THE NEW IPHONE4 INTRODUCED

Last Monday, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, officially introduced the iPhone4, complete with an internal gyroscope, longer battery life, a 5-megapixel camera and a new front-facing camera that will allow video chats over Wi-Fi.

The iPhone 4, unveiled by Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, is thinner, has better resolution and adds a front- facing camera. It also sports a new type of glass and a stainless-steel band that Apple says is designed to improve network reception.

Jobs, who unveiled the phone at the company’s developer conference in San Francisco, downplayed the threat from Android. The iPhone was the No. 2 smartphone in the U.S. in the first quarter, with a 28 percent share, he said, citing Nielsen Co. data. Research In Motion Ltd. ranked first, with a 35 percent share, while Android-based devices accounted for 9 percent.

I would imagine that this was one of Mr. Jobs’s least favorite keynote presentations. Millions of people had already seen the new iPhone 4 after Gizmodo got its hands on an early prototype  two months ago.

And although Mr. Jobs still wowed the audience with the sleek design and features of the phone, there were not a lot of new features to show off to the audience.To top it off, Mr. Jobs’s Wi-Fi ran into major trouble and he clearly looked frustrated on stage when he could not properly demonstrate loading a Web page.

The iPhone 4 adds a camera for capturing high-definition video, as well as software that makes video chatting possible. Its so-called retina display packs four times as many pixels in the 3.5-inch screen, delivering higher-resolution text, photos and videos. New iPhone operating-system software, called iOS 4, supports features such as multitasking - the ability to run more than one application at the same time.

The resolution of the “retina display” is as impressive as Apple boasts. Text renders like high-quality print.The effect is that the pixels appear to be painted on the surface of the phone; instead of looking at pixels under glass, it like looking at pixels on glass. Combined with the incredibly high pixel density, the overall effect is like “live print”.If voice quality is more important to you than all the toys, the nicer OS or the video chat, then definitely go for the Sprint.

The durability of the phone’s glass back:

Apple has stated, though, that they’ve improved the durability of the glass. Still, as you probably now know, many glasses may be scratch- and snap-resistant even though they might shatter — acute impact resistance hasn’t been a hallmark of the material.

 the design of the new phone:

It seems to me that it’s got less character than previous iPhones. But it’s still incredibly well designed and built, and far less cheap feeling than the plastic-backed 3G and 3GS.

The new video chat feature:

The screen is truly outrageous — you basically cannot see pixels on it. We’re not being hyperbolic when we say it’s easily the best looking mobile phone screen we’ve ever laid eyes on.It’ll probably replace your pocket camera and Flip cam. The iPhone 3GS, though its camera specs weren’t mindblowing, came somewhat close to replacing point-and-shoot cameras for some users.

The battery should last longer, it’s slimmer, the antenna is (hopefully) more powerful, it’s got noise cancellation, its processor is much faster, and so on.

iPhone 4 versus Google Nexus One

"Its resolution is not as awesomely crisp as the iPhone 4's, but is fairly high at 800 x 480 pixels," The Nexus One  , which is Google's latest version of their mobile OS. It enables some cool new features like Internet sharing over Wi-Fi and better support for Adobe Flash, along with faster performance. Android has also become, in our opinion, very close in terms of usability to the iPhone OS, give or take a few things from both parties."

iPhone 4 versus EVO 4G

The EVO 4G posses the biggest challenge to the new iPhone,"according to Signature9. "It will be up to Apple app developers to come up with something truly innovative that takes advantage of the gyroscope to make it a must-have feature that would push someone over to the iPhone rather than the Evo 4G. Plus, while Sprint’s 4G network isn’t live in cities like New York or San Francisco yet, AT&T’s service in those markets doesn’t often get rave reviews"

You should not because:

What we saw today is what Apple’s going to be selling for the next year, probably. But consider just how much Android has advanced in that time? Android 2.2 is pretty wonderful, and I expect a lot of impressive Android hardware to show up in the next few months, not to mention the forthcoming Windows Phone 7.

“Apple and its competitors are steadily bringing better and better technology and software to go with it to the market,” he said. “In that environment, it’s difficult to leapfrog the competition in the same way the iPhone did when it was first introduced.”