The iPhone 4 is certainly much more than I expected it to be. I was hopeful of an even higher resolution screen than we got. But other than that I was simply anticipating what most other people were expecting. Smaller, faster, neater, video calls, and a stills camera with flash.

That is not to say that video calls, or a 5MP camera – with LED flash – are not good things. But they were kind of a given, and to be expected on any current generation smart phone. So getting excited about those features takes a little more effort. That’s all.

So where did the iPhone 4 really “Wow” me?

Well a fairly full featured version of iMovie available for the iPhone in the App Store at launch, and 720p recording was a pleasant surprise. Plus it’s Apple, so we know that it will “just work” beautifully too. So when these features are simply demoed on stage we can relax safe in the knowledge that the final product we get later this month will do all that it is advertised as doing. But even then, Nokia had video editing on their N series phones a while back I seem to remember.
I am also glad that Apple refrained from calling the iPhone 4, “iPhone HD”. It’s not HD. The screen resolution is not high enough, even if the phone itself records in half-way HD. And HD would have caused a lot of confusion with iPad app names – as I have often suggested to deaf ears. I have to admit to a little bit of smug satisfaction watching most of my fellow industry pundits call it that over the last few months, whereas I refrained, except where chastised by my editor for “SEO reasons”. Whatever that means!?!

But I still haven’t said what really blew me away about the iPhone 4 yet, have I? No! Sorry! Ok.. In order of no particular importance…

The iPhone 4’s screen construction.

It was common knowledge a fair while before launch that the iPhone 4 would feature a more traditional LCD panel, rather than an OLED one. This was a sensible choice from Apple, as OLED has been shown on various Android devices to deliver fairly lacklustre results so far. OLED has certainly not been shown yet, in smartphone form, to be able to deliver the crispness or quality we expect of Apple gear.

What Apple have also done is incorporate a hybrid of IPS and FFS technologies into the 960×640 LCD panel in the iPhone 4. Those technologies are specifically suited to a versatile range of viewing angles, and clarity of view specifically for text heavy applications. Think eBooks, PDFs and web pages. Games, and pictures always look good with a bright, well balanced display – which high quality LCDs produce better than OLED currently also. So Apple worked on what it was important for them to work on. Which is what makes them market leaders after all.

But that’s still not what is really cool about the screen. Their choices so far are what we’d expect from Apple. In other words, the best possible implementation of stable and current technology, rather than new “bleeding-edge” technology just for the sake of it.

What is really cool though is that Apple have reengineered how they make their screens. In doing so they have made it so that there is literally no space between the touch layer and the LCD itself.

Engineering. This is where Apple consistently outshine other OEMs. Their new method of making their composite touch / LCD panels, coupled with the beautiful glass front panel of the iPhone 4 puts our fingers literally on top of the LCD itself. When you look at the new iPhone the screen literally looks like a bright shiny sticker stuck on the outside of the iPhone. It is truly incredible. When you see one in the flesh, that alone will make you want one. I guarantee it. And my name is not Steve Jobs!

The Stainless Steel Case

Stainless Steel has several properties that the Aluminium cases that Apple has favoured to date, do not. It conducts radio waves very well, and it has a heft to it that feels more solid and satisfying. It’s also far stronger.

By combining a practical quality of Stainless Steel, with an aesthetic quality they have produced both a high quality / high performance arial framework for all the various radio signals the iPhone 4 produces, coupled with a healthy feeling heft, and strong construction to the entire device. The iPhone 4 is solid, and receives and transmits strong signals.

Apple have gone one step further still by making the edges of the device square, rather then rounded like previous iPhones, so that it genuinely feels more like a camera when you turn it on its side to use it as one. Again, when you get your hands on one in an Apple Store, or when you steal your friend’s iPhone 4 for a few precious moments you’ll see what I mean.

iOS

This is not an obvious feature of the iPhone 4. But what Apple have done is start to refine their iPhone / iPod Touch and iPad OS into one Operating System : iOS.

Part of the reason for this is to bring the various screen sizes that we will inevitably have more of in future, and have now on current devices, under the control of the OS.

