Without fail, the month of June stands for two things – the start of summer and a new iPhone. Summer weather may be scattered throughout the country but one thing is for sure, Steve Jobs will take the stage Monday morning at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco and officially unveil the fourth generation iPhone. This one won’t be an incremental speed bump as evidenced by multiple hardware leaks and the iPhone OS 4 announcement but will it be magical? Is this the iPhone we’ve all been waiting for? For most, all signs point to yes.
Then again, Jobs could take the stage and not even mention the iPhone, but that might incite nerd riots and our puny physiques are no match for Moscone Center security. It’s also unlikely. Since his leave of absence and subsequent return in 2009, Jobs has only appeared on stage to reveal a new product and this one looks to be no different.
However, press invites for the keynote weren’t sent out via e-mail as they have been in the past. No, this time around phone calls were made and a handful of folks were left off the list – Gizmodo being the most noticeable. As one tech journo chum said to me last week, “this one has been weird.”
Whatever the case, we’ll be covering the keynote live starting at 12:30PM ET on 6/7.
Regardless, here’s what we can expect from Jobs’ keynote address.
Scandal
It’s difficult to talk about the fourth generation iPhone without mentioning the legal standoff between Gawker and Apple. (More on Techland: 4th Gen iPhone Found In Redwood City Bar, Supposedly)
News quickly spread in mid-April that a prototype of Apple’s fourth generation iPhone had gone missing. AOL’s Engadget was the first to publish images of the device with Gizmodo following suit days after. Leaked images are nothing new, but these were different, these were taken with a real camera and not a cell phone. In other words, the next generation iPhone was in the hands of someone who had either stolen it or found it. (More on Techland: The Story and Aftermath of the lost iPhone)
Turns out, Gizmodo had purchased the prototype iPhone from 21-year-old Brian J. Hogan for $5,000. It’s unclear whether or not Hogan found it or stole it out of an Apple engineer’s bag at a bar in Redwood City, CA, on March 18. Many expected Apple to issue a cease and desist within minutes of Gizmodo’s hands-on story being published but it never came. Apple’s general counsel sent a letter to Gizmodo Editorial Director Brian Lam asking for the device to be returned to its rightful owner. What transpired after is anyone’s guess but a week later police raided the home of Gizmodo Editor Jason Chen. According to Chen, everything from business cards to cameras to computers were confiscated in the raid. Little else is known. Jobs discussed what little he could about the situation at D8 last week.
Surface level repercussions are slowly starting to bubble up on the surface. When it became apparent that Apple PR was making phone calls to invite press to this year’s WWDC keynote, Gizmodo reached out to no avail. Here’s what Lam said in a blog post this past Friday, “It’s no surprise: Apple has not responded to our requests to attend the WWDC keynote on Monday at 10am PST.”
Hardware
Prototypes of the purported next generation iPhone have been showing up in Vietnam and elsewhere the last few weeks. All of the devices have been remotely wiped or running diagnostic software. Software aside, we know a few things about the next gen iPhone hardware based on teardowns of prototype devices.
• Apple’s A4 processor, currently only available in the iPad(review), has been found in prototype iPhones
• Front facing camera (no word on how this will work, most likely Wi-Fi for video chats)
• Rear camera flash
• ~16 percent larger battery than the iPhone 3GS (5.25 WHr at 3.7V)
• Physical dimensions are approximate 4.50 x 2.31 x 0.37 inches
• Micro-SIM
• 16GB model confirmed, no word on other capacities
• 960×640 LCD
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AAnUHePbe4]
Not much more is known aside from the drastic outer appearance of the new iPhone. Rather than a tapered back, the upcoming iPhone has a flat back. It also has individual buttons for things like volume up/down as opposed to rocker buttons. A white version has surfaced but unlike previous generation white iPhones, the façade of the new one will also be color matched to the back. The screen is said to be slightly smaller than previous gens but “improved.”
Software
Aside from new hardware, the next iPhone will be running iPhone OS 4.0, which was announced on April 8. iPad owners will have to wait until the fall for an update. iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation iPod Touch owners will be privy to everything 4.0 has to offer. Those with the iPhone 3G or 2nd gen iPod Touch will get a sprinkling of what 4.0 has to offer but not multitasking or wallpapers. First generation iPhone and iPod Touch owners are SOL.
A few notable new features in 4.0 include:
• playlist creation
• app gifting
• screen orientation lock
• tethering
• Bluetooth keyboard support
• 5x digital zoom
• Places in photos
• file and delete mail search results
• custom dictionary
• app killing
• media player controls in the dock
• contact linking
• file sharing via iTunes
• search in SMS/MMS.
And now the big stuff.
Multitasking
• Double click Home button to reveal a dock to show all apps that are running
• Apps cache for fast switching: You’ll pick up right where you left off if you switch out of and back into a particular app
• VoIP services like Skype run in the background allowing you to switch apps
• Background audio enabled for services like Pandora
• Task completion: For example, uploading to Flickr won’t stop if you switch apps
• Background notification: Turn by turn apps will use the actual GPS chip, location-based social networking apps like Loopt and FourSquare will use cell tower triangulation to conserve battery power
• Push notifications can now be localized so they don’t have to rely on Apple’s servers
Folders and Wallpaper
• Ability to create folders for games or utilities or whatever else you can think
• App limit is defunct
• Create a folder simply by dragging one program icon onto another one
• You can put folders directly into the dock
• You can change the home screen’s wallpaper
• Default Apple apps like clock, compass, calculator and voice memos are grouped into a Utilities folder
Enhanced Mail
• Unified inbox: multiple e-mail accounts in one inbox, even multiple Exchange accounts
• Threaded messaging
• Fast inbox switching
• Open attachments with various apps: For example “Open in…” whichever compatible programs you have installed
iBooks
• Wireless syncing and bookmarking
• Same book reader as on the iPad, just smaller
• Buy once, read anywhere
Enterprise
• Better data protection
• Mobile Device Management
• Wireless app distribution
• Multiple Exchange accounts
• Exchange Server 2010
• SSL VPN support
Game Center
• Social gaming network: invite friends, matchmaking, leaderboards, achievements
iAds
• iAds will be more interactive than Internet ads and just as emotional as ads on TV
• 60% revenue split to the developer, 40% to Apple
• iAds will be coded in HTML5
Some developers have noted that they’ve seen traces of integrated Facebook features, HD video capture (720p), and video iChat notifications in recent builds of OS 4.0.
Pricing and Availability
BGR reports that AT&T has informed all employees that the iPhone will go on sale this month. We won’t know retail pricing for the new iPhone until its announced but we do know how AT&T’s new smartphone data plans will work beginning today. Read this for a full rundown.
Miscellany
All eyes are on the iPhone but a few other things could come up during Jobs’ keynote. The following are a list of rumors of what else to expect. Pullout the salt shaker.
Verizon
Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have been swirling for years. Verizon denies even though reports have surfaced that iPads are being testing on the network. We’ve heard June or July but the WSJ reports this fall. Or maybe next year.
MobileMe
The service could go free.
Apple TV
A $100 Apple TV running iPhone OS with 1080p streaming, 16GB flash storage and an A4 processor.
iTunes.com
Lala.com has been shut down. Is iTunes in the cloud on the way? Absolutely, but we might have to wait until Apple’s iPod event in the fall for this announcement.
Mac
The Mac Pro, Mini and MacBook Air are all long overdue for upgrades. We might hear about them during WWDC.