iPhone Video Recording Interface, Digital Compass, Voice Control and Auto-Focus Camera

[DSG]

Wow! Such blatant violations of the NDA!

Like Apple don't know it'll happen...

If you're sufficiently cynical you might even think they engineer such hype...

[Fraghax]

i hope apple will add the geo tagg camera feature just like the sekai camera does now that it has a magnetometer (digital compass)
Theres an App that does that now. Granted not in the "Camera" app that comes preloaded.;)

[jons]

Hmmm, I wonder if this will be a third generation iPhone only feature?

[muskratboy]

Actually it's not pathetic, it's actually good

you are OUT OF YOUR MIND.

it takes decent pictures in the bright sun. yay.

want to explain why it shows you the picture you just snapped... closes the shutter... then gives you a photo from some random amount of time later?

why bother showing me a still image that NEVER shows up as the final photo?

i understand there are a variety of factors working against it. that's fine. i'm saying, it's still a pretty lousy camera.

anyone that would take a useless LED flash over a working video camera... i worry for your souls. :p

it is interesting that in beta 3.0, the camera seems faster and brighter. so they are working on SOMETHING back there...

[zombitronic]

I'm nearly 100% sure the magnetometer will work in all directions.

This is a bit over my head, but here's what I found on Wikipedia:

The use of three orthogonal vector magnetometers allows the magnetic field strength, inclination and declination to be uniquely defined.

Orthogonal means relating to right angles. So I take that as meaning three magnetometers placed in an equal x, y, z axis will allow all orientation to be uniquely defined.

I don't know how the accelerometer works though, is it able to detect if the device is in regular position or upside down? It's completely flat, and in the same direction (so the magnetometer doesn't detect a change), only difference is that the display is facing upwards or downwards.

Does anybody know this?

I'm not sure if it can tell if the device is upside down. I would think so, because it can display the screen the correct way in landscape mode no matter if you have the left side or right side of the screen pointing upward. I don't have any apps, however, that display rightside-up when the phone is in portrait mode upside-down. I think this may just be by design and the phone CAN sense upside-down in portrait mode. Can anyone confirm this?

[ipoppy]

It was free at the point of purchase on the £45 plan. The 3G iPhone was sold with a business plan no different to that of any other phone. You'll be able to upgrade early, but only on the payment of a fee. And O2 definitely won't answer any questions about future iPhone hardware. Save your time.


If they want me to pay for remaining last 6 months of my contract...hmm...ohh well thats fine then; additional £180.:mad: But still I dont understand why I will have to pay any fee if those who upgraded from original iPhone to iPhone 3G did not have to do that at all. As I said earlier; I will restart my contract regardless for next 18 months which should keep O2/Apple happy anyway.

[twoodcc]

alright! can't wait for this! i wonder how good the camera will be on the new iphone?

[Stormbringer]

This is a bit over my head, but here's what I found on Wikipedia:

The use of three orthogonal vector magnetometers allows the magnetic field strength, inclination and declination to be uniquely defined.

Orthogonal means relating to right angles. So I take that as meaning three magnetometers placed in an equal x, y, z axis will allow all orientation to be uniquely defined.Ah, ok. I have done some simple experiments in university with magnetometers, and they worked in all positions. So that was a 3-in-one magnetometer. Also, I've seen a digital compass, which worked the same way. So I guess generally they make 3-in-one magnetometers, since that thing in the university was a simple cheap thing, and that compass is a couple of years old too...

I'm not sure if it can tell if the device is upside down. I would think so, because it can display the screen the correct way in landscape mode no matter if you have the left side or right side of the screen pointing upward. I don't have any apps, however, that display rightside-up when the phone is in portrait mode upside-down. I think this may just be by design and the phone CAN sense upside-down in portrait mode. Can anyone confirm this?I forgot, my K850i has an accelerometer too. I just tested a ball-balance game, and the device clearly knows the difference between 0 and 180º in both portrait and landscape mode. However, if I keep it flat (as if you would lay down your phone on a table), it does not recognize the difference between display up or down. This could be a software thing though, and technically it's almost the same thing as the other positions I tested. So I think if 2-year old non-smartphone can do it, so will the iPhone.