For games it is not such an issue. Games makers can just scale graphics to fit the screen, and choose to have, or not have, various levels of detail for textures and other images. But for applications, which is after all what Apple is more interested in, and has to put more work into supporting visually, different screen resolutions is an important issue. And potentially a problem.

Imagine if the 200,000+ apps in the App Store today all had to be re-written for the new iPhone? Developers would not be happy. Apple has addressed this issue with various technologies in iOS (previously iPhone OS 4.0), and will continue to do so moving forward. Currently it is in an early form, but has already improved on the crude 2X feature of iPhone OS 3.2, which is currently found on the iPad for using existing iPhone apps.

Whilst not completely realising their final goal Apple have, in my opinion, taken an important first step towards Resolution Independence in iOS. The best is yet to come. But this is a solid foundation to build from.
iPhone 4, and iOS is where it starts to come together.

The Gyroscope

Steve actually demonstrated the iPhone 4’s gyroscope with a game of Jenga. I found that quite amusing. Apple have not been great at promoting games as a medium in the past. Even with their new found romance with games on the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad they are still not taken seriously on Apple’s desktop lineup.

Ironically though I don’t think the gyro will find its greatest success in games. There are still a lot of iPods and iPhones, and brand new iPads out there that don’t have this feature. And for a while, at least, games writers will have to ensure their games work with the older Accelerometers found in earlier devices.

Some forward thinking developers will have a gyroscope option in their games. But important aspects of game play won’t be able to rely on the increase in accuracy and freedom of movement that the new component undoubtably brings… for the immediate future anyway. Otherwise the game will suffer on older devices, and the core market at the moment.

Where I think the gyroscope will be amazing is in Augmented Reality applications. At the moment looking around and using the camera in an existing iPhone to view our environment and overlay information and advertising on the world around us is a popular gimmick in “AR” apps. But the view is clunky and a bit jittery in most mobile devices (including current iPhones) because of the lack of precision that accelerometers offer. With a gyroscope on the new iPhone 4 Augmented Reality is set to go mainstream. This will be helped by the increased speed of the A4 processor, and the increased accuracy of the gyroscope.

Expect a lot of iAd enabled gyroscope using Augmented Reality apps to hit the App Store very soon.

As a little bit of background for you. The last gyroscope I programmed for was a component that was used in guided missiles originally. Our use for it was entirely different. But that is the kind of precision, and freedom of movement that gyroscope technology is derived from. Think about that for a minute. Your iPhone 4 will be distantly related to a guided missile! Cool eh!

Finally, a quick note about the 5MP camera in the iPhone 4

Apple could have played the numbers game here. They could have gone for 8 or 16 MP unit. And some Android owners may well quote the 8MP pixel camera in the new HTC EVO 4G to backup that line of thinking. But in reality until you make your lenses and your CCD (the device that receives the image inside your phone) bigger and of better quality there is no point. With the current form factor of all smart phones, their lenses and CCDs, more Megapixels just equate to bigger pictures, with more noise, which take up more space on your Flash Memory. Pictures which overall are of the same quality by and large – just noisier.

5 – 6 Megapixels is the optimum size for consumer cameras of the kind of lens dimension we are seeing on these phones. Any more is simply there for bragging rights for the OEM, and offers no functional advantage. Period.

What Apple have done, again, is focus on making the entire package better. Apple’s CCD in the iPhone 4 is designed to get more photons, more accurately, with less noise into your iPhone’s storage. In the iPhone 4’s case they do it by using Backside illumination :

Wikipedia explains Backside illumination this way :

In a device with backside illumination, the silicon light sensor for each pixel is on the “back” side of the silicon wafer, opposite the transistors and metal wiring layers. This increases the efficiency of the sensor as compared to the traditional (“frontside illumination”) technology, in which some of the light is scattered by the circuit layers on the front side of the wafer before it can reach the image sensor.

Here is a good example which illuminates the point I am making about megapixel count perfectly :

Joe Holmes’ limited-edition 13 x 19″ prints of his American Museum of Natural History series sell at Manhattan’s Jen Bekman Gallery for $650 each. They’re made on a 6MP D70.

No the iPhone 4’s lens is certainly not up to the standard of one found in a Nikon D70. Not is the one found in the HTC EVO 4G, or any other smart phone for that matter. But they have CCDs of roughly the same quality. The iPhone 4 has one which is better suited than all of them to low light conditions, and getting the best performance possible out of its surrounding hardware.

