Smartphone Review: Apple iPhone 4

Back on the throne

Smartphone Review: Apple iPhone 4

Just as the frenzy of the iPad launch subsides, it is time for anti-Apple frothers to have a new device waved in their angry faces and for pro-Apple droolers to get verbally bitch-slapped in the blogosphere for falling once more for Steve Jobs' huckstering blandishments.

A year ago, iPhone 3GS was released with a new operating system and now iPhone 4 arrives with iOS 4.0, offering an array of long-awaited functions. Since that 2009 3GS launch, Taiwanese manufacturer HTC in particular has upped its game and risen to Apple's challenge, producing handsets for the Android OS that offer slews of features, including free turn-by-turn navigation, multi-tasking, removable batteries and highly customisable interfaces. What can Apple do to wrench back the crown?

The iPhone 4 is an object of rare beauty. Noticeably slimmer but a trifle heavier than predecessors, its new heft only adds to the profound feeling of quality and precision that the device exudes. Sharper-edged, it is girt by a stainless steel band which cleverly houses all the antennae required by a modern smartphone. Jobs himself made a comparison between iPhone 4 and a classic Leica. With this device in my hand, I feel that I am holding its designer Jonathan Ive's personal prototype, hand-machined as a proof-of-concept model.

On the front can be discerned the lineaments of a forward-facing camera and, in the glorious glass obverse (which leads one to speculate that future models might allow solar charging), an extra eye reveals that LED flash has finally arrived. The existence of the front-facing camera allows video calling: Apple's new open standard for this, called FaceTime, neatly and transparently turns a mobile phone call into WiFi video chat, saving data charges.

Once I had located someone else with an iPhone 4, I found FaceTime worked with astounding ease and in very impressive resolution. The main camera has been upgraded to 5 megapixels and produces stunning images that might be, for many, reason enough to upgrade, especially when you consider the iPhone 4's remarkable Retina display. Retina delivers the crispest images I have ever seen on a smartphone. I found myself staring at onscreen text in disbelief.

With 720p HD video, a full-featured iMovie editing app, sweet multi-tasking, better mail, spellcheck, a bigger battery, in-built 3-axis gyroscope (wait for the gaming implications of that alone), extra pep and polish and that droolworthy form factor, Apple has once more leapfrogged the competition.

HTC Android handsets still impress and offer a viable alternative for many, but iPhone 4's star quality is irresistible. The Guardian

by Stephen Fry

05:55 AM Jun 25, 2010

http://www.todayonline.com/Tech/EDC100625-0000067/Back-on-the-throne