In other words, if the magnetometer works in all three axes, the iPhone will be fully aware of it's exact position. :)

[sananda]

But still I dont understand why I will have to pay any fee if those who upgraded from original iPhone to iPhone 3G did not have to do that at all.

because, as was explained to you earlier, those you bought an original phone paid full price.

if you don't think iphone 3g is subsidised, take a look at the price of the pay and go iphone (even after subtracting the cost of 12 months' web and wifi bolt on).

[sushi]

The new iPhone is sounding better all the time.

Video recording will definitely be nice. Like the simple interface.

Only a few months to wait ...

[encephalon]

I'm not sure if it can tell if the device is upside down. I would think so, because it can display the screen the correct way in landscape mode no matter if you have the left side or right side of the screen pointing upward. I don't have any apps, however, that display rightside-up when the phone is in portrait mode upside-down. I think this may just be by design and the phone CAN sense upside-down in portrait mode. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, that is correct. The accelerometer measures the direction of acceleration, so this includes gravitational acceleration.

[Xibalba]

The more I hear, the happier I am that I've waited 2-years to get an iPhone.

why so happy without the iphone? i have been enjoying the heck out of every new version of the iphone for the past two years! i guess you could just keep sitting around waiting...every year it gets better...

[Brien]

A magnetometer would make geocaching a lot, lot better! Video might be neat, and autofocus will be great.

I was going to get an iPhone 3G next week but this is getting really tempting to wait...

[Double J]

Is anyone in the least bit surprised by this? I think half the reason Apple even released the beta was just for stuff like this -- let people find the "hidden" new features and stoke the rumor fires to a full-fledged inferno so people are just bursting at the seams come June. "Ok guys, we'll let you look at the beta, but you gotta promise not to tell anyone what you find <snicker>" -- yeah right. It's all marketing. But, it's working -- I'm anxious to see the phone, though I doubt I'll buy it since I just got the 3G in October.

[Stormbringer]

Is anyone in the least bit surprised by this? I think half the reason Apple even released the beta was just for stuff like this -- let people find the "hidden" new features and stoke the rumor fires to a full-fledged inferno so people are just bursting at the seams come June. "Ok guys, we'll let you look at the beta, but you gotta promise not to tell anyone what you find <snicker>" -- yeah right. It's all marketing. But, it's working -- I'm anxious to see the phone, though I doubt I'll buy it since I just got the 3G in October.They should have some surprise for us instead of letting us discover all the features bit by bit.

I think they will introduce a 15MP camera with 5x optical zoom and 1080p video-recording!:D

[RobertD63]

You think? So why is the camera so pathetic?
Taken from my iPhone:

[Double J]

you are OUT OF YOUR MIND.

why bother showing me a still image that NEVER shows up as the final photo?



Yeah, that pisses me off too. What I have in frame when I snap is NEVER what's in frame in the actual pic. I've never seen another camera do that.

[MacTheSpoon]

These would all be very nice additions. Hope it happens!

[xhambonex]

video?? theres a yawn. compass?? i figured that was there already with GPS and all...voice control hopefully thats cooler than it sounds but an auto-focus camera could be promising.

I'm not seeing the excitement, I thought this is where we expected the iphone to go one year ago>??

[MikeDTyke]

Not really. Once you are moving, your GPS knows exactly what the direction is. For example, you may be 20.14m east and 13.26m north of your location one second ago, so it knows exactly your speed and direction. Where it does make a difference is when you are standing still. If you stopped at a traffic light with a very light car, and some strong people turned your car around in the other direction, GPS wouldn't notice until you start driving.

You're not quite getting it.