So there you have it. Those are the things about the iPhone 4 that excite me! What is your favourite feature of the new iPhone 4? Let us know in the comments.

Today BGR reported that according their “source” AT&T is installing “large display” at their corporate stores in order to prepare for the iPhone 4G / HD launch.

We’re told that this is most likely a new iPhone display as there isn’t anything else that’s dedicated to a single device that would require the resources this display will.

Apple’s next gen iPhone is rumored to be unveiled during WWDC 2010 which will kick off on June 07 with Steve Jobs keynote presentation.

Will Steve Jobs introduce Verizon iPhone 4G? What are these large displays for? Let us know your thoughts.

Apple’s WWDC 2010 is scheduled to kick off on June 07 and Steve Jobs is widely rumored to unveil the new iPhone 4G / HD. If you have been following news reports and rumors about the new iPhone 4G then you would probably have a very clear picture of how the next iPhone will look and  know the exact hardware specification which will be offered.

The prototype leak and iPhone OS 4 beta code has revealed some interesting information about upcoming features and heres a round up of what we know so far.

iPhone 4G Hints in OS 4

• High resolution camera

The values for video capture in the third beta hint at a high resolution camera which could record 720p high-definition video.

• Front-facing camera

iPhone OS 4 beta code had various references to error messages which prompted the user about video call being disconnected because the local Wi-Fi connection was lost.

• LED Flash

Various news sources have confirmed that the code in iPhone OS 4 had reference to titles like “Flash is disabled” The design of the leaked iPhone 4G prototype also confirmed that next iPhone will support a camera with flash.

iPhone OS 4 Features Round Up

• Home Screen

This has been one of the highly anticipated features for iPhone and Apple will finally allow you to customize the home screen of your device with new wallpapers in the background.

The average number of iPhone apps a user installs is increasing as more and more apps are made available. iPhone OS 4 will enable you to manage your apps with ‘Folders’ You will be able to group 9 apps in one folder to save the number of icons appearing on your home screen. This will also enable users to easily access the frequently used apps and games.

• Messaging

iPhone OS 4 will imporve the SMS app and now you’ll be able to Limit character count, Repeat alert, Show preview, Toggle MMS and group messaging and Toggle subject field viewer.

• Tethering

The fourth beta of iPhone OS 4 had an option in the settings menu which suggests that AT&T will finally be offering internet tethering on iPhone.

• Multitasking

Apple provides seven multitaking services as APIs to developers which include Background audio, Voice over IP, Background Location, Push Notifications, Local Notifications, Task Completion and Fast app switching. These APIs will allow you to stream internet radio using Pandora in the background while you surf the internet and receive incoming Skype calls even when when the app is not active.

Multitasking is only supported on iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3rd gen and iPad.

• Enhanced Mail

Mail app on iPhone OS 4 will include Unified Inbox, Multiple Exchange Accounts, Fast inbox switching, Threaded messages and the ability to open attachments with apps. This will certainly make emailing on iPhone much more efficient and provide an enhanced user experience. iPhone OS 4 will also add support for Gmail Archive.

• iBooks

If you love reading eBooks on the go then you will finally be able to access the iBooks library on your iPhone running OS 4.

• Orientation Lock

iPhone OS 4 will add software support for orientation lock which will make reading eBooks and performing various actions on your iPhone in the orientation set by you and will not rotate the screen when you change your angle of viewing.

• Spelling Correction

iPhone OS 4 will add new iPad-style spelling correction features to iPhone and iPod touch. If you misspell a word it will be underlined with red color and you will be able to correct it with suggested words which will appear in blue color.

• Game Center

With more than 50,000 games and entertainment titles on iPhone and iPod touch Apple realized the importance of native social gaming network. Game Center will include Matchmaking and leaderboards too.

iPhone OS 4 Rumors

• Bing Search (read more)
• Facebook integration (read more)

As WWDC 2010 gets closer iPhone 4G rumors continue to take new twists and turns. The possibility for new mobile networks for the iPhone have always been weak but as Android continues to grow Apple might be forced to re-consider their strategy and finally end AT&T exclusivity in the US.

