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Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)

By | June 7, 2010, 12:57pm PDT

Summary: At its WWDC10 conference in San Francisco today Apple announced the long-anticipated iPhone 4 with video calling.

At its WWDC10 conference in San Francisco today Steve Jobs announced the long-anticipated iPhone 4 and iOS 4 (formerly iPhone OS) with video calling.

Features of the new iPhone include:

  • a completely new (ahem!) industrial design that is 24 percent thinner than the iPhone 3GS
  • 960 x 640 IPS “retina” display with 800:1 contrast ratio
  • Apple A4 processor
  • Three-axis gyroscope
  • Five megapixel rear camera with 720p video recording at 30fps
  • Front-facing camera with FaceTime video calling
  • (optional) iMovie video editing app for $4.99

The new handset will be available for pre-order on June 15 and will go on sale on June 25, 2010. AT&T has extended upgrade eligibility to anyone whose current iPhone contract expires in 2010. The 16GB model will sell for $199 and the 32GB model will sell for $299 with a two-year contract. The iPhone 3G is being discontinued and the iPhone 3GS will drop to $99.

Press releases for iPhone 4 and iAds have been posted and iPhone product page has been updated.

We just finished recording a podcast analyzing iPhone 4 in more detail which will be posted shortly.

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Topics

Apple iPhone, Video Call, Apple Inc., Video, Corporate Communications, Marketing, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)
heymatthew 9th Jun 2010
@Sleeper Service

I think too many people make too big of a deal about the camera in cell phones. As a professional photographer, I'd personally rather see the same 3mp in a larger, backlit sensor. I can see the point about the better flash, but I don't normally use a flash anyway so it's sort of a mute point.

As for the WiFi, I think it says more about where they were than the phone. Apparently, the signal was there, but was INCREDIBLY slow due to all of the bloggers and mobile users eating up the bandwidth. For instance, I'm writing this post from a cabin in the mountains and while I'm getting full service, I can't use Video Chat and even this web page took a while to download. Last night, there were about 6 people on their laptops and the internet was even slower. I think real-world tests will prove that the Wi-Fi on the new iPhone is just as capable as any other.

The FaceChat thing is cool, but I think people are making a huge deal about a small feature. Sure, it's a step in the right direction, but until networks back it up and let you go from phone to computer, etc. it's not a selling point for me.

I'm using my old 3G phone and I'll be upgrading to the new iPhone mostly for the better processor, better screen and multitasking. I think I'll keep the 3G in my sock drawer as a backup.

On a final note, one feature that no one is mentioning, but that I think is HUGE is the fact that you can hook up a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone. This really turns the phone into an email machine. I HATE typing lengthy emails and blogs on the iPhone, but with the ability to use my already existing bluetooth keyboard, I'd be more apt to just throw the keyboard in my messenger bag with my camera and use it if I'm on the go rather than carrying around my MacBook Pro everywhere.

Anyhow. The iPhone 4 is without a doubt a vast improvement, but there are definitely some things that can definitely be improved as there are with all phones, computers, cameras, etc. That's the curse of technology, I guess...
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
I think it's pretty good.
Sleeper Service 7th Jun 2010
The two best points are the screen - which is amazing - and the form factor, not so much the depth but the slightly reduced width.

Apart from that it's... OK. Good to see they've implemented some form of multitasking and added a flash even if the camera is a little disappointing. The video calling is seriously weak though and doesn't match up to solutions that have been in place for years on other phones.

One concern - if it drops WiFi that easily in a demonstration what's it going to be like in the wild?
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)
Userama 7th Jun 2010
@Sleeper Service
How do you know the camera is "a little disappointing"?
The megapixel spec no way defines the picture quality.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)
Sleeper Service 7th Jun 2010
@Userama

No but sensor size is. The N8 has the largest sensor in a mobile at 1/1.83". It also has a xenon flash which makes a huge difference.

Couple that with 12mp and that's why the iPhone's camera is weak by modern standards.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)
heymatthew 9th Jun 2010
@Sleeper Service

I think too many people make too big of a deal about the camera in cell phones. As a professional photographer, I'd personally rather see the same 3mp in a larger, backlit sensor. I can see the point about the better flash, but I don't normally use a flash anyway so it's sort of a mute point.

As for the WiFi, I think it says more about where they were than the phone. Apparently, the signal was there, but was INCREDIBLY slow due to all of the bloggers and mobile users eating up the bandwidth. For instance, I'm writing this post from a cabin in the mountains and while I'm getting full service, I can't use Video Chat and even this web page took a while to download. Last night, there were about 6 people on their laptops and the internet was even slower. I think real-world tests will prove that the Wi-Fi on the new iPhone is just as capable as any other.

The FaceChat thing is cool, but I think people are making a huge deal about a small feature. Sure, it's a step in the right direction, but until networks back it up and let you go from phone to computer, etc. it's not a selling point for me.

I'm using my old 3G phone and I'll be upgrading to the new iPhone mostly for the better processor, better screen and multitasking. I think I'll keep the 3G in my sock drawer as a backup.

On a final note, one feature that no one is mentioning, but that I think is HUGE is the fact that you can hook up a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone. This really turns the phone into an email machine. I HATE typing lengthy emails and blogs on the iPhone, but with the ability to use my already existing bluetooth keyboard, I'd be more apt to just throw the keyboard in my messenger bag with my camera and use it if I'm on the go rather than carrying around my MacBook Pro everywhere.

Anyhow. The iPhone 4 is without a doubt a vast improvement, but there are definitely some things that can definitely be improved as there are with all phones, computers, cameras, etc. That's the curse of technology, I guess...
0 Votes
+ -
RE: I think it's pretty good.
tgarner Updated - 7th Jun 2010
Yeah, when I'm trying to use WiFi in a place where more than 500 others are too I'll be upset.

For me the Question is will Skype and others be allowed to use FaceTime so you'll actually be able to reach someone without an iPhone 4.
0 Votes
+ -
Carriers have problems with video calls
Ken_z 7th Jun 2010
I can see AT&T execs reaching for the Tums as Jobs is speaking. There is a long way to go before they will be able to handle major loads of video chats. We'll see how many other countries have carriers that move to provide it before AT&T does.

I was surprised that Apple didn't do something with iChat as they could enhance both the iOS4 platforms as well as the Macs.

Next year?
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple announces iPhone 4 with video calling (updated)
NewsGallery 8th Jun 2010
Apple Keynote Video is HERE. Steve Jobs opened the Keynote yesterday with an enormously rambunctious welcoming from the crowd--as someone shouted out, "We love you Steve!" Jobs, in his usual t-shirt and jeans attire reponded with... Go here to see the full Keynote: http://bit.ly/Keynote10

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