Apple pushes video chat, screen technology
09-06-2010
New iOS4 operating system has "over 100 new user features"
Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4, unveiled yesterday by CEO Steve Jobs, has raised the smartphone technology bar, with video-calling features and a sharper screen. It also boasts an array of 225,000 applications, analysts say.
Jobs claimed that the new iPhone was going to be the 'thinnest smartphone on the planet.' It is 9.3mm thick, which makes it 24 per cent thinner than the iPhone 3GS.
A second major enhancement is 'Retina Display'. The display resolution has grown to a staggering 326 pixels per inch. "There has never been a display like this on a phone," Jobs said. iPhone 4 would have a 3.5 inch display, but with 4 times more pixels than the iPhone 3GS and a 800:1 contrast ratio. "You can't make an OLED display with this resolution, we think it's quite superior," Jobs said while disclosing that 300dpi is about the limit that the human retina can distinguish at 10-12 inches away from the eye.
In addition, iPhone 4 will have a front-facing camera, microSIM, camera with LED flash, headset, and a second mic for noise cancellation. In what Jobs described as 'brilliant engineering' the stainless steel band around the new handset has been used as part of the antenna system. "Stainless steel for strength. Glass on the front and back. Integrated antennas, and extraordinary build quality," this is how Jobs summed up the iPhone's new look.
The iPhone 4 will use the same A4 chip used in the iPad. The handset will ship with bigger batteries and better battery life. Seven hours 3G talk, 6 hours 3G browsing, 10 hours WiFi browsing, 10 hours music, 40 hours of music, and 300 hours of standby.
Jobs also announced a new piece of hardware for the iPhone 4: a three-axis gyroscope that would tie together the gyro, accelerometer, and GPS for 6-axis motion sensing. He said the new addition was 'perfect for gaming'.
A whole new camera system is built into iPhone 4. The new handset will have a 5 megapixel sensor with a backside illuminated sensor compared to the 3 MP camera in older models. As an added bonus, the new camera would also record HD video - 720p at 30fps. "Record and edit HD video right on your phone. It's pretty remarkable," Jobs said. The experience for iPhone 4 users would be enhanced through a custom built app called iMovie for iPhone. According to Randy Ubillos, Apple's chief architect of video apps, it would allow users to "record HD video and edit with beautiful transitions and titles, all on the device you carry with you every day." Even music can be added from iTunes, besides importing Geolocation information to titles.
Jobs also announced the iOS4 - the rechristened iPhone operating system. Calling it 'the most advanced mobile OS in the world', Jobs said iOS4 would have over 1500 developer APIs and over 100 new user features, the biggest being multitasking. In a candid moment, the Apple CEO admitted it had taken his company time to "figure out how to do it (multitasking) right".
Besides a unified inbox and threading in Mail, deeper enterprise support, and tons of new features, iPhone 4 users can also look forward to a third search option besides Yahoo! and Google. Bing! from rival Microsoft Corporation makes its first appearance on the iPhone platform. Jobs even took the time to congratulate Microsoft for the effort: "Microsoft has done a really nice job on this, it's an HTML5 presentation, it's great."
iBooks for iPhone was the seventh new feature that Jobs announced. "You only have to buy it once. And, iBooks will automatically and wirelessly - and for no charge - sync your place, notes, and bookmarks across all your devices," Jobs said. iBookstore joins the App Store and iTunes Store as the third store on the iPhone.
Jobs spoke about iAds, another new feature. According to him: "As you know, we're trying to combine the emotion of video with the interactivity of the web. iAds keep you in your app." Advertisements allow developers to make money on free and low-cost apps in the App Store.
The new iPhone comes equipped with FaceTime for Video calling, which Jobs demonstrated to the audience inside The Moscone Center. "I grew up with the Jetsons and Star Trek communicators. I grew up dreaming about this stuff...It's iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 anywhere there is WiFi, and there is no setup required," the Apple CEO said.
The iPhone 4 would be available in two colours, black and white. It would be priced at $199 in the US for the 16GB model, and 299 for the 32GB model.
