iPhone 4

Lets start with a brief rundown of the situation preceding the monumental geek fest that was Steve Jobs' WWDC Keynote. Apple was lagging sadly behind the leaders of the smartphone pack, exhausted by the stellar efforts of Google and its Android operating system. Having revolutionized the industry, it seemed as if Apple's dominance was to be short-lived.

I wrote last week about how Steve Jobs needed to pull an ace out of both sleeves and his shoe to impress the people who would eventually be buying Apple's new product, i.e. not me (sadly). It seemed unlikely that we would be presented with anything we hadn't seen before - after all, Gizmodo revealed most of the hardware specs of the new phone after 'acquiring' (whether or not by legitimate means remains to be seen) a prototype almost two months ago.

We knew that the phone would be slickly designed, featuring a front facing video camera, and have a second mic for noise cancellation. We knew, among countless other tidbits, that it would be fashioned out of glass and stainless steel, a camera with an LED flash sitting proudly on its back and, after closer inspection, that it would sport an IPS Display.

Everything mentioned above is true, and while those features alone would have made for an interesting refresh, they would hardly have been the decisive leap forwards that was needed sustain the platform for another year.

What's changed since then? A lot. Much like Mr. Jobs, I will be displaying my opinions by highlighting several key features of the new device. The following provides merely a brief glimpse at the hundreds of new features sported by the iPhone 4, but in my mind, they are the three most important.

Feature 1 - the display. In the past, the iPhone led the way with its remarkably high resolution display, boasting an impressive 480x320, a pixel density of 163ppi. By contrast, a 42 inch Full HD TV has a pixel density of only 52ppi. The iPhone 4 obliterates even the slightest inkling of respect for its predecessors screen by increasing the pixel count by 4, to 960x640, a pixel density of 326ppi. Yes, that is correct. Four times the pixel density. That means that EVERYTHING looks better. From text to images, apps to videos, everything you see on the iPhone 4 will, essentially, look four times as good as what you would be seeing were you viewing it on the 3GS.

Feature 2 - the operating system. Formerly the iPhone OS 4, rechristened the iOS 4, the software run by the iPhone 4 is jam packed with thousands of new features, not the least of which is Multitasking. In the past, only one application was useable at a time. Now? As many as your device's RAM can hold at a time. Folders, iAds and and multiple inbox email are also among the touted 100 user-accessible improvements.

Feature 3 - Video Chatting. This one strikes fear into the hearts of every single technophobic luddite (my mother) who complains that technology is making our interactions less intimate. Video chatting has existed on our desktops and laptops for a while now, but now that it has finally reached our phones, it stands a chance at replacing text and audio chatting as our primary form of electronic communication. When available, it is almost always preferential to see someone's face and their surroundings when conducting a conversation. After all, body language and facial expressions communicate just as much as words themselves. That Apple leads the way in this field is not surprising. That they have opted to make their buddy-list and setup free video chatting service essentially available to all is. Because any phone maker can build in Apple's software and a front facing camera means that the technology has definitive potential to be widely adapted within the next 5 or 10 years.

But is this enough? I say yes. We only need to wait another year until Apple shocks the world again with the iPhone 5, but the iPhone 4 should easily keep Apple's platform ahead of the competition for the time being. In the end, this only means good things for us consumers. Competition breeds innovation and, after all, we do love flashy new gadgets. Is the iPhone 4 truly magical, truly revolutionary? No. But that doesn't mean it isn't excellent.