When the original iPhone was released by Apple, many existing phone manufacturers were dismissive, arguing that Apple had no real knowledge of the mobile market, and was doomed to failure. Instead, it was the manufacturers who were shown to be ignorant of what mobile buyers wanted, and the huge sales of the iPhone have forced many into imitating Apples plain touchscreen style and icon driven user interface.
The Apple iPhone 4 is the best iPhone yet, and also, quite possibly the best Smartphone as well. Apple has radically redesigned the appearance of the iPhone 4, giving it a sharp, industrial style that looks and feels expensive. The standout feature of the Apple iPhone 4 redesign is the new Retina Display, a 960 x 640 IPS LCD screen that provides the clearest, most detailed screen of any current mobile device.
Beside the new display technology, the Apple iPhone 4 also comes with a much-improved 5 Megapixel rear-facing camera with an LED flash, capable of taking digital-camera quality photo's and recording video in HD. There is also a front-facing VGA camera that is intended for use with the Apple iPhone 4's newest feature, FaceTime, a video-calling technology that allows seamless transition from voice to video calling between iPhone 4's over Wi-Fi connections.
Aside from the hardware upgrades, the Apple iPhone 4 comes with the newest version of the iOS operating system, which features support for multi-tasking, improvements to email, folders and a host of other significant changes. Of course, the Apple iPhone 4 has great music and software support via iTunes and all the games and applications you could want. The latest addition is iBooks, where you can purchase and read a wide variety of electronic books. Improvements in processor speed and battery life complete the package.
Other phone makers could be forgiven for feeling a little bit depressed about the iPhone 4. Just when devices from HTC and Samsung were at last beginning to be favourably compared with the iPhone 3GS, Apple has gone and significantly raised the bar. The new design is magnificent, making most alternative smartphones look pretty cheap and old-fashioned in comparison. The new Retina display technology also puts Apple well ahead of the competition, with web browsing and reading small text all significantly improved on the higher-resolution screen.
The biggest innovation could end up being FaceTime though. For now Apples video-calling service is restricted to Wi-Fi due to carriers concerns about high data usage. Even with this restriction, Apples well thought out implementation will attract many users, especially when the service is extended onto other Apple devices such as the Macbook range.