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iPhone 4 Announced Starting at $199 on Sale June 24th.

As of no surprise to the general public, Apple unveiled the new iPhone model at the WWDC on Monday. Dubbed simply the “iPhone 4”, this new smartphone will have over a hundred new features, according to Jobs. Among them, video calling, high-definition video recording and editing, a gyroscope, retina display, iBooks and dozens more. It will go on sale June 24th.

Steve Jobs covered nine features of the iPhone 4 as well as the physical stats of the phone in his Keynote. Glass will now be present in the front and rear of the phone as well as a stainless steel band that runs around the edges. This band is also the housing for the antenna system of the phone. All integrated antennas, Wi-Fi, GPS, GSM and UMTS are in the structure of the phone itself, something that has never been done according to Jobs.

Compared to the iPhone 3Gs, the iPhone 4 will be 24% thinner than its predecessor, measuring at 9.3-mm thick. It will also have four times the pixels with its new 960&#215-640 pixel advanced LCD display. The technology Apple calls retina display, the iPhone produces an effect of smooth lines and fine print, due to the increased pixel count. Jobs says the advanced LCD technology produces more accurate color and beter resolution then OLED displays.

The new camera on the iPhone 4 will include 5X zoom, tap to focus and LED flash on the back and front-facing camera, perfect for the new feature called FaceTime. Using the front-facing or rear camera, FaceTime will allow smooth video calling over Wi-Fi between two iPhone 4 devices in portrait or landscape mode, that will be as easy as making a phone call. Jobs said FaceTime should include cellular network feature next year while Apple works out details with cellular providers, but he did not elaborate.

Designed for the new camera system, Apple will be releasing a video editing app that will be iMovie for the iPhone. When release for $4.99 in the App Store, this application will allow user to edit clips, record them directly into a timeline, and choose from stored clips and photos. The iPhone 4 will record full 720p high-definition video at 30 frames per second and exported in 360p, 540p or 720p with one-click sharing. Jobs says full-scale videos can be produced with the iPhone 4. The LED flash can also act as a video light during recording

Inside the iPhone 4 resides an Apple designed MicroSIM A4 processor chip (the same one as in the iPad), chosen for its size due to the space required for all the new features. Tied to the accelerometer of the iPhone 4 is a gyroscope which provides six-axis motion sensing to rotate and tilt with body movement. The increased space also allows for a bigger battery, which Jobs says will provide 40% more talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi , 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music and 300 hours of standby time.

As on the iPad, the iPhone 4 will now include the iBooks e-reader and will support the PDF format on both iPhone and iPad, PDF documents will show up on the virtual bookshelf just like the books do. Users will now be able to highlight, bookmark and make notes in e-books.

Though Jobs went over software updates to the iPhone OS at a previous event, he announces Monday that the new iPhone OS 4 will be known as iOS 4, a trademark name licensed to Apple by Cisco. Microsoft’s Bing engine will also be added as the third option for default search engine on the iPhone 4.

Pre-orders will begin June 15th. The 16gb iPhone 4 will retail for $199 and the 32GB version will sell for $299 with a contract, without one, $599 and $699 respetively.

Apple has released their promotion videos on their website so you can see all the iPhone 4 features and videos as well. Click this LINK to see more.


3 Replies to “iPhone 4 Announced Starting at $199 on Sale June 24th.”

  1. JCman7

    Nice summary Gene!

  2. Gene

    Thanks! It’s easy to write about such a fantastic topic. I can’t wait to see it in person.

  3. JCman7

    Yeah it looks awesome doesn’t it. I was hoping they would release an ipod touch 4 but I know thats too soon. I have to upgrade since I have a 1st gen and iOS4 is not compatable so I want to get the newest one I can get. *fingers crossed* that they announce one in the fall

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