Date : Monday, June 7, 2010
Time : 11:45 PM
Title : iPhone 4 REVEALED!

As you likely know, Apple CEO Steve Jobs officially unveiled the iPhone 4 at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday — though the announcement was a bit anticlimactic given the highly-publicized prototype leak back in April but the upcoming smartphone did manage to wow the crowds, thanks to some mighty impressive specs.

Specifically, major new features of the redesigned iPhone include a much better camera and the ability to shoot HD video; a front-facing camera, too, for live video calling over Wi-Fi; and a 3.5-inch display with four times the resolution of the existing iPhone 3GS screen. And at just 9.3mm thick, Jobs also calls the iPhone 4 “the thinnest smartphone on the planet.”

But what does the iPhone 4 mean for gamers, you ask?

Aside from the greatly improved screen, now capable of showing an incredible 326 dots per inch (dpi), Apple has squeezed a three-axis gyroscope into the device, allowing the smartphone “to detect pitch, yaw and roll, plus rotation around gravity,” explains Jobs. This technology works alongside the previously available accelerometer to deliver true six-axis motion-sensing.

Motion-sensing is already a big part of the experience in many games — such as titling the device left and right to control a race car — but adding a gyroscope takes it to the next level. To demonstrate the technology, Jobs played the classic game of Jenga by tilting the iPhone 4 forward, back and side-to-side, as well as moving around the stage, and the pile of wooden pieces responded in real-time, and with gravitational force.

Also relevant to gamers is the bigger and better battery in the iPhone 4 (now with 40 per cent more talk time compared to the iPhone 3G S), which should yield longer play between charges.

A new folders system in the operating system will let you group similar apps by type and a relevant name is automatically given to the selected apps (such as “Games”). The new multi-tasking feature means gamers might be able to do things like video chat with a friend in a small window on the iPhone while playing a game of, say, backgammon with them online at the same time.

The iPhone 4 will be out in Canada in late July. While cost for the smartphone has not been confirmed, Canada usually follows suit with the U.S. on iPhone pricing; therefore, expect the 16GB model to be $199 and the 32GB model to cost $299, with carrier commitment; Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus have all confirmed they’ll be carrying the device, with preorders starting in a couple of weeks.