http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/29/wsj-apple-developing-new-iphone-plus-another-for-verizon/ TLDR version: 960x640, multitasking, front facing camera, possible Verizon version.
Announced in June 22, huh? Yeah, I'm getting me the Palm Pre Plus. Can't stick with my Dare any longer that I need to.
My friend's cousin works for Apple and has a prototype. I'll post a photo if I can get my friend to send it to me.
Iphone HD? wow kind of a lame name, I would love a front facing camera tho. It would make it so much easier to take 'myspace esq' pictures haha.
Well, they can't exactly go naming it the 4GS or something (unless it's gonna sport some WiMAX tech) and the higher res does make a certain amount of sense. The resolution chosen also makes perfect sense, given that it's exactly 4x the res of the current iPhone in the same aspect ratio (3:2), which would allow existing apps to be pixel-doubled precisely at full screen, unlike the iPad which letterboxes them due to the 4:3 aspect. That's a pretty high pixel density though, but not unusual for this size of screen. It'll also open up a new class of games and apps -- iPhone HD versions. If it has a beefier processor and they up the MHz and RAM on the GPU (both very likely) it should be able to handle the additional res no problem. The front-facing camera, not too sure about, but it seems unlikely. Multitasking also seems a bit far-fetched, though with more muscle (assuming the above turns out to be accurate) it might alleviate Apple's concerns about multitasking bogging the works down. Given all of this though there are two concerns: 1) It almost has to be larger. Perhaps a slightly larger screen to accommodate the higher pixel density, but it's definitely going to need a beefier battery if they want to maintain (at least) the current battery life specs; Apple never goes backwards on any spec. Either that or they have to reduce the size of existing components. 2) More app market fragmentation. The iPad is one thing, that is its own platform distinct from (though compatible with) the iPhone. But we've seen how the new GPU took off on the 3GS when it was introduced (or didn't, as it seems; only some devs are making use of the extra muscle in the SGX). A new iPhone as radically different as this proposed device (4x the res, more muscle, etc.) that doesn't just give a little extra muscle under the hood will create a new fork in development that I suspect will experience a similar adoption rate as the development for the beefier SGX on the 3GS, which is to say spotty at best. Now, on the other hand, there's the possibility that the general public might be more willing to upgrade to this new iPhone HD than they were to the 3GS because it has more to offer as an upgrade path than the 3GS did, so there's hope, but I think there's going to be a lot of wait-and-see going on before we start to see anything materialize that takes advantage of its new feature set. And of course this is all pure speculation at this point. It all sounds just a little bit on the too-good-to-be-true side which, as anyone who follows the scene will point out, is the calling card of the annual hoax and alleged-but-fake leaks that start turning up about this time every year.
I never liked the 3GS name, I felt like all it was like a .5+ on the 3G, then i actually read up on it but this sounds EPIC!!!!
+1 "iPhone HD" is totally one of the expected name, and it's not lamer than 3G or the i"Phone" itself, people will get used to it eventually.
No, that's aimed at a relatively different market segment. It has its own demographic, and is different enough from the iPhone in form and feature set that it can support its own scaled-up, more feature-rich apps than the iPhone can provide mostly due to its small form factor. I'm sure there will be a fair bit of overlap in the Venn diagram of iPhone/Touch vs. iPad users, but there are enough unique uses for the iPad that iPad-tailored apps make plenty of sense. It's a fragmented market, but it's one with clear and distinct lines nobody can confuse; iPhone/Touch users clearly know they can't use iPad apps (different section of the store, clear branding and system requirements for iPad), and iPad users can use anyone's apps. (Phone-specific requirements notwithstanding, but that's already a well-established issue with Touch users.) Not so a new iPhone with significantly new features and specs. This is the same market segment as the old iPhone with 90%+ crossover to Touch users. This will add a 4th fork to the market: 1) iPod Touch (Lowest common denominator) 2) iPhone (Phone-specific stuff Touch users can't utilize.) 3) iPhone 3GS and G3 iPod Touch (Enhanced PowerVR GPU, new graphical capabilities previous generations can't utilize.) 4) iPhone HD (Further enhanced PowerVR GPU, higher resolution, possible multitasking, potential further fragmentation if this front-facing camera turns out to be real, which I doubt.) Of course, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Apple can't remain stagnant with the current feature set so more fragmentation is inevitable and will be mitigated as more people upgrade to the latest and greatest. But the initial growing pains and adoption rates in software for such significant upgrades will be slow coming.