You have to move a certain distance in order for GPS to determine you've gone that direction, usually the margin of error of the GPS signal plus an extra safety margin. As signal lock can fluctuate and more or less satellites come in and out of view you have to wait a length of time before you know if you are going in the right direction. A magnetometer will know instantly the direction your going in and if you change direction.

ie. say i'm in a car and the junction is coming up and i'm supposed to turn left, if i don't start to turn the phone knows it immediately, and if i do it can immediately update the graphics on the display to reflect what i should be seeing.

Granted most car GPS systems manage without it but iPhone will be so much more responsive with it.

M.

[Goona]

video?? theres a yawn. compass?? i figured that was there already with GPS and all...voice control hopefully thats cooler than it sounds but an auto-focus camera could be promising.

I'm not seeing the excitement, I thought this is where we expected the iphone to go one year ago>??

So they shouldn't add them, what do you suggest they add since everything seems to be a big yawn to you.

[xhambonex]

You're not quite getting it.

You have to move a certain distance in order for GPS to determine you've gone that direction, usually the margin of error of the GPS signal plus an extra safety margin. As signal lock can fluctuate and more or less satellites come in and out of view you have to wait a length of time before you know if you are going in the right direction. A magnetometer will know instantly the direction your going in and if you change direction.

ie. say i'm in a car and the junction is coming up and i'm supposed to turn left, if i don't start to turn the phone knows it immediately, and if i do it can immediately update the graphics on the display to reflect what i should be seeing.

Granted most car GPS systems manage without it but iPhone will be so much more responsive with it.

M.

see i would like the idea of that working flawlessly, but I missed my exit, no problem GPS calculates another route which is the exit 3 lanes over on the left that I just passed. I just don't think the GPS will keep up wit the re-navigation for this to be a significant improvement in that area.

[xhambonex]

So they shouldn't add them, what do you suggest they add since everything seems to be a big yawn to you.

No they should add them. Never did i say otherwise. But this time last year we thought these same things and that didn't happen. So this really is like a repeat and not very exciting. And Apple comes up with the exciting ideas, not me.

They know people will find this stuff in the beta, and it doesn't seem like they care. As long as they have something that's keeping people interested up till the release of the new iphone, which hopefully, in apple style, will have something that just seems genius.

[xhambonex]

+1

Sooo many people buy into this megapixel myth! 2 megapixels is about 1600x1200 resolution!! A better LENS is needed for better pictures. More megapixels just means excess data to transfer. The only situation in which you would need more than 3 megapixels is if you going to blow up the image drastically, or zoom in really far.

yup my enV2 has a 2 megapixel camera and takes 1600x1200 resolution. The photos aren't very good though. Just needs a better lense.

[MikeDTyke]

To all the ppl yawning about cameras only catching up with the competition 2 years after release.

Apple only had around 35 engineers on the first iPhone, i'll bet anyone not a single one of those was a camera engineer.

Prior to the iPhone the closest Apple got to photography was iSight VGA & 1.3MP fixed focus webcams embedded in their computers.
The obviously felt they needed to include a camera but they could only deliver what they could with the resources they had.

If you are going to build a competent competitor to a compact digital you need the following.[/LIST]
Better Megapixels (Not necessarily more just a more sensitive/bigger sensor)
Vastly superior optics (The iphone is practically a box brownie in this regard)
Autofocus (That targets an area of the image or is smart an autofocuses on things like faces :rolleyes:)
Anti-judder/Anti-shake/Anti-vibration/Anti-Jiggle (Whatever you wanna call it :rolleyes:)
Zoom (Practically impossible to optically in a phone as skinny as the iPhone, so will probably digital)
Flash & Red eye reduction (Flash, even an LED one will severely thrash the iPhones battery, so i'll be interested to see what they do here)
Better white balance/Colour control.

Note the 2 i'm :rolleyes: at, they're the two key features of iLife 09.... Leave that to the imagination, but do you think they just built them for a cheapy suite of consumer apps????

