On June 7th, 2010, at the sold out World Wide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs announced a slew of improvements to the operating system that runs on iPod Touch devices, iPads, and iPhones. Many of those updates were specifically designed for the highlight of his keynote address: the new iPhone 4.

While a few specifications of the new iPhone were previewed during the infamous Gizmodo episode, many of the new features weren’t obvious out of context. Here are a few of the important iPhone 4 and iOS 4 (the new name for the iPhone operating system which runs Apple’s family of mobile devices) improvements:

Expanded iBooks:Apple is enhancing its e-book support, extending it to the iPhone and iPod Touch as well as the iPad, and adding PDF support as a separate “book shelf.” The new iBooks software allows the user to take notes and add bookmarks on the fly to whatever they’re reading. Also, you can sync any items purchased through the iBookstore from your iPad to your iPhone and vice versa at no additional charge.

Back and Front-facing Cameras: There’s now a new higher resolution camera on the iPhone for better pictures and VIDEO in the traditional location on the back. For low light situations, the phone has a built-in LED flash next to its back camera which can be used for still or video captures. Video can be recorded at up to 720p quality at 30 frames per second via the back camera and edited with a mobile version of iMovie available for $4.99 from the App Store. The new and additional front-facing camera can take VGA or 640×480 resolution video and photos.

FaceTime: This is the name for the new feature whereby utilizing the built-in cameras, the iPhone now supports real-time video chats. At present, the chats only work when the phone is connected to a WiFi network and only iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 but Jobs announced that the standard would be open and that they were working with ISPs to eventually allow the video chats over phone networks like 3G and 4G via AT&T.

Retinal Display: The screen resolution has been increased to exceed the resolution of the human eye at normal viewing distance resulting in incredibly sharp text and ultra clear graphics. All current iPhone apps will automatically be forward compatible with the new resolution. One observer noted that the new display looks “like a glossy poster!”

New Search Engine Options: While Google continues to be the default search service, Apple has added Bing and Yahoo! as options for your web search engine. These options are also now available in the new Safari 5.

Better Battery Life and Better Performance: New chips and better batteries make the iPhone nearly as powerful as a regular laptop by making use of some of the same technology found in the iPad. Improved battery technology and integration gives you 7 hours of talking, 6 hours of 3G web browsing, 10 hours of video or 40 hours of music from a full charge.

The new iPhone 4 will be available in the U.S. on June 24th at price points of $199 and $299 through AT&T. In a development sure to excite current AT&T contract holders, if your contract expires any time in 2010 you are immediately eligible to upgrade to the new iPhone with no penalties. The new operating system iOS 4 will be a free update for existing iPhones capable of running it and the iPad. Obviously the new iPhone will be the only device able to use features that require special hardware, like video chats. Meanwhile, Apple continues to sell the iPad at a rate of approximately one every three seconds and has already sold over two million units. At this rate, the new iOS 4 will soon be everywhere!

About the Author:
Clark Riley met Steve Jobs when he introduced the Apple computer, has been an Apple user since the Apple II, and purchased one of the first Macs. Our Senior Field Engineer is known for specializing in all aspects of print graphics but particularly fonts. In his spare time, Clark produces a linguistics and archaeology journal, is an avid orchid grower, and practices amateur photography.