Piece of Fabulous Friday – iPhone 4
June 25th, 2010
Today’s piece of fabulous is…wait for it…the iPhone 4. I know I know, shocker, but really since I’ve gotten this sweet device in my hand I can’t really find anything more fabulous. So what makes it so fab? Well everything in my opinion but to be more specific there are a number of features that makes this phone the best, most fabulous phone I have ever had.
Well it goes without saying, iOS4 is a huge upgrade for the iPhone. This software is blazing (yes I know part of the bump in speed is due to 512 RAM) the way the software handles the phones capabilities makes it run like butter. The phone boots up much faster than my 3G and the folders are a godsend. Having around 80 apps on my phone makes me appreciate the folders feature even more. The increase in speed and performance is also demonstrated in the simple and quick way we can now swtich between apps. Speaking of switching between apps…
‘MultiTasking’
When I first heard that we were finally going to be getting multitaskingon the iphone I was really excited, when I heard what Apple’s definition of multi-tasking is (‘fast app switching’) my excitement waned a bit. But once I actually got a chance to play around with it, Apple’s ‘multi-tasking’ as actually pretty fabulous. The fact that you can open an app, open a different one and quickly return to the previous app is great. The Pandora app made multi-tasking even more appealing to me as it has allowed me to listen to my music while working on other apps. One thing I’m not a huge fan of (and this may be due to my lack of reserach on the topic) is the fact that it seems like any app you open and exit out of ends up in the multi-tasking bar. I’m sure there’s a setting to change this but I haven’t found it yet.
Retina Display
While people who were not at the WWDC couldn’t really get a feel for the significance of the Retina Display, I have now seen the light (pardon the pun). The retina display is amazing, everything just looks so much clearer and more defined. The difference between displays first became apparent to me when I was looking at my texts, the text is just so much more crisp and clear. If you don’t have an iPhone 4 and are interested in the Retina Display I highly recommend you take a trip to your local Apple store to check it out. Be warned though if you didn’t want one already, you will most likely walk out of there with a different opinion.
HD Video/Pictures/Flash
I’m not one of those people who have a video camera in their pocket ready and waiting to capture any memorable moment (although I do carry my digital camera around to capture those moments) but now having the capability of capturing HD video without having to carry around an extra piece of equipment may make me a more eager videographer. Just the ability to lose an extra piece of equipment I have to lug around with me makes it worth it for me. The 5 MP back facing camera takes much better pics than my 3G and adding a flash is going to make me much more of a shutterbug than I already am.
FaceTime
Ok here’s where the iPhone 4 falls short for me. I love the idea of video chatting with friends, in fact, like Steve said in the WWDC 2010 keynote, when I thought about the future I imagined people using video phones to communicate. The front facing video camera is awesome, what’s not so awesome is the fact that you can only video chat with someone who has an iPhone 4. I don’t know much about developing mobile devices but I’m pretty sure that caveat was intentional. I’m pretty sure it would be a fairly simple fix to allow anyone with a webcam and video chatting program to chat with iPhone 4 users via FaceTime. My opinion is that this is one of Apple’s ‘keep them wanting more’ moves ala cut and paste. Hopefully we’ll see this in a future software update.
Form Factor
I have to admit, when I first saw the Gizmodo video of the iPhone 4 prototype I was a little put off by the design. Where were the smooth curves and beveled sides? What was this not so shiny metal running around the sides of this ‘brick like’ device? Even when Steve whipped out the final product at WWDC I was far from impressed by the design aesthetic (although I was intruiged by the way the white model turned out). Really what got me to buy the phone was all of the features, the fact that I needed to upgrade from my 3G and, of course, because it was a new Apple product. Once I actually got it in my hands I was sold on the design. It really is a beautiful piece of technology. Even with the device being 25% thinner than it’s predecessor it feels good in hand and has a great screen. The home, volume control and On/Off/Lock buttons are all nice and look good with the rest of the phone. Even with a silly bumper I have on my phone (to mitigate some of the reception issues) it looks good.
I have to say, this device is probably one of the best devices I’ve had the pleasure of owning in a while (aside from my iPad). The operating system, feature upgrades and aesthetic makes this phone worth the $300 and new AT&T contract. If you’re not sure about the phone go to an Apple store and actually get it in your hands and play with it, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Do you have the iPhone 4? Do you love it/hate it? What’s your most/least favorite feature of th phone? Let us know in the comments.
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