Fact is shortly after iPhone was released there were a number of job openings for camera engineers. They just didn't have the smarts to do it first time around and i'm certain the engineers they hired weren't around long enough to have an effect on iPhone 3G. So this is the earliest opportunity to see what Apple can really do in the camera dept.

M. :D

[iPaf]

Sooo many people buy into this megapixel myth! 2 megapixels is about 1600x1200 resolution!! A better LENS is needed for better pictures. More megapixels just means excess data to transfer. The only situation in which you would need more than 3 megapixels is if you going to blow up the image drastically, or zoom in really far.

EXACTLY! And with a lens that mesures 3mm (diameter), don't even think about taking good pictures...

[xhambonex]

To all the ppl yawning about cameras only catching up with the competition 2 years after release.

Apple only had around 35 engineers on the first iPhone, i'll bet anyone not a single one of those was a camera engineer.

Prior to the iPhone the closest Apple got to photography was iSight VGA & 1.3MP fixed focus webcams embedded in their computers.
The obviously felt they needed to include a camera but they could only deliver what they could with the resources they had.

If you are going to build a competent competitor to a compact digital you need the following.[/LIST]
Better Megapixels (Not necessarily more just a more sensitive/bigger sensor)
Vastly superior optics (The iphone is practically a box brownie in this regard)
Autofocus (That targets an area of the image or is smart an autofocuses on things like faces :rolleyes:)
Anti-judder/Anti-shake/Anti-vibration/Anti-Jiggle (Whatever you wanna call it :rolleyes:)
Zoom (Practically impossible to optically in a phone as skinny as the iPhone, so will probably digital)
Flash & Red eye reduction (Flash, even an LED one will severely thrash the iPhones battery, so i'll be interested to see what they do here)
Better white balance/Colour control.

Note the 2 i'm :rolleyes: at, they're the two key features of iLife 09.... Leave that to the imagination, but do you think they just built them for a cheapy suite of consumer apps????

Fact is shortly after iPhone was released there were a number of job openings for camera engineers. They just didn't have the smarts to do it first time around and i'm certain the engineers they hired weren't around long enough to have an effect on iPhone 3G. So this is the earliest opportunity to see what Apple can really do in the camera dept.

M. :D

thats all good points but since the first iphone camera wasn't very good...what stopped them from a bad video camera. You made valid points to why they didn't put in a great camera. But is a video camera on a phone EXCITING? NO. Video editing yes. Auto-focus yes. But they hopped into a market where this stuff is old news, so to me it still feels like old news. But I'm glad they are getting around to it.:)

[afischer15]

What is that button i see in the lower left?? Effects :D?
that would be cool...

[macswitcha2]

Is this only for a new device or the new upgrade on the OS?

[MikeDTyke]

see i would like the idea of that working flawlessly, but I missed my exit, no problem GPS calculates another route which is the exit 3 lanes over on the left that I just passed. I just don't think the GPS will keep up wit the re-navigation for this to be a significant improvement in that area.

That wouldn't happen or at least would be less likely to happen.

Think about a fork in the road, if i'm pointing at the left fork and i'm supposed to be heading towards the right. A magnetometer will know this, GPS will not.

Rather having a relatively static graphic of the road ahead and waiting until the fork widens enough for GPS to know whether you've taken the correct route. Wouldn't it be better for the device to know what direction your pointing in and on that graphic redraw the arrow to direct you into the right lane.

Granted you should know left from right, but sometimes on city streets it's difficult to see the fork until it's too late.

M.

[Brien]

To all the ppl yawning about cameras only catching up with the competition 2 years after release.

Apple only had around 35 engineers on the first iPhone, i'll bet anyone not a single one of those was a camera engineer.

Prior to the iPhone the closest Apple got to photography was iSight VGA & 1.3MP fixed focus webcams embedded in their computers.
The obviously felt they needed to include a camera but they could only deliver what they could with the resources they had.