If recent rumors about the reason behind AT&T raising Early Termination Fees (ETF) for its customers are to be believed then the introduction of iPhone 4G might open the gates for new mobile networks like Verizon and Sprint to officially support iPhone 4G.

James Kendrick of jkontherun today claimed that one of the ‘reliable’ sources who works for Sprint confirmed that “Sprint will be getting the iPhone this summer”

It is worth noting that when Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Brust was asked about offering iPhone he said “we’d love to have it”.

Do you want Verizon and Sprint to get iPhone this year? Will WWDC keynote event by Jobs finally lead to the entrance of new mobile networks for iPhone 4G? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Those guys at Apple.Pro have got another scoop. This time it appears to be a bunch of white parts, including home buttons and front panels for the new iPhone 4G / HD.

With Apple ramping up to produce millions of these iPhones for sale over the next few months it is inevitable that some of these stock piled bits and pieces of iPhone 4G will start to leak out. Especially on that side of the world.

I am left wondering what surprises Steve will have left for WWDC 2010!

Is Black and White iPhone getting boring now? Would you prefer some more colors? Let us know in the comments…

Yesterday we published few mocked up pictures of White color iPhone 4G / HD which were recreated by an Italian website based on the details of the prototype device.

iSpazio has gone ahead and used their creative skills to show us how the new iPhone 4G will look in white, black, pink, light blue and green color. The initial photos of the “lost” iPhone 4G didn’t appear to be as good as the picture above.

There are high chances that Apple will unveil the new iPhone 4G in black and white color options however, we might not see any other color being offered.

Pick your favorite iPhone 4G color and leave a comment below and you could win Pebble Jump HD (iPad game) promo codes!

[iSpazio] ]]> https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4g-hd-colors/feed/ 9 https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4g-hd-video-calls-evidence-revealed/ https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4g-hd-video-calls-evidence-revealed/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 22:57:03 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=6769 Read More]]>

Apple’s new iPhone 4G / HD is rumored to include an improved rear-facing camera with LED flash and a front-facing camera for video calls. The teardown of  fourth gen prototype by Vietnamese website Tinhte confirmed that iPhone 4G will run on Apple’s custom designed A4 processor with a clock speed of 1 GHz (similar to iPads processor).

The new iPhone 4G will undoubtedly be must faster and battery efficient and the evidence of front-facing camera is enough to convince us about video call capability in the next iPhone.

Boy Genius Report today published new leaked images of an iPhone field testing unit which shows “Video Calls Debugging” options in the setting menu. They claim that one of their “Apple guys” sent them these shots of the “field test firmware of the new iPhone HD”

We hope this is true and video conferencing is finally demoed by Steve Jobs during WWDC 2010!

When Roswell Fighter was released for the iPhone/iPod touch in November 2009 we reviewed it and commented that it had great atmosphere, simple controls and was full of adrenalin pumping fun, the only down side was it’s short number of levels and the fact that there was no online leader boards. Both those features were addressed in a future update with the introduction of a couple of new levels and integration with OpenFeint. Now it’s been brought to the iPad with an HD moniker, so how is it’s in its HD glory?

Well, to put it bluntly, not a lot. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but an opportunity has been missed to make a great game even better by taking advantage of the larger more powerful iPad. The game does look better on the larger screen with the stream after stream of alien craft shining clearer and brighter as they attack you from all directions and and the larger screen works better for the control as you have a bigger area to work with.

The sound track and sound effects were great on the iPod/iPhone version and with the larger speaker on the iPad it sounds even better even without the use of head phones which still offers the best results for sound.

So if you haven’t played the game before what does it have to offer? Roswell Fighter HD is a classic 2D shoot-em up based in 1950’s America which is under attack from aliens. These aliens come in many different shapes and sizes from groups of small of fast space ships to larger structures with multiple turrets and everything in between and that variety adds to the fun and excitement.

Over the 11 levels the action comes thick and fast with a great sound-track accompanying it’s easy to bang through the levels very quickly even with the end of level bosses that can prove pretty stubborn at times. While this is great that it provides a can’t put down shooter that just keeps you wanting more you will find that you will have it completed in a little under an hour. There are three difficulty levels and cranking it up to the highest of the three will take you a little while longer but not much!