Input from NDTV
Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4, unveiled yesterday by CEO Steve Jobs, has raised the smartphone technology bar, with video-calling features and a sharper screen. It also boasts an array of 225,000 applications, analysts say.
Jobs claimed that the new iPhone was going to be the 'thinnest smartphone on the planet.' It is 9.3mm thick, which makes it 24 per cent thinner than the iPhone 3GS.
A second major enhancement is 'Retina Display'. The display resolution has grown to a staggering 326 pixels per inch. "There has never been a display like this on a phone," Jobs said. iPhone 4 would have a 3.5 inch display, but with 4 times more pixels than the iPhone 3GS and a 800:1 contrast ratio. "You can't make an OLED display with this resolution, we think it's quite superior," Jobs said while disclosing that 300dpi is about the limit that the human retina can distinguish at 10-12 inches away from the eye.
In addition, iPhone 4 will have a front-facing camera, microSIM, camera with LED flash, headset, and a second mic for noise cancellation. In what Jobs described as 'brilliant engineering' the stainless steel band around the new handset has been used as part of the antenna system. "Stainless steel for strength. Glass on the front and back. Integrated antennas, and extraordinary build quality," this is how Jobs summed up the iPhone's new look.
The iPhone 4 will use the same A4 chip used in the iPad. The handset will ship with bigger batteries and better battery life. Seven hours 3G talk, 6 hours 3G browsing, 10 hours WiFi browsing, 10 hours music, 40 hours of music, and 300 hours of standby.
Jobs also announced a new piece of hardware for the iPhone 4: a three-axis gyroscope that would tie together the gyro, accelerometer, and GPS for 6-axis motion sensing. He said the new addition was 'perfect for gaming'.
A whole new camera system is built into iPhone 4. The new handset will have a 5 megapixel sensor with a backside illuminated sensor compared to the 3 MP camera in older models. As an added bonus, the new camera would also record HD video - 720p at 30fps. "Record and edit HD video right on your phone. It's pretty remarkable," Jobs said. The experience for iPhone 4 users would be enhanced through a custom built app called iMovie for iPhone. According to Randy Ubillos, Apple's chief architect of video apps, it would allow users to "record HD video and edit with beautiful transitions and titles, all on the device you carry with you every day." Even music can be added from iTunes, besides importing Geolocation information to titles.
Jobs also announced the iOS4 - the rechristened iPhone operating system. Calling it 'the most advanced mobile OS in the world', Jobs said iOS4 would have over 1500 developer APIs and over 100 new user features, the biggest being multitasking. In a candid moment, the Apple CEO admitted it had taken his company time to "figure out how to do it (multitasking) right".
Besides a unified inbox and threading in Mail, deeper enterprise support, and tons of new features, iPhone 4 users can also look forward to a third search option besides Yahoo! and Google. Bing! from rival Microsoft Corporation makes its first appearance on the iPhone platform. Jobs even took the time to congratulate Microsoft for the effort: "Microsoft has done a really nice job on this, it's an HTML5 presentation, it's great."
iBooks for iPhone was the seventh new feature that Jobs announced. "You only have to buy it once. And, iBooks will automatically and wirelessly - and for no charge - sync your place, notes, and bookmarks across all your devices," Jobs said. iBookstore joins the App Store and iTunes Store as the third store on the iPhone.
Jobs spoke about iAds, another new feature. According to him: "As you know, we're trying to combine the emotion of video with the interactivity of the web. iAds keep you in your app." Advertisements allow developers to make money on free and low-cost apps in the App Store.
The new iPhone comes equipped with FaceTime for Video calling, which Jobs demonstrated to the audience inside The Moscone Center. "I grew up with the Jetsons and Star Trek communicators. I grew up dreaming about this stuff...It's iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 anywhere there is WiFi, and there is no setup required," the Apple CEO said.
The iPhone 4 would be available in two colours, black and white. It would be priced at $199 in the US for the 16GB model, and 299 for the 32GB model.
Input from NDTV