If you are going to build a competent competitor to a compact digital you need the following.[/LIST]
Better Megapixels (Not necessarily more just a more sensitive/bigger sensor)
Vastly superior optics (The iphone is practically a box brownie in this regard)
Autofocus (That targets an area of the image or is smart an autofocuses on things like faces :rolleyes:)
Anti-judder/Anti-shake/Anti-vibration/Anti-Jiggle (Whatever you wanna call it :rolleyes:)
Zoom (Practically impossible to optically in a phone as skinny as the iPhone, so will probably digital)
Flash & Red eye reduction (Flash, even an LED one will severely thrash the iPhones battery, so i'll be interested to see what they do here)
Better white balance/Colour control.

Note the 2 i'm :rolleyes: at, they're the two key features of iLife 09.... Leave that to the imagination, but do you think they just built them for a cheapy suite of consumer apps????

Fact is shortly after iPhone was released there were a number of job openings for camera engineers. They just didn't have the smarts to do it first time around and i'm certain the engineers they hired weren't around long enough to have an effect on iPhone 3G. So this is the earliest opportunity to see what Apple can really do in the camera dept.

M. :D

I think this is probably going to mean decent video quality for once. Hopefully because of the accelerometers they can do anti-shake.

[mikeinternet]

Taken from my iPhone:

I agree. The camera works great. http://mikerucci.blogspot.com/

I went on a 4 month bike ride with no camera but the iphone and did this blog live with photos. I was very happy with the camera.

...Of course 'better' is always better.

[MikeDTyke]

thats all good points but since the first iphone camera wasn't very good...what stopped them from a bad video camera. You made valid points to why they didn't put in a great camera. But is a video camera on a phone EXCITING? NO. Video editing yes. Auto-focus yes. But they hopped into a market where this stuff is old news, so to me it still feels like old news. But I'm glad they are getting around to it.:)

Most likely because the bandwidth between the camera and ram and flash is too slow. Notice how the screen tears if you move the iphone too quickly.

They probably couldn't buffer enough in ram to make it worthwhile and to flush that data to flash is quite slow.

iPhone V3.0 will either have some dedicated buffering ram in place or just an overall increase in throughput from both a PA SEMI chip and more memory will likely do the job. Note if they do 720p it'll most likely be the former.

M.

[xhambonex]

That wouldn't happen or at least would be less likely to happen.

Think about a fork in the road, if i'm pointing at the left fork and i'm supposed to be heading towards the right. A magnetometer will know this, GPS will not.

Rather having a relatively static graphic of the road ahead and waiting until the fork widens enough for GPS to know whether you've taken the correct route. Wouldn't it be better for the device to know what direction your pointing in and on that graphic redraw the arrow to direct you into the right lane.

Granted you should know left from right, but sometimes on city streets it's difficult to see the fork until it's too late.

M.

that would be helpful. it would be more of a subtle increase in performance in GPS navigation. Even in your situation, you'd have to be pointed left way ahead of time and I can't see that happening. But I like the idea and I'm sure there is a way to make it awesome.

[MikeDTyke]

I think this is probably going to mean decent video quality for once. Hopefully because of the accelerometers they can do anti-shake.

You don't need accelerometers to do anti-shake and in fact they'd probably be too slow and not sensitive enough for what is a very slight vertical movement.

Anti-shake typically works either by adjusting the optics/sensor in real time or as Apple's iMovie does it, by picking the area within the full frame that stays there through the course of the video capture.

I could of course be wrong about the cpu requirements of this versus what iPhone 3.0 delivers hardware wise in which case, Apple's pov might be just import it into iMovie once you get home.

M.

[BeSweeet]

How come :apple: just doesn't enable these things by default?

Hopefully you'll be able to record videos on the current iPhone's, even though the quality wouldn't be any better than what Cycorder can do (or maybe it will?).

