Gadgetblurb

Steve Jobs took the stage yesterday at the WWDC and wowed audiences again with the, ahem, unveiling of the iPhone 4.  There have been about 10,000 reviews already and I am sure you can find some of them with a simple google search.  The point of this post isn’t to ooh and aah over all of the specs, but rather, to go through a few features that caught my eye, postulate whether this is a leap forward as El Jobs-o claims and whether it is worth locking into yet another two-year contract with the, in my opinion, worst carrier in the business.

The Phone

There is no doubt about it, the phone looks gorgeous!  The first thing that struck me as groundbreaking was the display.  I’m not sure why they decided to call it Retina Display, I guess he kinda described it in the fact that at 300 pixels, you cannot discern differences in pixels at 12″ but beyond that, ok.  I guess it has something to do with the eyes and being able to see pixels.  Why not call it something cool that doesn’t remind me of a big eyeball?  Oh well, the display is simply amazing though.  At 960×640 with a 800:1 contrast ratio, we will see graphics, movies and text like never before.  He is right, it is going to set the bar that all other phones will now try and match and it may be a while before they get there.  Well done Apple.

Building the antenna system into the frame, sounds like a good idea in theory, too bad AT&T still completely blows!  I assume that there are folks who do indeed have reception problems on top of crowded network problems.   To them, it is insult on top of injury.  So I guess having better coverage with an improved antenna is going to help, only time will tell on this one and it sounds really great.  I still get dropped calls with full bars however!!!  What is AT&T doing about the fact that (according to an AT&T employee I spoke with) only 100 or so users per tower can be on a 3G tower before the oldest call on the tower gets dropped?  Personally, I haven’t had my iPhone set to 3G in almost 6 months due to the number of dropped calls I get in Minneapolis, and I hear I am in one of the better cities for coverage.  Every once in a while, just for giggles, I will switch to 3G and after a few 5 minute calls (and a few dropped calls), I will go back to EDGE/WiFi and happily NEVER drop a call.  Having the antenna system in the frame sounds great and I do look forward to seeing how it works in areas where I used to have low signal strength.  We will wait and see on that one.

The camera system looks sweet and I can say that it is about time they caught up with the rest of the world with a 5mp camera. HD Video, now you are on to something Apple!  The iMovie app looks great for folks who don’t own a Mac.  For someone who has iMovie on their Mac, that is the preferred environment for real video editing.  But for the quick edit and post to YouTube or a blog, I think iMovie on iPhone is pure brilliance!  Uploading is going to be a crusher and will likely bork the network before a successful upload.  Ever try doing it now on anything longer than a couple of minutes?  Try it with HD 720p and you will really see what I mean, especially over 3G.  Ain’t gonna happen folks, not with AT&T.  And why charge for this?  $4.99 for iMovie for iPhone?  Why not just ship it with the iPhone as part of the iOS4?  It seems like they are kinda nickel and diming us if you ask me.  HD Video is a giant leap forward, 5MP camera, not so much.

I do love the flat front and back and the fact that it is glass on both sides.  We will need to wait and see if it is comfortable to hold, however, the folks in SF are reporting that it is elegant and comfortable, so I will take their word for it.  An interesting thing that the glass front and back is going to do is really screw incase and others of that ilk.  They have made a muli-million dollar business in the 3rd party case business and overnight, it will be gone for the iPhone!   With Bumpers, Apple’s new line of iPhone 4 outside case accessories, incase and all others are most likely going to be scrambling to figure out a way to compete with what will most likely be THE consumer choice for iPhone 4 casing.  Way to go Apple and screw your partners.  Last but not least, the Gyroscope looks sick!  Cannot wait to see what games the devs come up with.  The demo of the Jenga game was kinda lame but showed that the tech was very cool.

Software

I have had the iOS4 Beta on my phone for a while and can say that the promise of multi-tasking is pretty sweet.  It looks great and I can say that the built-in Apple apps are fast and seamless.  Audio controls are awesome and it really is well designed.  This is a very good implementation and I think that they are about 90% there.  Where are they lacking?  I think that notifications suck on the iOS4.  Android has got notifications nailed!  iPhone has clearly not figured out how to notify the user when an incoming message, SMS, VM, IM, or other event has occurred.  Others have written about this and I was really hoping they would address this in iOS 4.  Overall, I do like Multi-tasking, they just need to work out notifications.

FaceTime was clearly something that we knew was coming with the front facing camera and as soon as I saw the Gizmodo leak, the first thing that poped into my mind was “how in the hell is AT&T going to handle video traffic?”  Apple and AT&T at least were smart enough to figure out limitation and go with WiFi only.  Perhaps, as a user yelled out in the audience when the video stuttered during the keynote, they should consider Verizon.  Also consider that AT&T just removed the unlimited data plan.  If you have a capped data plan at 2GB/month and in 2011 they allow FaceTime and somehow their network is able to handle it, you cannot use FaceTime all that much as you will chew through 2GB in a only few conversations no doubt.

Folders are sweet, I loved this in the beta and you will too.  iBooks will be great as it is a great reader and with the new display, it will be my go-to reader app for sure!  I will review this in greater detail once they release the app.

Final Thoughts

Ok…the real question is should you buy it, get the 3GS or keep your current 3GS,  or wait for the Verizon iPhone to come out.  Huh?  We have been hearing about the fabled Verizon iPhone since, oh, the original iPhone came out.  There has been speculation before every WWDC that Steve will FOR SURE announce the Verizon iPhone that year.  Earlier last month, court documents were said to have surfaced which allegedly reveal a 5 year exclusivity deal which was to run through May, 2012.

The truth is that there may be an announcement this summer, next summer or never.  We just don’t now and waiting for an announcement is like waiting for a computer to get better and better.  You will never have a computer now, and will just deny yourself today’s technology waiting for tomorrow’s.  One thing I do find peculiar is that AT&T has NEVER moved so many peoples upgrade forward as they have with this phone.  As Steve said in the keynote, anyone with an eligible upgrade in 2010 is eligible for an upgrade on June 24th.  I don’t think it was Apple’s generosity that moved these upgrades, which has fueled the speculation that a Verizon iPhone is even more eminent.

As far as the 3GS v. 4 debate goes, that is a personal choice (do you want more space, faster, better battery, sleeker design, etc.) and for me, the choice is easy.  The iPhone v. Android debate will rage on, with fanboy’s fueling the flame wars over which one is superior.  But for me, I have a preference of the iOS myself, I just like the interface and how it works for me.  Android is like the wild west, apps crash, there is very little control, with some phones having 2.0 others having 2.1 and yet others are still on 1.6 (Sony).  As for the iPhone 4, and being an insufferable gadget boy, my pre-order on June 15 has been pre-ordained.  The only real question I have is white or black.  I am thinking black 32GB for me and maybe white for my wife (if she will let me).

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