reviews upon official release. Apple has proven before, that having the top of the line everything doesn’t not a popular phone make. Even still, iPhone 4 has some pretty compelling features and design…, it’s no slouch. I’ll be looking forward to getting my hands on one to see wether it’s actually worth it to upgrade.