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The iPhone 4 was announced today during Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC and the world is taken by storm again.

Its flagship features are, of course, the extremely high resolution screen, video chat capability with FaceTime, and the sexy new form factor. But there’s more to the 4 than that, and even those seemingly self-explanatory new features deserve a closer look. Let’s see just what Apple’s done here with its biggest update to the iPhone since the original.

We’re all pretty familiar with the new body, since it was really the focus of Gizmodo’s exposé. In fact, that was pretty much the limit, since they couldn’t do much else with a dead, locked phone. But they examined it very closely and found it to be beautiful and metallic. Its new squared-off look is a signal from Apple that this is an entirely new phone, not just an iteration of the original. You might say this is the true sequel to the iPhone, the 3G and 3GS being merely refinements of the original design. Three years is a long time to stick with what was essentially the same design, especially for a company as chameleonic as Apple. A change was due, and the change is welcome.

The new design is more squared off, with a flatter back, creating a stronger shape in both your hand and eye. It’s not trying to hide the buttons, but rather showing off their careful placement and clean lines. I think the overarching themes here are power and superiority, rather than slickness. The glass on both sides, we found out in the closing video, is “almost as strong as sapphire crystal” and can deform pretty seriously without breaking. Good news to those of us afraid of exploding iPhones.

The previously reported dimensions are accurate: 4.5×2.31×0.37 inches. It weighs 137 grams, more than expected and slightly heavier than the 3GS. It’s similar enough in size and weight to the old one that you probably won’t notice the difference, but the new flat back and squared-off edges will either delight or bother you. I’m guessing delight.

The announcement that the steel rim of the phone is in fact the phone’s antenna nullifies concerns people had about potential signal blocking, like we have seen in several other Apple products.

The Display

The new 3.5-inch “Retina” IPS LCD display sports 326 pixels per inch, and is 960 by 640 pixels. They’re calling it “resolutionary.” Hmm — Apple puns. 960×640 will be a meaningless number to most people, but the resolution nerds among us will recognize three things about it right off the bat.

• It’s a higher pixel count than any other phone out there. Even the mighty EVO 4G is only 800×480, and at a larger screen size to boot. This means the iPhone screen is among the sharpest, if not the sharpest, in existence (and suggests a similar upgrade for the iPad once the LCD tech is scalable).
• It’s twice the original resolution. All the old iPhones were 480×320. By multiplying both of those numbers by two for the new resolution, Apple has ensured that all the old apps can run on the iPhone 4 with a simple 2x stretch filter. Very important for back-compatibility and taking advantage of the enormous number of apps in the store. Expect “HD” upgrades for your favorite apps, though, and expect to pay. Update: We got some full-size screenshots here.
• It’s very nearly iFrame. Surprisingly, though, the iPhone 4 records in 720p. Whither iFrame? Is Apple giving it up? I sure hope so. (update: nope, it’s there in iMovie instead of 480p)The Cameras

The new 5-megapixel rear camera is a decent improvement. I complained recently about cameras trying to resolve too much detail on a tiny sensor, and the iPhone camera will continue to to that, I’m sure, but the larger lens can only make things better. The backside illumination, too, should really improve low light performance, as well as the LED flash.

iMovie: We’ve written it up in a little more detail here, but essentially you’ve got a powerful mobile timeline-based movie editor. That’s pretty insane. The interface looks pretty simple; you won’t be cutting together feature films with this thing, but you could certainly edit a home movie, and of course it’s perfect for sticking together multiple shots from your iPhone. It’ll cost $5 in the App Store — which seems kind of weird until you realize that it’s really sort of a premium add-on, and its themes and assets are things some users would rather just not have clogging up their phone.

iOS 4

Too many improvements to mention here…

There’s also iBooks for the iPhone now. Not bad: the increased resolution puts the iPhone 4 almost in e-ink territory when it comes to sharpness of text, so this could be real nice. Native support for PDFs will be handy as well. Good news: all your iPad books will work on the iPhone 4 as well. No separate download or separate book.

It’s worth mentioning that IOS is already an OS, and one by Cisco to boot. It’s deja vu all over again!

iAd got another plug, and will be going live July 1st. Joy!

Inner gear

The iPhone 4 runs on the A4 processor, the same one that’s found in the iPad (or near enough). Jobs claims a 40% improvement in battery life due to the efficiency of the A4 (plus the 16% larger battery): 7h 3G talk, 6h 3G browsing, 10h Wi-Fi, 10h video, 300h standby. Nice. This will certainly be used for making better and faster apps, and you’ll be seeing a lot of that in new games. Speaking of which:

The iPhone already had an accelerometer setup that allowed for limited motion controls, but the new 3-axis gyroscope is “perfect for gaming” according to Steve. Take that, Nintendo! With the new screen and this improved controller, the iPhone may now actually be a credible threat to the big N.

Its output options are unfortunately limited compared with other devices: the dock connector will allow for a 1024×768 signal, which was nice in 2007. The iPhone 4 can play 720p files up to 30FPS, but HD output would have been nice as well.

