iPhone 4: Thinner, retina display, second camera, noise cancellation, flash

The new iPhone is here, and it's called -- dun dun dunnn -- iPhone 4. Apple grand muckamuck Steve Jobs announced the much-anticipated new phone at app developer shindig WWDC 2010 in San Francisco just moments ago.

iPhone 4

The phone sports a glass front and back, and a stainless steel frame, with the two-piece metal trim acting as antennas for the phone's connectivity options. One side handles Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS, while the other side connects to UMTS and GSM. At just 9.3mm thick, it's a whopping 24 per cent thinner than the current iPhone.

New additions include a front-facing camera, a second mic for noise cancellation, and an LED flash for the main camera. The iPhone 4 uses cut-down microSIM cards, like the iPad. It'll be available in 16GB and 32GB versions.

326ppi screen

The 89mm (3.5-inch) screen is the same size as that of the present model, but with a resolution that's four times higher. The new display throbs with a resolution of 326 pixels per inch. Jobs called it a "retina display", claiming that it has more pixels in an inch than the human eye can actually see, with the result that images and text look incredibly smooth.

A4 chip

Apple's A4 chip is now in charge of running the iPhone, as well as the iPad. Apple reckons this new chip will bump up the battery life, adding 40 per cent more talk time. The iPhone 4 now boasts the fastest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n. It also adds a gyroscope to the improved accelerometer, which hopefully means you can spin the phone around and it won't fall over. More importantly, you now have six-axis motion sensing, which will be handy for gaming and maybe even augmented-reality apps.

5-megapixel camera

The main camera now packs 5 megapixels, with a rear-illuminated sensor and 5x digital zoom. You can tap on the screen to focus on that point, and light up the scene with an LED flash.

iMovie for iPhone

A surprise amid the expected features was iMovie for iPhone. iPhone 4 shoots high-definition video, at 720p and 30 frames per second, with geolocation data included. iMovie allows you to pinch and drag in your video timeline to edit HD footage, add effects, and tweak clips right there on your phone. Videos can be soundtracked with music from your iPod library.

Availability

The iPhone 4 will be available in the UK from Thursday 24 June, the same date as in the US. You'll be able to pre-order one from 15 June, which is next Tuesday. UK prices haven't been announced yet.

Even more information

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iPhone 4 poll: Will you be buying it?
iPhone 4 official picture gallery
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