Dialed In

The 411: No iPhone for Verizon

Welcome to the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

Hey there! I just need some advice. I really want the new iPhone 4, but I currently have Verizon. My contract is up and I am deciding to move to AT&T. Do you think I should wait for the iPhone to come … Read more

iPhone 4 First Take

Apple CEO Steve Jobs opened the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference June 7 by announcing the latest iPhone incarnation, the iPhone 4. As expected, the latest handset features a high-resolution display, a faster processor, and video calling, but it also sports unexpected additions like a new antenna and a gyroscope. It will be available exclusively with AT&T starting June 24. The price with service is fair--$199 for the 16GB phone or $299 for the 32GB device--and both models come in white and black versions. No, we did not hear a peep about the elusive Verizon iPhone, but we didn't anticipate any news on that front.

For more on iOS 4, check out our full review of the upgrade's new features.

Even from the outside, you'll see that the iPhone 4 marks the biggest upgrade since the iPhone 3G (the 3GS didn't add much beyond a compass). The profile is thinner and you'll notice a new front-facing camera (more on that later). The iPhone 4 also serves as the debut device for the newly named iOS 4 operating system, which brings such much-needed features as multitasking, a unified e-mail in-box, and app folders for the home screen.

On the whole, this iPhone 4 has us more excited than we were last year when the the 3GS was born. The new features, particularly those in the new operating system, are long overdue and we welcome any efforts to improve call quality (remember that it is a phone, after all). There were a few things that we were hoping for that we didn't get--a 64GB model, among them--but we look forward to reviewing this model.

Design The new iPhone's design is a sharp departure from the previous iPhone models. The front and back sides are glass, both surfaces are flat, and a stainless steel border circles the entire phone. Indeed, it looks very much like the photos that appeared on Gizmodo after an Apple engineer allegedly lost it in a Redwood City, Calif., bar back in April. Other new design elements include the aforementioned front-facing camera, split volume controls, a noise-cancellation microphone, and a new LED flash with the main camera lens. The iPhone 4 also switches to a Micro-SIM format, just like the iPad.

We welcome the new design elements on a couple of levels. The flat backside means that the iPhone will no longer wobble when it's resting on a table. Also, even though the overall effect is a tad boxy, the handset has a clean and unmistakeably Apple look. At 0.37 inch (9.3mm), the iPhone 4 also is 25 percent thinner than its predecessors. Jobs called it the thinnest smartphone around, but since that race changes daily, it may not hold the title for long. … Read more

Apple iOS 4, in light of Android 2.2

Apple's forthcoming iOS 4 will be ready to update iPhones and iPod Touches in two weeks. It will turbocharge existing iPhones without a doubt, but how does the new operating system stack up to Android's 2.2 (Froyo) release?

It's true that Apple's iOS 4 is a far more dramatic update from iPhone OS 3.0 than is Android 2.2 from 2.1. iOS 4 gets a handful of features that the iPhone was sorely missing on the software front: multitasking, threaded e-mail, folder support, and tethering--which Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn't mention in … Read more

iPhone 4 in pictures

What's new in the iPhone 4? A flatter, squarer, far more waifish form factor, front-facing camera, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash--the list goes on.

As delicious as they are, reading specs pales in comparison to getting the iPhone 4 in hand.

Here are bonafide shots of Apple's latest smartphone, set to hit shelves on June 24. Check in on our all-things-iPhone page for our First Look video, coming soon.

What we didn't hear about iPhone 4

There's plenty to like about the iPhone 4 that Steve Jobs just announced at WWDC 2010. There's the front-facing camera with FaceTime video chat, the higher-resolution display, and the 5-megapixel camera with HD movie recording, just to name a few features, but as with any product with this much hype, there were bound to be a plethora of rumors preceding the announcement.

Here, we revisit some of those predictions and see which just didn't make the cut. Let us know in the comments if there was anything else you were expecting!

Tethering Yes, we know that AT&T just announced a tethering option for the iPhone, … Read more

Pressure is on for Microsoft and Windows Phone 7

Before the WWDC 2010 keynote began, my colleague CNET News reporter Ina Fried sent out the following tweet, "My question for #wwdc, How much tougher is life about to get today for the Windows Phone 7 team?"

It's a thought I had as well and now that iPhone 4 has been revealed, I think the answer is pretty clear: Very tough. Not that WP7 wasn't already heading in that direction in the first place.

Microsoft took a gamble announcing Windows Phone 7 far in advance of its actual launch. The revamped mobile OS was introduced in … Read more

Apple iPhone 4 versus HTC Evo 4G

Now that Apple has finally announced the iPhone 4, we're keen to compare it with the current star of the Android lineup, the HTC Evo 4G. The following is a quick side-by-side comparison of the two devices. Of course, we'll definitely be pitting these two phones against each other in a CNET Prizefight once we get our hands on the iPhone 4, so stay tuned for that. Let us know in the comments what else you want to see compared! Also, be sure to vote in our poll and let us know which phone you prefer.

  … Read more

What Apple's FaceTime app means for Skype

As time ticked on in Steve Jobs' keynote at Monday's WWDC conference, we kept waiting for the Apple chief to showcase the iPhone 4's front-facing camera. When he finally did, it wasn't a Skype video conferencing app that many expected, but Apple's own software, called FaceTime.

FaceTime is built into the version 4 operating system that Apple is now calling iOS 4, since it powers the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Using the front-facing camera, two callers will be able to see and hear each other in a high-definition video call.

The good news is that FaceTime will require no setup, so firing up video chats should be intuitive even for VoIP novices. Here's the setback: at launch, FaceTime will run only over Wi-Fi, and only on the iPhone 4.

We understand that hardware and software requirements like a front-facing camera and HD video recorder would cause Apple to limit FaceTime calls to between iPhone 4 phones, but we are surprised that Apple isn't taking advantage of 3G calling, particularly since it's been six months since the company allowed third-party developers to add 3G calls to VoIP apps.

The bigger question on our minds, however, is just how big a blow FaceTime will deliver to Skype and other competing VoIP services.… Read more

What's inside iPhone OS 4.0 (iOS 4)

Since Apple gave us a sneak peek back in April of what's new on the iPhone's latest OS, CEO Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote speech (live blog) failed to blow us away. However, Jobs did claim 1,500 incremental improvements to the new operating system, including a new name: iOS 4.

New name: Apple is calling its new OS "iOS 4," since it works for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Multitasking: At long last, we'll be able to run multiple apps--including third-party apps--at the same time.

E-mail: iOS 4 gets a unified in-box for multiple e-mail accounts. It includes threaded e-mail conversations and the ability to delete all conversations at once.

Folders: Create folders by dragging one app on top of another, a good way to create a sort-of application launcher. You can rename folders and drag on more apps at any time.

Camera software: As camera hardware jumps from 3 megapixels to 5, the onboard software gets 5x digital zoom and tap to focus.

HD video recording: New to iOS 4 is a high-def recording rate of 720p at 30 frames per second (and keeps the LED flash on for HD recordings). One-click sharing from the phone.

iMovie for iPhone: The iMovies app can edit HD videos from the phone. From there, you'll be able to MMS, share videos via MobileMe, YouTube, and e-mail--but notably not through Facebook. iMovie will be able to pan and zoom and add effects, transitions, and themes. It will also tack geolocation into the movie titles. You can record videos directly into a video timeline and pinch to change the scale or drag to trim or edit the video. You'll also be able to choose your export size. iMovie will cost $4.99 in the App Store. … Read more