Apple Unveils New iPhone 4 -- With Video, New Camera, and Multitasking

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At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple's Steve Jobs unveiled the fourth-generation iPhone, available June 24, to an army of avid technogeeks.

Live bloggers and Twitter users shouted each new feature as Jobs announced it -- and many noted that it looks a lot like the prototype discovered in a bar in April. There were a number of advances in the technology that caught attention.

The iPhone 4 has video calling. Jobs demonstrated this one with people speaking in sign language. I think parents and grandparents will like it for talking to the kids. Work conferences will be popular on video calling, too.

Ads are going interactive. Now they are iAds. I can feel business people surrying to the computer now to develop some of these.

iBookstore was introduced with the release of the iPad. Now anything you purchase through iBookstore will download to iPhone 4 as well. A single purchase can be downloaded to any Apple device you own.

There will be multitasking. There's a new mail system that allows you to create folders and provides threaded conversations. Jobs demoed these two features together by playing Pandora and opening his mail.

The camera is new. It's a 5-megapixel camera with 5X digital zoom, tap to focus and LED flash. The camera records HD video. That's a biggie from most user's want lists.

Using a technology they call retinal display, the iPhone 4 packs a lot more pixels into the screen space. Remarks on this from the Twitterati indicate that the clarity is pretty amazing. The phone is thinner and has a stainless steel band running around the outside that is the WiFi antenna.

Jobs also announced that iPhone versions of Netflix, FarmVille and Guitar Hero will debut this summer.

The price runs $199 (16 GB) and $299 (32 GB) with a two-year AT&T service contract (no new providers). If you have an existing iPhone, you can upgrade immediately at the same prices. You can get it up to six months early if your contract expires any time this year.

For some live action photos, see Engadget and Huffington Post.

Almost the moment Jobs finished up with the address, the Apple iPhone4 page went live with the headline "This changes everything. Again."

A few of the immediate reactions from Twitter.

What do you think? Is the new iPhone worthy of your gadget budget?

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Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Web Teacher|