WWDC 2010: Apple announces iPhone 4
That case we've all seen was more or less the final product. Steve called it "the most beautiful thing we've ever created." It's got glass front and back for durability and scratch-resistance. About that band of metal that surrounds the phone's edges? It's all a part of the antenna. Pretty neat.
The screen also got a huge boost. It's a Retina Display producing 326 ppi (pixels per inch). That's a full 4x as many pixels than the 3GS sports in same amount of space. As Steve noted, "...300 ppi is limit of the human retina when held 10-12 inches away from the eye." So, it's sharp, and now we know why it's called the "Retina Display".
Other new features include an A4 chip inside, which is the Apple-designed chip that powers the iPad. It's also got a larger battery, which Steve said will produce 40% more talk time (up to 7 hours), 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music and 300 hours of standby. Yowsa.
As for storage, it maxes out at 32GB, so those of you holding out for 64GB are out of luck.
This next feature was unexpected: iPhone 4 has a Gyroscope. When combined with the accelerometer, it gives the iPhone 4 six-axis motion sensing. Can you imagine games like Zen Bound with this? We sure can.
In addition to all of that, iPhone 4 features a new camera system. There's a 5 megapixel camera on the back witha backside illuminated sensor. What that means, if the demo is truly to be believed, that iPhone 4 produces impressive photos and in conditions that would have befuddled previous models.
Not only that, it's capable of recording HD video (720p at 30fps). That really makes us wish for 64GB of storage. A geek can dream, right? Now the question is: What will you do with all that video? Why, edit it with iMovie for iPhone! Using multi-touch gestures, the power of the A4 and what we suspect might be magic, Apple has released a version of iMovie for the iPhone.
We'll have much more on this and all of today's news throughout the day. Check back!
Update: iPhone 4 will be available June 24th. Pre-ordering begins June 15th.
