iPhone 4 launched by Apple
The new generation of the popular Apple iPhone was officially announced today at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4 which sports front and rear cameras, has high definition video capabilities, has a higher resolution screen, runs on the iPhone 4.0 OS (renamed iOS4) and promises greater battery life than its predecessors.
Jobs emphasized the new stainless steel and glass design. The device is also only 9.3mm thick.
A big change that was showcased is the iPhone’s new display, called the “Retina Display.” The screen itself remains at 3.5″ (the same as the iPhone 3GS) but contains four times the pixels. The resolution is 960×640 with 326 pixels per inch. The new iOS will automatically render apps in the higher resolution. Apps are set to look exactly the same, just with crisper graphics.
Other than retina display integration, iOS4 will feature multitasking, folders for applications, unified inbox and threading in mail, much deeper enterprise integration and the option to switch from Google to Bing or Yahoo! as the default search provider.
Jobs stated that iPhone 4 has a whole new camera system. The sensor itself has been upgraded from 3MP to 5MP and the device can record 720p video at 30 frames per second. Apple will also be launching iMovie for iPhone for $4.99.
The device uses Apple’s own A4 chip which only supports HSDPA/HSUPA and no mention was made of AT&T’s upcoming LTE network.
The new iPhone was one of the worst kept technology secrets of the year thanks to two major leaks of prototypes of the new phone. The popular tech blog Gizmodo was responsible for the first leak after it acquired a prototype of what it dubbed the iPhone 4. For their efforts they were rewarded with a search and seizure of one of their journalists’ computer equipment as well as a banning from WWDC 2010. The second leak came courtesy of Taoviet, a Vietnamese forum.
While there was little question that another iPhone model would be announced today, fans and industry alike eagerly awaited the official confirmation of the phone’s features, availability and cost.
The new iPhone 4 will be available in black or white, with the 16GB model set to retail for $199 while the 32GB model will sell for $299. Both will be available in the US on 24 June with pre-orders starting on 15 June.
The new iPhone 4 << comments and views
*UPDATE 21h00: New information from WWDC live feed.
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