iPhone 4 – Hit or Miss?

June 24^th, 2010, a day to remember; a day where die-hard Italian football fans mouth-dropped at the total annihilation from the World Cup, a day where former vice president Al Gore was exposed to allegedly having an affair with Larry David’s ex-wife, but most importantly, a day where many tech-savvy individuals call-in sick or drop whatever they were doing for the day and herd over to the closest Apple store to see the launch of the new iPhone 4.

Apple re-vamped iPhone 4’s appearance with a more modern and straight-edge glass exterior with a stainless steel band that serves as an antenna system wrapped around the edges of the phone. So what’s new about the iPhone 4?

• The camera has been upgraded to 5 megapixels with a digital zoom ability so you wouldn’t have to awkwardly stick your phone so close to the object in order to shoot it
• It has an additional front-facing camera that enables it’s users to use the video call app, FaceTime, to video chat with others, or encourage more better-quality profile pictures to post on your facebook, twitter or myspace profile
• A grouping function for your apps that allows you to sort your apps by categories so that you wouldn’t have waste 10 minutes scrolling through 20 pages looking for the Paper Toss app when you’re on a 30 minute break
• Higher resolution screen that allows you to see everything in high definition and can help you become more attentive to details
• The background of the main menu will no longer a bland black; the wallpaper you choose for the opening screen will also be the background of the main menu as well
• Lastly, it has a new multi-tasking function that allows users to play third party apps, like the Pandora app, in the background while you work on other things and allows you to switch between apps quickly

The iPhone 4, however, doesn’t come without its flaws…there have been numerous complaints that the wireless and network connections are disrupted and sometimes it even fails to receive any signal when you hold the phone a certain way, the multi-tasking function doesn’t apply for all apps (a sad news for the youtube app, which means you can’t listen to Dave Chappelle’s act while updating facebook or sending out an email), and also the FaceTime app is only on WiFi and can only be used with other iPhone 4 users (so if your friend doesn’t have an iPhone 4…looks like you’re still stuck with voice calling). Another upsetting issue comes with the accessories for the iPhone 4; after knowing that this is a highly-anticipated product, suppliers of the protective covers should know to stock up so that iPhone 4 users can protect their shiny new toy from scratches. But after two (2) days of countless searching at different electronics stores and at the Apple stores, I have reached a conclusion that users who unfortunately didn’t purchase a cover on the first day that the phone was released or don’t want to pay for the over-priced product (at $30.00!), would have to resort to either bubble-wrapping the iPhone 4 or painfully hope that they wouldn’t drop or scratch the phone for the next couple of weeks.

 

So what do the associates at Nickerson PR think about the iPhone 4? Would they wait or buy it now?

Rachel Licciardi: “I really like the new design a lot better than the other generations of the iPhone, the interface is great and the display looks a lot better (on my iPhone 3GS).” – Wait

Michelle Babai: “I love the sleek look, it’s going to attract a lot of new customers.” – Wait

Venisse Wu: “It looks okay…I don’t like how it’s very blocky, it looks like it’s going to slip off my hands really easily, but other than that, I love the new iOS 4 software they put into it.” – Wait

Monica Mercer: “I’m excited for the video aspect of the new phone, but I am going to wait until the price drop.” – Wait

  

 

Written by Venisse Wu