iPhone 4

Last week at the WWDC Keynote, Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 4! I just quickly wanted to write about some of the amazing new features that this iPhone has to offer!

Physical Features:

• 9.3 MM Thick, 24% thinner than the 3GS
• Full Stainless steel body with glass front and back
• Proximity sensor for dimming control and auto answer

Display Features:

• New ‘retinal display’
• 960×640 resolution
• Only 22% fewer pixels than iPad

Internal Features:

• New battery
• Quad-band radio
• 3-axis gyroscope
• Proximity sensor

Camera Changes:

• 5 megapixel rear camera
• VGA front-facing camera
• 720 HD recording
• iMovie for iPhone

Other Big Features:

• FaceTime – Video Calling for iPhone 4 to iPhone 4
• Multitasking
• iBooks
• Folders
• iAds
• iMovie – Edit on iPhone 4 – $4.99 in App Store

Twitter: Offical iPhone App – Goodbye Tweetie2

Recently, Twitter got Tweetie 2 to be their official App.  Yes, this was already an App before, but it just got renamed, had an icon change and a few updates were made.  This App is now Free!  I was a little disappointed when I found out that it was free because I had paid $2.99 a couple months before for the same app, just a different name.  Although I was upset about that, there is one thing that makes up for it.  Now, you can select what service you want to post your pictures and videos to.  Before, in the Tweetie App, I think you could select which service, but there were only yFrog and something else.  Now they have TwitPic, and TwitVid, which I use all the time! I am so happy that these options are available now.  So go ahead, and make your way to the App store and get this amazing App for your Twitter client.

iPhone OS 4.0

iPhone OS 4 is shipping this summer (iPad in the fall). iPhone 3GS and new-gen iPod touch will get all the features, but some features won’t make it to the iPhone 3G, original iPhone, and older iPod touches. The biggest new feature is multitasking, which Apple says is going to be the “best” implementation in the smartphone space, though it’s obviously not the first. App switching is activated by double tapping the home button, which pulls up a “dock” of currently running apps, and Apple claims it can do this without hurting battery life or performance for the front app. Unfortunately, this multitasking won’t be available for devices older than the 3GS and new iPod touch. Multitasking is just one of seven different new “tentpole” features, including Game Center, enhanced Mail, and more…

Notable new features for users (“tentpoles” are in bold):

• Multitasking.
• Spell check (like on the iPad).
• Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad).
• User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite).
• Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera.
• Playlist creation and nested playlists.
• App folders for sorting apps! You can even put an app folder in the dock.
• Enhanced Mail! You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly, and sync to more than one Exchange account. There’s also threaded messaging (at last!) and in-app attachment viewing.
• iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle.
• Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution.
• Game Center. It’s like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games. Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a “developer preview,” and out for consumers later this year.

Developers are getting plenty of new tricks too:

• New SDK, available today.
• 1,500 new APIs.
• Background audio (think Pandora).
• Background VoIP (think Skype).
• Background location data, both with live GPS for backgrounded turn-by-turn, and cell tower-based for lower power draw.
• Local notifications. Like push notifications, but sends a notification straight from the app without needing a push notification server, perfect for an alarm, for instance.
• Fast app switching. Saves the state of an app and resumes it from where you left off, without dwelling in memory.
• iAd. Apple says it’s for keeping “free apps free.” The ads keep you in the app, while also taking over the screen and adding interactivity — using HTML 5 for video — up to simple gaming in-ad. Apple will offer a 60 / 40 split on revenue, and users can even buy apps straight from an ad.
• In-app SMS.
• Map overlays.
• Quick look for previewing documents.
• Photo Library access.
• Calendar access.
• Full access to the camera.
• Video playback and capture.
• Date and address “data detectors.”
• Automated testing and performance / power analysis (the same tools Apple uses).

An Apple Christmas!

This Christmas was so great! I did get my iPhone 3GS! It is the 16GB White version, and I love it! I was unbelievably excited when I opened up one of my presents and inside was that iPhone! Now I will definitely have lots more things to blog and make videos about. I will have lots of App reviews, case reviews and many things like that.

I also got an Apple Universal Dock for Christmas and it’s so great because I can charge my iPhone, sync it and have a place to sit it when I am in bed. Not knowing that my iPhone came with a dock connector cable, or just standard cable, my mom bought one for me anyway, but I’m not going to open it unless I need it.

For Christmas, I also got the new Apple Remote so now I can use it to control my iPhone and Macbook. Along with that, I got lots of iTunes gift cards so I can buy lots of music, movies, and tv shows for my iPhone! The only thing I am disappointed in is that in the Canadian iTunes Store, you can’t buy apps with your gift card balance, you need to have a credit card. I do have a credit card so It won’t really be a problem but it would just have been much more easier if I could buy it with my store credit.

Along with some clothes, and DVD’s, books and other things, I had a really great Christmas! I also got $200 from my parents to just go shopping with, and I am pretty sure I want to get a MobileMe account, but I would love it if you would leave me a comment telling me what I should buy with that money. Particularly items iPhone related, so if you have some suggestions for a really good case or something like that, let me know!

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Leave me a comment telling me what you got this year!