Top 5 reasons to get the iPhone 4
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 3 years you’ll know about Apple’s iPhone. When it was introduced in 2007 it broke new ground in the smartphone market and forced the whole mobile phone industry to take a step back and re-assess their strategy.
It married smart, minimalist design with an absurdly practical and easy to use UI that set new standards and forced the seasoned veterans to bow-down to the new kid in town.
Leap forward 3 years and we’re presented with the new iPhone 4, which promises to set the scene alight all over again. Here’s five aspects of the iPhone 4 that really kick arse:
Retina Display
The concept behind the Retina Display is simple: it aims to provide the naked eye with the maximum detail that it can physically interpret at a distance of 12-inches. Debates aside, the result is a display with exceptional clarity and pin-sharp rendering. It plays back video with beautiful colour re-creation and provides a visual experience unparalleled by its peers.
Camera
One area where the original iPhone failed to impress was the camera – it was a bit pants. Fortunately, Apple has duly noted this criticism and the iPhone 4 comes with a 5-megapixel camera on-board, with LED flash, touch focus and geo-tagging.
It’s fair to say it’s a huge improvement over its predecessors and we found it to be one of the best phone cameras that we’ve had the pleasure of using. Sure, it isn’t a huge sensor but the images produced are clear, sharp and bright. The phone also captures 720P video at 30FPS and the resulting movies are excellent under decent lighting conditions.
FaceTime
The iPhone 4 also includes a front-facing camera for video calling, which is supplemented by Apple’s excellent FaceTime software. Video calls can only currently be made over Wi-Fi, which is a bit rubbish, but the user experience is second to none.
You are able to chat face-to-face with other iPhone 4 users and even switch cameras to allow the person you’re speaking with to view the world from your perspective. It makes staying in touch an altogether more personal affair.
Improved Hardware
When developing the new iPhone, Apple set out to completely overhaul the internals of the device and provide users with a faster, more streamlined experience. The result of their development was the inclusion of a 1GHz Apple A4 processor, which allows the iPhone 4 to virtually fly along. Labour intensive tasks like video editing can be done on the hoof and there is even some left over for multitasking.
iPod
When you buy an iPhone you’re getting more than just a phone. You’re getting an iPod touch that can make calls. Media playback is flawless, sound quality is second to none and you have the whole iTunes library at your fingertips, allowing you to waste time with truly reckless abandon. Your media is organised with the familiar Cover Flow interface meaning you can sort through your library in seconds.
There you have it: 5 good reasons to pick up an iPhone 4. There are lots more, but these are just a few of our favourites.
The device is beautifully designed and simple enough for your Grandmother to pick it up and enjoy without enduring much of a learning curve. It’s heavy enough to feel re-assuring yet light enough to carry all day without noticing. Then there’s the user experience, which really is something to be experienced.
Mind you, all this technology don’t come cheap, but consider the iPhone 4 a little treat, an extravagance that’s both practical and fun.