What does add extra value is the addition of OpenFeint which while lacking any achievements does add online leader boards which encourages you to come back and improve on your previous scores.

Ultimately Roswell Fighter HD is still as good as it’s little brother but equally it’s not particularly better. If you’ve already got Roswell Fighter then you may want to stick with it as even at 2x on the iPad it’s still a great shooter but if you haven’t played it before then the $2 is money well spent on a quality shooter.

Pros

• Simple accurate controls
• Adrenalin pumping fun
• OpenFeint integration

Cons

• No major differences to the original

Price: $1.99 (iTunes Store)
Category: Games
Released: May 08, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0
Size: 77.8 MB
Language: English
Seller: GameLab Centrum Innowacji Sp. z o.o.
© 2010 GameLab Innovation Center
Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later.

Earlier this week we reported on rumors about Apple introducing new iPhone 4G / HD in white and black color options. A Taiwanese website had managed to get hold of spare parts of the iPhone 4G prototype and published images of the white color front panel of the new iPhone.

There have many reports which state that the fourth gen iPhone leak by Gizmodo has proved to be a major loss for Apple in terms of iPhone 3GS sales however, it is worth noting that almost every year around WWDC speculation about Apple’s new products and services reach a new high. So, the actual impact of fourth gen iPhone leak would probably have little or no impact on actual sales. Any person who follows or has studied Apple’s yearly product timelines would wait for the Worldwide Developers Conference official announcements. When David Pogue questioned Phil Schiller about Apple’s withdrawal from Macworld Expo in 2009 he noted:

He noted that Apple marches to certain annual product cycles: the holiday season (Novemberish), the educational buying season (late summer), the iPod product cycle (October), the iLife development cycle (usually March), the iPhone cycle (June).

We have seen many fancy concept pictures of Apple products in the past but this time the details about iPhone 4G are clearly perceptible. Italian website iSpazio recently published their concept pictures of the white color iPhone 4G (or HD) and it certainly looks stunning.

Do you like the white color iPhone HD or would you like to see more color options? Let us know in the comments section.

White iPhone HD (Concept Pictures)

Almost everyday we read news about iPhone 4G / HD rumors and we can expect many more in the near future as Apple’s WWDC 2010 gets closer.

We recently reported that Apple seeded the fourth beta of iPhone OS 4 to developers which featured many new wallpapers for your homescreen and in the settings menu it had options for internet tethering.

9to5Mac is reporting that the iPhone OS 4 SDK code has enough evidence to convince us about the fact that the next generation iPhone (4G / HD) will feature LED flash. They also go onto to speculate that next gen iPod touch and iPad will also support a camera and LED flash.

The recent iPod touch prototype leak by Vietnamese website Tinhte also confirmed that new iPod touch will support a 2 megapixel camera however, there was no reference or evidence about LED flash.

Apple iPad has been often criticized because of the lack of camera but now it seems almost certain that second generation iPad will support a camera.

Earlier today we reported that iPhone 4G / HD front panel images published by Apple.Pro (Taiwanese website) suggested that Apple might offer the new iPhone in white and black color model.

Now HardMac is reporting that their ‘contacts’ in China have sent them images of first protective skins made specifically for iPhone 4G.

The protective skins in the image above have the same rounded corners which we have earlier seen in the leaked images of iPhone 4G by Gizmodo and Vietnamese website Tinhte.

According to previous rumors, iPhone 4G will probably be introduced during this years WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) with Apple’s custom A4 processor, high resolution display and a front-facing camera.

The Taiwanese website Apple.pro has managed to get hold of spare parts of the new iPhone 4G / HD which appear to be alternative front panels for the new iPhone.

This is leading people to speculate that Apple may well resurrect the option to buy iPhone 4G / HD in a white model, as well as in the more traditional black color.

There is one slightly weird thing about the white iPhone front cover; in that it has what appears to be a small rectangular “reflective surface” just above the earpiece slot on the front of the iPhone. This has been seen on previously leaked black iPhone front panels, so may simply be indicative of different stages in development for the parts.

