10 Features of Apple iPhone 4 Appealing to You

True hardcore Apple fans probably know everything about the Apple's new next-generation iPhone 4, which was officially announced at WWDC in the beginning of June. The entire world found itself taking a look at the very familiar design. Well, the look of a new device wasn't really much of a surprise because those who were curious enough knew what the device looked like before the release due to some indiscretions from Gizmodo and Vietnam-based website Tinhe.

Nevertheless, it was not just about the look, though it is incredible, especially when the device is fitted into the pretty iPhone 4 case. Consumers could find much more about the new Apple's iPhone 4, including many technical details making it a very attractive device to own. In case you are already thinking of starting saving up to get this thing, here are some reason for you to do that.

Longer battery life
While giving his keynote speech at WWDC, Steve Jobs announced that the battery life of iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, which can't be ignored. Anyway, how would you ignore 7 hours of talk time on 3G, 10 hours of video or 40 hours of audio playback, 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi or 6 hours on 3G? Aren't these figures impressive?

FaceTime video chat
That's actually one of the best new options available in the newly released iPhone 4, if not the very best one. Although it only works over Wi-Fi networks, such a useful thing is worth it. The feature allows the user to enjoy live chats with those who matters to them (as long as the second party also owns an iPhone 4). So the advice is to start saving up for two devices at least.

Improved design
One should admit that the new iPhone 4 looks much better than the earlier version. Probably, it doesn't have so many curves, but shows plenty of glass, making the look modern and cool. For those Mac users out there who always wanted to accessorize their PC with an Apple handheld of the matching color, the iPhone 4 also comes in white. The advice (in case you are among those but all the white ones are gone) is just to put a white iPhone 4 cover on your device and it will match perfectly.

Enhanced camera
This is quite a reason for many users to opt for the iPhone 4. In fact, the device now sports a very serious sensor with 5 megapixels and backlight, which means that the quality of the pictures taken in bad-light conditions will increase a lot. Add here the presence of a LED flash, doubled as an LED video light, plus 5x zoom and tap to focus, and you will receive a perfect device to take photos of high quality.

HD video
One of the major updates that plenty of people have been waiting for. New iPhone 4 allows to easily record and edit videos via the iMovie application for iPhone, and even upload them onto the web. This means that the device owners will also own a full-fledged multimedia pocket studio, without paying extra for it.

Improved gaming capabilities
New iPhone 4 has borrowed Apple's A4 chip from the company's iPad tablet. This CPU makes the device much more powerful than the 3GS. It also features built-in accelerometer, which the consumers could get accustomed to if they used the previous versions of iPhone. In addition, it also has a gyroscope enabling 6-axis motion sensing like up and down, forward and backward, pitch and roll and side to side, which makes it much handier for gaming purposes.

Retina display
That is the name of the most advanced display that any of the handheld Apple products have ever had. Specifically, the 3.5-inch iPhone 4 display features 960*640 pixel resolution (which makes 326 pixels per inch), turning it into the digital perfection. It means that it would be impossible to even distinguish the pixels on the smooth screen, so all you will see is a clear, high-definition image. The advice is to take care of the display's safety right after the purchase. One of the solutions is using a protecting film or iPhone 4 cover.

iBooks app integrated
Apple's iPhone 4 follows the Kindle's path and offers access to a feature allowing the consumers to start reading e-book on one of the Apple's family devices like iPhone 4 and then continue reading on another one - iPad or iPod touch, for example.

New iOS 4
The new operation system is one the biggest advantages of iPhone 4. The device runs the iPhone OS 4, bringing about an entirely new set of attractive features like multi-tasking and folders. The iOS 4 is considered a huge step forward for the company, as the handset allows users to enjoy it at its best. Although OS 4 is planned to be available on the 3GS too, it won't run this fast anyway.

Fanboyism
The simplest reason for some people, but perhaps the strongest one, is fanboyism. You know, there are people out there ready to buy anything Apple releases just because it's Apple. Those who adore the company and its philosophy will undoubtedly opt for the iPhone 4, especially after reading through the other reasons mentioned above.