Pricing and Availability

The new iPhone will be available on June 24th. It comes in black or white, and with a new contract, costs $199 for a 16GB version and $299 for 32GB. If your upgrade date is in 2011 (i.e. 1/1/11 or later) you can get the early update price, which is $399/$499. And of course you can always pay full price: $599/$699 with no contract at all. The 3G is being retired, and the 3GS will now be $99. The June 24th date is for the US, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. The rest of the world will get it in July.

Ok, this is not exactly an audiophile playback of Tchaikovsky’s Overture but for sure Vodafone NZ caught all eyeballs (and ears alike) with this TV ad.

If you’re arguing how this has been done, check the video below: the cell-phone symphonia making-of (part 1 & 2)!

Part 1

Part 2

The Nokia N900 has evolved from Nokia’s previous generation of Internet Tablets and broadens the choice for technology enthusiasts who appreciate the ability to multitask and browse the internet like they would on their desktop computer.

Running on the new Maemo 5 software, the Nokia N900 empowers users to have dozens of application windows open and running simultaneously while taking full advantage of the cellular features, touch screen and QWERTY keyboard.

“With Linux software, Mozilla-based browser technology and now also with cellular connectivity, the Nokia N900 delivers a powerful mobile experience,” says Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. “The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo and we’ll continue to work with the community to push the software forward. What we have with Maemo is something that is fusing the power of the computer, the internet and the mobile phone, and it is great to see that it is evolving in exciting ways.”

Designed for computer-grade performance in a compact size, Maemo complements Nokia’s other software platforms, such as Symbian, which powers Nokia’s smartphones.

The Nokia N900 comes feature-packed too:

* Quad-band GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA/HSPA 900/1700/2100 MHz
* Maemo 5 OS
* TI OMAP 3430: ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
* Up to 1GB of application memory (256 MB RAM, 768 MB virtual memory)
* 3.5” 800×480 WVGA touchscreen display
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera (2584 × 1938 pixels), Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens
* Integrated GPS, Assisted-GPS, and Cell-based receivers
* Wi-Fi b/g, Integrated FM transmitter
* Micro-USB connector, High-Speed USB 2.0, Bluetooth v2.1
* TV-Out
* 32 GB internal storage
* microSD card slot, up to 16GB
* Full QWERTY tactile keyboard, full QWERTY onscreen keyboard
* Mozilla based browser with full Adobe Flash 9.4 support
* Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263
* Battery: BL-5J 1320mAh
* Dimensions: 110.9 × 59.8 × 18mm
* Weight: 181g

We’re all looking at October release date; right now the Nokia N900 is available for pre-order for US $ 588.99!

Nokia today announced a careful update for one of its most successful smartphones in the market today. The E72 will succeed the Nokia E71 with a handful of hardware and software upgrades, while keeping most of the design and overall characteristics of its predecessor.

There is no need to fix what isn’t broken. Nokia E71 is still considered one of the best smartphone choices for those who don’t want an iPhone or Blackberry, but amid the launches of countless new contenders, its features are beginning to look a bit dated. The new E72, expected to roll out late in the third quarter of this year in Europe (and apparently soon thereafter in the U.S.), does not mess with the E71’s key assets and simply focuses on feature upgrades and slight design improvements.

On the hardware side, Nokia added a 5 megapixel camera as well as a standard 3.5mm audio jack. On the software side, there is the desktop-like email integration from the higher-end E75 model as well as a new optical navigation key. Nokia said it also improved access to instant messaging, enabling users to set up IM accounts right from the home screen.
Navigation has also been enhanced with A-GPS and a compass, which can be used by users for walking navigation (free for the lifetime of the device) as well as turn-by-turn navigation, which is offered for free for 10 days during the first three months after activation of the device.

The office capabilities have been updated with a new version of Quickoffice, which delivers Microsoft Office 2007 compatibility, Nokia said.

The company said that the device will be offered for 350 Euros and we would expect the price of the U.S. device to be in line with the current E71, which sells for $359. AT&T currently offers a subsidized version, the E71x, for $100 with a 2-year service contract.

[Via TGDaily]

The Samsung i900 Omnia 16GB runs atop of version 6.1 of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Professional operating system.
It supports quad-band GSM/EDGE as well as 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA (7.2Mbps) network connectivity, with WiFi thrown in for good measure.
Highlights of the Samsung i900 Omnia include a large, 3.2-inch WQVGA (240×400 pixel) touchscreen display with stylus support. The display supports auto-rotation for apps and there is a TV-out function for when 3.2-inch just isn’t large enough.
The Samsung i900 Omnia supports many different music and video formats, including Ogg Vorbis music and DivX and Xvid video.
An FM radio is also included in case you forget to load up the i900’s 16GB internal storage with your favorite music, and you don’t have a microSDHC card lying around. Music can be enjoyed with wired or Bluetooth wireless headsets, thanks to the i900’s A2DP stereo Bluetooth capability. The Omnia also sports a high-spec camera, as well.
The camera uses a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor with an autofocus lens and has such high end features as face and smile detection, image stabilization, wide dynamic range mode, and an automatic panoramic mode. A built-in GPS module with nav and geotagging capabilities is also on-board.
The Samsung i900 Omnia uses Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface extensions on top of Windows Mobile.
This means that users are free to navigate with taps, sweeps, or drags and drops as well as use the built-in optical mouse controller.
Text input is handled by an on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard.