Apple has launched the iPhone 4 at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on June 7th. As was expected the iphone hogged the majority of the spotlight with some time devoted to the iPad.
Apple has launched the latest iPhone which it is calling “iPhone 4″ and it is the biggest update to the iPhone since the first.

Hardware
There is a marked change in the hardware compared to the 3GS. It is the biggest change but not that much. Confused…read on!!
The iphone has always been traditionally round edged, with a concave back that made using it on a flat surface very tough. The new iphone is sharp edged and has a flat back made of glass that Apple is saying is 30 times stronger than steel. The volume rocker buttons have been separated. Now there are two mics, one for normal phone work and one to reduce the background noise. There is a series of three bands joined together running around the entire side of the device, Apple says each band is an antenna for a different need.
The thickness of the device from an already impressive 12.7 mm of the 3GS to a mind numbing 9.7 mm. The weight however has gone up by 4 ounces giving it a much more solid feel to hold on to.

The biggest and most touted change however is the screen. Apple goes one up on everybody by putting up a resolution of 960×640. This equates to 326ppi on the same screen 3.5 inch screen. As Apple claims that the human eye can only distinguish upto 300 ppi at a distance of 22 inches, it makes the iPhone’s screen all the more impressive. Bundled IPS technology claims super wide viewing angles. Almost every hands on review raves about the screen and no wonder why. It is the most beautiful screen on a phone till date.

Also now there are two cameras, one in the back(5 Megapixel) with a xenon flash and a front video cam. Quality of the photos have yet to be taken to be discussed but Apple shown unretouched photos taken from the iPhone coupled with the gorgeous screen look stunning. The front camera is used for video chatting which will be covered later.

It uses the same Apple A4 processor that is used in the iPad but might be underclocked. Performance though is remarkably snappy. Battery Life has been increased, now Apple offers seven hours of 3G talk and 10 hours of WiFi data, vs. five hours of talk and nine hours of WiFi data on the 3GS. The phone is also rated at 40 hours of audio playback and 10 hours of video runtime, with a 300 hour standby time. Pretty impressive stuff.

It now comes with 802.11n and pentaband frequency range making it only the second smartphone after the N8. It also has a gyroscope now that give it a Wii level of sensitivity.

All in all this is the biggest departure from the original; iPhone form factor though not by much. Although it does make the phone look fantastic.

Operating System

Apple has rebranded their operating system from iPhone OS 4 to iOS 4, which actually makes it easier to say. The iOS 4 is the same as the iPhone OS 4 demoed at the recent conference. It now includes Multitasking, iBooks (for books and pdfs), Unified Mailbox, Orientation Lock, App Folders, Playlist creation and Nested Playlists, Spell Check, User Defined Wallpaper, Tap to focus on camera and video Camera, etc, etc.

Facetime

Also part of the round up was Facetime, it is what Apple calls its video chatting. It is neatly executed and unlike other OS’s (read Android), is built into the OS instead of dedicating an app for that. For now its Wi-Fi only and that too iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only. Apple has promised to make it an open web standard so that others start benefiting from it.

Availability

Apple says it will be available in the US on June 21 with pre-orders starting on June 15. The 16 Gb model will retail for 299$ with contract and the 32 Gb model for 399$ with contract. It will be releasing in other countries in July and will be available in 88 countries by August.

Verdict

Is this the Apple you always wanted and should absolutely purchase?? Well we will have to wait till we get one in our hands. But just looking at the spec sheet confirms it “for me”…i am so boarding the new iPhone train. At the end of the day its always about preference. For me the iPhone works but Android does not. Not because it is bad, its just a personal choice and for people like me this a definite buy.

Cheerios.
[cb type="company"]Apple[/cb]