About Magic Trackpad

External trackpads aren’t exactly new, but Apple has managed to instill no small degree of excitement into their new Magic Trackpad by virtue of their multitouch technology. Essentially the trackpad from a MacBook Pro, sliced out and blown up, the wireless peripheral promises to bring gestures Apple’s mobile users have been enjoying to their desktop compatriots. Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.

Aesthetically there’s no arguing with the Magic Trackpad’s heritage, and it’s obviously intended to sit alongside Apple’s own Bluetooth keyboard. The battery section at the back – which takes a pair of AA cells, which Apple would prefer to be from their own, new charger – elevates the pad to the same angle as the keyboard, and they’re as deep as each other. Physical controls are limited to a power button on one end; the other has a twisting cap that shuts the battery compartment.

Otherwise the magic is all in the trackpad surface, which Apple say is 80-percent larger than what you’ll find on a current unibody MacBook Pro. It’s slightly squarer, so the difference is more noticeable in depth than it is width, but thanks to the glass surface the tactile feel is the same: just slippery enough. The whole pad clicks physically – as before it’s hinged across the top edge, so it gets easier to click the further down your fingers are – but also responds to taps.

So far, so much a regular trackpad, but Apple’s ace is the multitouch gesture support. That’s a combination of the hardware together with the software to take advantage of it; gestures have been baked into OS X for several iterations now, but so far desktop users have had to use a Magic Mouse in order to take advantage of them. Pairing the Magic Trackpad was a straightforward matter – it uses Bluetooth, which is present on every recent Mac – and the quoted range is up to 33ft. Practically speaking, we could comfortably sit on the sofa and control the Mac mini we use as an HTPC from across the room.

The gestures themselves should be familiar to most Mac users. By default, two fingers are used to scroll, with all directions supported, while three fingers swipes back and forth through pages. A chiral-rotate gesture flips image orientation around, while pinch-zooming is also supported. Four fingers, meanwhile, trigger Exposé when swiped up or down, or switch applications when swiped left and right. Thanks to the new settings pane, however, you can selectively shut off certain gestures if you don’t use them, adjust tracking, double-click and scrolling speed (including optional inertia), and change the behavior of three-finger use. Rather than flipping pages, you can set it to drag windows around the screen (a new software update adds the same optional functionality to MacBook trackpads).

Does it work? Certainly, yes, and the experience is just like using an Apple notebook but larger. The MacBook is seldom accused of having too small a trackpad, and so the larger Magic Trackpad is even more capacious. As responsive as you’d expect, the gestures soon become second nature; if you’re familiar with them from the notebook then there’s little in the way of acclimatization time required for the new desktop product. Battery life remains an uncertainty at this stage; Apple reckon that, thanks to the Magic Trackpad’s clever power management, it’ll manage months of use before you have to replace the batteries, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that accordingly.

In the end, the Magic Trackpad is a pretty tempting proposition. Apple will still be bundling their Magic Mouse with new iMac and Mac Pro desktops (you can use the mouse and the trackpad simultaneously, in fact) but anyone who has spent a reasonable length of time with a MacBook will likely know how useful the multitouch gestures can be. $69 for that functionality seems reasonable; the closest competitor is the Wacom Bamboo Touch, which is cheaper at $49 but only supports one- and two-finger gestures and uses a wired USB connection rather than Bluetooth.

We can also see MacBook owners who may have wanted to use third-party ergonomic keyboards but were loath to give up the notebook’s trackpad choosing the Magic Trackpad too. Perhaps more interestingly, it points to the role touch and multitouch will play in Apple’s future, as it spreads across from their PMP/smartphone/tablet and notebook lines and onto the desktop. It’s not hard to envisage a further step to home entertainment, with an updated Apple TV using a Magic Trackpad for navigation and control. As it stands, though, the Apple Magic Trackpad is a strong addition to the company’s concise portfolio of branded peripherals, and neatly sates a request many Mac Pro and iMac users have been making. Unless you’re dead-set on using a mouse, I wholeheartedly recommend the Magic Trackpad, hence giving it two-thumbs up.