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Last week Apple announced both the iPhone 4 along with iOS 4.  The two will launch simultaneously near the end of June.  The iPhone 4 will release running iOS 4 while iPhone 3G and 3G-S users can update their firmware via iTunes.

The release of the iPhone 4 brings significant hardware advancement to the iOS world.  Adding an A4 processor and 512mb of on board ram, those selecting to grab up the new iPhone will quite literally have a palm sized iPad.  This marks a fairly hefty jump from the iPhone 3gs.  The first question begs, is that type of processing power really necessary in a mobile device right now?  And the answer is…. We sure hope so (and plan on putting it to use).  Certainly the faster the better.  The faster the processor and more ram, the more quickly applications load and display content.  But at this stage in the game the older iPhone still keeps up well enough to do just about everything they need to do, in a sufficient time frame.  There are few 3G-S only apps on the App store currently, and that may or may not hold true for the iPhone4.  It is likely as more and more people upgrade their device developers will worry less about cutting out half (or more) of their market and build applications that take full advantage of the higher speeds and require them.  But for now if you’re okay with wasting an extra minute or two of your day waiting for things to load, then I’d say speeds alone are not a reason to toss that new iPhone 3G-S to grab a 4th generation model, well at least yet.

However, the iPhone 4 did bring more to the table than just processing speed.  Other than the upgraded processor and ram, the other major notable upgrades include a Retina display, HD video recording and editing, upgraded 5 mega pixel camera, a brand new structure design and a new video call concept Apple calls FaceTime.  Each of these features brings more reason to look at upgrading sometime in the near feature for current or even new iPhoners.  However, some of the features may or may not be useful to every iPhone 4 user.  Having an upgraded camera is great, as is the ability to edit right on the iPhone.  How useful is this?  That depends on who you are.  Many Apple fanboys these days already own the best MacBook available and are familiar with iMovie and would most likely prefer to edit there when possible.  Others like taking video or photos with their phones, but if theres anything really worth taking a picture of they’ve got their dedicated camera, video camera, or FlipcamHD ready.  So again, along with the processing power, these camera upgrades are always great, but may or may not be a huge usable upgrade for every individual.

The new Retina display promises to be quite eye catching.  Having not held one in my hand I can’t say how amazing it is, but we’ve heard first hand it looks quite nice up close.  Before we make any judgment call here I’d like to hold one in my hand,  but for now we’ll take everyone else’s word for it, but also make the note that my iPhone 3g looks just fine to me as is.

Another exciting upgrade is the completely redesigned structure and casing for the iPhone 4.  It includes a stainless steel band that forms the exterior around the case.  Apple notes:

Created from our own alloy, then forged to be five times stronger than standard steel, the CNC-machined band is the mounting point for all the components of iPhone 4. The band provides impressive structural rigidity and allows for its incredibly thin, refined design. It also functions as both iPhone 4 antennas.

To be honest, it does look very nice.  Again, not having held it first hand, we can’t say exactly what it is or what it’s not.  However, coming first hand from a friend inside the WWDC the phone feels really good in the hand, “it’s solid”, they said.  So taking into account a faster processing power, new camera features, new display, plus more and toss it all into a well built, but smaller and thinner frame, maybe that’s starting to be enough to warrant a purchase.

The last item we mention was the new Apple video calling or FaceTime feature.  This is a really cool feature and the ads Apple is using to push the feature are very well crafted.  It seems well designed and thought out.  However, it does require a WiFi connection at this time and also is only usable with other iPhone 4 users.  A common question would be that if it requires WiFi, many times a laptop will be available and I can just use Skype.  True.  This iPhone 4 feature will simply make that process easier and more mobile (assuming the other party has a new iPhone as well).  Moreover, when this feature releases on the 3g network as well, it could provide a very game changing experience for mobile users.  As a side note to the teenagers out there, when FaceTime releases on 3g and your parents offer to get you an iPhone 4 for free, know that it’s a trick.  They just want the ability to call you at anytime and make sure you show them with FaceTalk exactly where you are and who you’re with

The idea of video calling with mobile isn’t new by any means.  I saw it functioning first hand on a couple of prototype devices many years ago at a non Apple handset manufacturers lab.  That isn’t what is important here.  What is important, and in my opinion might be the biggest iPhone 4 takeaway is simply that APPLE released video chat on mobile.  Apple led the way for mobile many years ago with the release of the iPhone and iOS.  They completely revolutionized the mobile handset market and had every major device manufacturer chasing their touchscreen design and their well crafted iOS UI.  That same company just released, to the public, a new way to communicate via mobile phones.  I’m willing to bet in the near future many of those same competitors will be chasing Apple again, finding the best way to allow video calling on their devices.  When Google, HTC, Samsung, Sony and LG begin to release video chat capable phones the way people communicate with mobile phones will change, for good.

- Matt Griffin
Principal, Creative Technology

@mattigriffin