The next-gen iPhone is now official, The announcement of iPhone OS 4.0, Apple’s biggest improvement to the iPhone OS since, well, 3.0. This new version includes multi-tasking (although backgrounding would be the proper term), app folders, a new version of Mail, and a carrier unlock. Steve Job also showed off details of the company’s newest mobile operating system, now dubbed iOS 4, which will run on the iPhone 4 as well as (in the future) the iPad.
New iOS 4 features include support for multitasking, a unified e-mail inbox, and the ability to put apps from the home screen into folders. All of these features had been previously demonstrated at an iPhone OS event in March.
Some new iOS Features-
* iPhone 4 includes a front-facing camera and support for videoconferencing with other iPhone 4 users, via a feature called FaceTime.
* The iPhone 4 screen includes a high-resolution technology that Apple is calling “retina display,” with 328 pixels per inch. Overall, the 3.5-inch display has 960 x 640 pixels, more than the Motorola Droid (854 x 480) and HTC Incredible (800 x 480), close competitors that run Google’s Android OS. “The display is your window into the internet, your apps, your media, your software,” said Jobs.
* The iPhone 4 now uses the A4 processor, Apple’s custom-designed CPU that powers the iPad.
* Quad-band HSDPA/HSUPA wireless data support that will give the phone 7.2 Mbps download speeds and 5.8 Mbps upload. “That’s theoretical because carriers don’t support that yet,” said Jobs — one of several jabs aimed at carriers during the keynote, which suffered from a wireless outage at one point.
* A 5-megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and the ability to record HD video at 720p and 30 frames per second. The camera also includes an LED flash, a common feature in other phones that was missing from previous versions of the iPhone. The iPhone 4 also includes a version of iMovie, Apple’s video-editing software, to let people edit and post video clips.
OS 4.0 will be going out to phones this summer, but a developer preview is currently available. The iPad will get it in the fall.