So, this oddity may or may not show up, or have some purpose in the final unit. We don’t know. It is actually in the position that normally covers the proximity sensor in the iPhone. That is the component that lets the phone know if it is next to your face or not, and is used to allow or disallow screen touches so that you don’t activate functions with your cheek when talking on the phone. So it is quite likely simply a manufacturing oddity in early components.

Previously Apple did offer a white iPhone option for its 3G and 3GS models, in any device that had more than 8GB.

Are you excited to be able to get a white iPhone again? Would you like more colors? Let us know in the comments…

Foxconn is reported as aiming to produce 24 million 4th generation iPhones this year alone. And is expecting to start shipping them in June. The suggested split for these massive volumes is around 4.5 million for the first half of 2010. With the balance coming in the second half of 2010.

Will this mean we’ll see a staged roll out, and perhaps initial supply shortages, like we did with the iPad? Higher screen resolutions and other features of the next iPhone could well compound ongoing production and supply problems that Apple has already had to endure with the iPad.

These dates and plans also tend to suggest that a roll out at WWDC is likely. Details on the new iPhone’s tech. specs. are also being fleshed out.

Apparently the new iPhone 4G will feature In-Plane Switching LCD display panels which also have Fringe-Field Switching, at a suggested resolution of 640×960. Suppliers for this component are named as LG Display and Prime View International.

FFS (Fringe Field Switching) is a feature that will improve eBook functionality by improving viewing angles and display quality in sunlight. IPS (In-Plane Switching) also helps with better viewing angles for display panels.

The processor in the new iPhone will most likely be an updated Apple A4. Which is basically an ARM Cortex A8 core which has been optimised for Apple’s needs. But one big difference will be 512MB of RAM, double that of the iPad, and definitely aimed at improving multi-tasking capabilities, with lots of spare memory space for switching, and stashing images. Something the iPad has problems with in apps like Mobile Safari, even with 256MB of RAM.

Apparently Apple has been working to allow more space for battery technology to improve battery life in the new iPhone also. Batteries are rumored to come from Simplo Technology and Dynapack International Technology.

Apple seems to be doubling up straight away on a lot of suppliers to stymy supply problems right off the bat. Rather than as a last minute effort, as they did with the iPad. Lets hope that extra forward planning goes better for them this time.

Are you worried about iPhone 4G supplies? Do the specs sound good to you so far? Let us know in the comments.

AppleInsider are reporting that the SDK gives developers access to API calls for capturing video in 720p format. That is in a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, as opposed to the current iPhone’s capturing in 640×480. Some people are even more convinced now that the new iPhone will be called the ‘iPhone HD’ because of this. One thing to be aware of is that you are not going to see this feature on any current iPhone model, just as multi-tasking is restricted, or not available at all on earlier iPhones.

BoyGeniusReport is saying that file transfer to the new iPhone is possible via iTunes, much in the same way as on the iPad. Which suggests that we are never going to see an official way to mount any iDevice on the desktop as a drive like we used to be able to in the old days of pre-Touch iPods.

On the subject of iPods, the new iPhone OS has a kind of “widget” for controlling the iPod application. If you swipe to the left in the multi-tasking screen on the device you get a set of iPod controls. As well as an orientation lock button.

The orientation lock is another feature taken from the iPad. But this time it is a software switch, as opposed to an actual switch on the outside of the device. We also reported on that and the ability to close apps in the multi-tasking screen, kind of in the style of a Task Manager, earlier this week

What’s your guess for the iPhones new name? Let us know in the comments.

The incredibly popular Parachute Panic, which boasts 4 Million+ downloads as well as Scoreloop Social Gaming integration has just shown up as “Parachute Panic HD”. [iTunes Store]

Doing a search for iPad today in iTunes 9.1 now shows up quite a few iPhone/iPad Apps. And there is actually a dedicated section for “iPad Apps” in the results.

Some of the usual favorites are visible such as TweetDeck, FlightTrack etc. all showing as either “Compatible with iPad” or “This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad” in their descriptions. Presumably depending on whether it is a dedicated iPad app or a Universal app, respectively.

Searching for “HD” in iTunes yields similar results.

It’s nice to see the search results in iTunes being split 50/50 between iPad and iPhone / iPod Touch.

So what iPad apps are you going to buy first? Have any of you downloaded them before you’ve even got your iPad?