The Geek Church

Heads up, dear readers! We’ve got breaking news as Steve Jobs of Apple unveiled the iPhone 4 earlier today. Obviously, you’ve got plenty of questions about what to expect from this new smartphone so we’ll give the full rundown of Apple’s latest product. Let’s start by discussing the iPhone’s design. Of course, the outer body of the phone consists of black glass and stainless steel rim, just like the infamous prototype misplaced, discovered and leaked in the news several months ago. The iPhone 4 is also three grams heavier and 34 percent thinner than its 3GS predecessor and has split volume buttons made of stainless steel. Apple says that this smartphone is currently the thinnest one in existence today. The stainless steel rim is also used for the phone’s antenna to provide better reception for 3GS and WiFi. The physical size of the phone is 4.5 x 2.31 inches in width, 0.37 inches thick with a weight of 4.8 ounces (137 grams).

Now we’ll take a look at the smartphone’s hardware. Like the iPad, this iPhone has an internal Apple A4 chip. Furthermore, the phone also uses several other interconnected chips, which include a Cortex-A8 main processor unit, a PowerVR SGX 535 and two low-power 128MB DDR SDRAM chips. The Cortex-A8 processor acts as the phone’s main controlling mechanism, the PowerVR SGX provides hi-def graphics and the SDRAM chips give greater processing speed. The iPhone 4’s battery was also improved, made 16 percent larger than the previous iPhone battery with a longer lifespan. According to Apple, the new battery makes the iPhone 4 capable of 7 talk hours over 3G, 6 browsing hours over 3G, 10 browsing hours over Wi-Fi, 10 hours with video, 40 hours with music and 300 hours on standby.

The new iPhone’s multi-touch screen is 3.5 inches with 960 × 640 pixels and Apple calls it the Retina Display. Thus, it has four times as many pixels compared to the previous iPhone display with 326 pixels per inch resolution in the screen. Apple said that this IPS display is the same tech found in the iPad, so applications can run with better resolution, sharper view for text, 3D graphics and vectorial art. The new display also has the same oleophobic layer as the iPad and iPhone 3GS for easy cleaning. The iPhone 4 has two cameras as well. The main camera is backlit, has a larger sensor, larger lenses and a higher ISO but retains the same 5 megapixels. However, the main camera also has an LED based flash for making photos and video. Meanwhile, a video conferencing camera is located on the front of the phone. It has standard VGA resolution, third-party application compatibility and also features Apple’s own video conference solution. In addition to these features, the iPhone has a internal gyroscope for tracking movement with great accuracy. It has a 3-axis, enabling it to detect roll, pitch and yaw. It’s also combined with an accelerometer to make 6-axis sensing possible. It features an extra microphone to cancel out noise and the same micro-SIM standard as the iPad as well.

Finally, let’s consider the iPhone’s 4’s software. It has ISO 4 for selective multi-tasking. Thus, you can multi-task with applications while consuming less battery power and resources. ISO 4 also gives the Retina Display resolution independence, so applications are instantly adjusted to look sharper. This applies to typography, 2D vector graphics and 3D graphics as well. Meanwhile, the iPhone also offers the capability for video calling, made possible with its video conferencing camera. Apple calls this service FaceTime and communication is available from one iPhone 4 to another over Wi-Fi. Apple is featuring a new editing sofware called iMovie for iPhone as well. This software runs on hi-def with 720p, allowing you to edit video clips, add extra effects for still images and gives you access to a music soundtrack from your phone’s iTunes. Then you can export finished videos to 360p, 520p and 720p. However, iMovie is a separate application not included with the iPhone 4 itself. Lastly, ibooks are also compatible with ISO 4 and they’re accessible through the same controls used on the iPad’s iBook application. The new smartphone is scheduled for release on June 24 in black or white color options while prices are $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB.

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Tags: Apple, iPhone 4, new smartphone, Steve Jobs keynote, WWDC

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Annoucements, Apple, Audio and Visual Devices, Cell Phones, Digital Cameras, Displays, Mobile Devices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.