WWDC Keynote: The complete iPhone 4 features and specifications

June 7, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

This morning, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, delivered what has to be one of the most anticipated keynote addresses, since the first generation iPhone was unveiled in 2007. While some of the thunder may have been stolen by Gizmodo and others who somehow got their hands on the iPhone 4G ahead of time, the event was not without its fair share of surprises.

Right out of the gate, Jobs said, “”We have a great conference for you this week. Over 5,200 attendees, 57 countries, and we sold out in eight days.” While he may have been addressing those in the room, millions of others around the world looked on virtually, thanks to the magic of live blogging. Okay, so what about the important stuff? Well, the iPhone 4 will be officially available in white and black, on June 24, 2010, at a price of $199 (16 GB) and $299 (32 GB). So what other great things did Jobs tell the world about the iPhone 4? Read on. The list is an exciting one.

Jobs started things off by recapping the success of the Apple iPad 3G and Wi-Fi, reporting that over two million devices has been sold to date. By Apple’s calculations, an iPad is sold every 3 seconds. He went on to say that there are already more than 8,500 iPad apps available in the iTunes Store, which have been downloaded over 35 million times.

The address went to include more background information on sales figures and the company’s overall success story. Finally, to the relief of most, he got on to more important things.

HTML5 – Apple acknowledges that it is an open platform that they will fully support.
Netflix – An app for the popular movie rental service will be released for the iPhone.
Farmville – A version of the Zygna-developed game made popular by Facebook, whic includes push notifications, will be coming to the iPhone this month.
Guitar Hero – Activision’s game, which made its mark on Wii, PlayStation, and Xbox, is available for the iPhone, as of today, at a price of $2.99.

Okay, those are great, but what about the iPhone 4G? Are we getting it or not?

Jobs also officially unveiled the fourth generation iPhone, which has been structurally reengineered from top to bottom and includes the following specs, features, and improvements:

24% thinner than iPhone 3GS making it the thinnest smartphone ever
Up to 32Gb of storage
All new camera system (front and rear-facing) with 5x digital zoom, LED flash, and “tap to focus” functionality
FaceTime supports video calling (portrait and landscape; limited to Wi-Fi only in 2010)
HD video recording at 720p and 30 fps, with “tap to focus”, video editing, and…
iMovie for iPhone, with transitions, titles, and five different themes. Also allows for exporting at 360p, 540p and 720p (medium, large, HD) [Available at additional cost of $4.99 in the App Store)
Micro SIM tray
Outer stainless steel band functions as a single antenna
Glass face that provides enhanced visibility and improved scratch resistance
Retina display featuring 326 pixels per inch (Makes text and icons appear rounded and more “real”)
Built on Apple’s A4 processor, which is actually 3 interconnected chips
Uses less watts of energy than previous iPhone models
3.5 inch display, 960 x 640 pixels (4x more), 800:1 contrast ration (4x better)
Improved battery performance while supporting increased talk tie, browsing, video viewing, and standby time
More environmentally friendly (Free of arsenic, mercury, BFR, PVC) and recyclable
Supports 802.11n WiFi
Dual Microphones
3 axis gyro for improved gyroscope for regular use and gaming (i.e. pitch, roll, and yaw)
Comes with OS 4.0, which includes multitasking, folders, unified inbox and threading, and enhanced enterprise support
Improved email support with data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, multiple Exchange accounts (with Exchange Server 2010 support), and SSL VPN support
Bing officially added as a native search engine option
iBooks for iPhone 4G (supports books already purchased and PDF reader)
iAds to help developers offset their cost and earn more from the apps they make (available July 1, 2010 for iOS 4 devices)

Preordering begins on June 15, 2010, for the United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and Japan. The devices will begin shipping on June 24, 2010. The updated iPhone OS 4.0 will be available beginning on June 21, 2010. Supported devices, in addition to the iPhone 4, include the iPhone 3GS, 3G, and iPod Touch. The iPhone 3G and iPod Touch devices will be limited to certain features, which are unspecified, as of yet. First generation iPhones will not be supported at all by the new OS.

AT&T has made upgrading easy by offering the device at the discounted price to anyone whose contract expires in 2010. This translates into an early upgrade of up to six months for current customers.

Well, that’s it for the iPhone 4 portion of the show. We’ll publish a separate post on the other, non-iPhone related news of the day, if the excitement warrants it. Hopefully, you’re curiosity is now satisfied, and it is just a matter of waiting until you can actually get your hands on the iPhone 4.

All photos courtesy of Engadget’s Live Blog