Fanbois Rejoice: iPhone 4 has almost caught up!

I just read David Pogue's NY Times review of the iPhone 4 at State of the Art - New iPhone Arrives, Rivals Beware - NYTimes.com.  The review wasn't as I expected, as the Mr. Pogue actually point out a few minor shortcomings in the new iPhone!  The departure from cheerleading was a big surprise, though to be honest he managed to sound excited about minor improvements.

I'm a geek.  I love technical things.  I really, really like Apple's products.  However, Apple "Fanboy" is a not a term that would ever be used in conjunction with my name. (note:  This blog is written using MarsEdit on my MacBook Pro 17")

You may have noticed in my blog that I've never fallen under the spell of the iPhone.  I've never stood, zombie-like, for four to twelve hours to buy an iPhone on day of release.  Now, if the iPhone had been available from a good cellular carrier, I'd have bought an iPhone 3GS by now, especially with Walmart dumping them at $97 each for the past few months.

The 3GS, or at least the 3G, was the phone that Apple should have released three years ago.  The original iPhone was so lacking and behind the technology curve that it was perfect for AT&T.  It only supported the Edge GSM network meaning that even the cheapest competition left it in the dust for data speeds.  That matched AT&T's network though as AT&T was just rolling out their 3G network trying to catch up to Verizon, Sprint and even T-Mobile.

Talk time was claimed to be 8 hours.  Later models sliced that almost in half, the new iPhone 4 improves talk time, perhaps to where Apple had it three years ago.

Even two years ago, the release of the iPhone 3G still only had a 2 megapixel camera and no video recording capability, still far behind the competition.  Last year, Apple gave the 3GS a 50% resolution boost to 3 megapixels, added a digital compass.

This year, the iPhone 4 gets a camera boost to 5 megapixels, a new shape, faster CPU, bigger battery, an improved antenna (still not enough to overcome AT&T's deficiencies as proved by Steve Jobs' failure to get a connection at the keynote address announcing the iPhone 4), a second camera, improved microphone and an LED flash.

Hardware-wise, this is an evolutionary upgrade rather than revolutionary, that brings the latest iPhone closer to parity with Android phones released 6 months to a year ago.

The biggest improvement is in the software.  IOS 4 (the renamed Iphone Operating System because it runs on both iPhones and iPods) finally offers limited multitasking for applications that are rewritten from scratch, the ability to use folders to hold up to twelve whole icons, and the ability to switch back to a recently used application without having to first return to the home screen.

Additionally, customers can now increase the size of the font used in some applications, sorts mail messages into threads, provides a unified inbox (all your accounts are stuffed into one folder) and a spelling checker.

I.E. hardware and software combined, roughly somewhere between last year's HTC Hero Android phone from Sprint and this year's HTC Evo phone from Sprint.

But the iPhone 4 is still crippled by the AT&T cellular network.

Back to David Pogue's review.  One of the first things he points out is that no matter how many improvements are in the new iPhone, the "Cantankerous Committee" won't like it.  My point is that no matter how lacking it is, the Fanbois will love it.  As proven by the 600,000 preorders before AT&T's network had a melt-down on the first day one could preorder.

He then goes on to admit (GASP) that the iPhone actually has competition! Then goes on to describe the iPhone 4's "amazing" new features.

I love the way he ended his review:

"Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They’re more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they’re loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks.

If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name."

In other words... if you're into looks, then the iPhone is for you.  If you're into the best features...

Oh, to make a point... my stock EVO battery is now averaging 17 hours per charge with normal use, over 24 hours with minimal use and only 12 hours with heavy use.  He says that the iPhone 4's larger battery gives you a 16% better chance of making through the day.  That is important for iPhone users as you still can't change the battery.