[MikeDTyke]

How come :apple: just doesn't enable these things by default?

Hopefully you'll be able to record videos on the current iPhone's, even though the quality wouldn't be any better than what Cycorder can do (or maybe it will?).

Cos modern day :apple: doesn't do crappy implementations of things. They may leave stuff out that geeks cry is insanity, but the stuff they do implement is top notch and easy to boot.

It never fails to amaze me the ppl that rhyme off feature lists as if that automatically makes something better than it's competitor.

i've owned in my time, Sony Ericcson p800 & p900 & p910i, a black and white BlackBerry, can't remember the exact model, a 7500 & 8800, a Nokia 9000 communicator & a N95.

Of all these 'smartphones' which had features out the ying yang, not a single one was useable to the full extent of it's feature list.

iPhone is.

M.

[Aqueus]

finally

[nickgwyn]

You mean this kind of stuff in real-time?

http://www.raizlabs.com/blog/wp2/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/augmented_reality.jpg

It's cool, but I don't think it's very handy to be walking with your iPhone in front of you all the time. This is great in HUD-sunglasses, I wonder when that'll be available.

By the way, I don't think the iPhone will have the power to do this kind of stuff in real-time.

Check out Tonchidot http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/conference/presenter.php?presenter=71

[xhambonex]

Cos modern day :apple: doesn't do crappy implementations of things. They may leave stuff out that geeks cry is insanity, but the stuff they do implement is top notch and easy to boot.

It never fails to amaze me the ppl that rhyme off feature lists as if that automatically makes something better than it's competitor.

Of all these 'smartphones' which had features out the ying yang, not a single one was useable to the full extent of it's feature list.

iPhone is.

M.

But it seems where they failed was the OS. And the iPhone (ipod touch) OS was better than those from launch. And I wouldn't call that camera on the iPhone right now top notch... but Apple locked down why there product was great first, and then got around 2 years later to the standard features found on smartphones.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Check out Tonchidot http://www.techcrunch50.com/2008/conference/presenter.php?presenter=71

That was the funniest and most awkward video I have ever seen.

[NeoMayhem]

Prior to the iPhone the closest Apple got to photography was iSight VGA & 1.3MP fixed focus webcams embedded in their computers.
The obviously felt they needed to include a camera but they could only deliver what they could with the resources they had.

Um, didnt apple make one of the first consumer digital cameras back in the early 90's?

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Um, didnt apple make one of the first consumer digital cameras back in the early 90's?

Yeah they did

[Donz0r]

EXACTLY! And with a lens that mesures 3mm (diameter), don't even think about taking good pictures...

More like 1mm

[rhett7660]

I agree. The camera works great. http://mikerucci.blogspot.com/

I went on a 4 month bike ride with no camera but the iphone and did this blog live with photos. I was very happy with the camera.

...Of course 'better' is always better.

All of those were taken with the iPhone? You have some nice pictures in there..... Looked like it would of been a blast!

[binh514]

i wasn't to excited with the new OS 3.0.. Cut n past, MMS, Push and etc... But all these new features found on the 3.0 are really awsome !! specially the integrade FM transmitter and the new camera feature wow !!!1111!! totally awsome !!!

[soapsuds]

The reason Apple picked the camera they did for the first two iPhone models was just cost and packaging. Yes, there were phones with better cameras, video, etc, but Apple couldn't just add every hardware feature under the sun and hit their price/profit targets. They chose to spend instead on a big touchscreen, nice case, CPU/GPU enough to run OS X, and lots of software R&D. Clearly, lots of people accepted these tradeoffs and bought iPhones instead of other high-feature smartphones.

It's possible that now that the iPhone is a success (instead of a risky new venture), they can target larger production runs and plus savings from using revved components, make things like better cameras possible at similar price points. Video and autofocus would definitely be enough to get me to upgrade my 1st gen phone and make paying the monthly "3G tax" worthwhile.

[binh514]

it would be nice if apple enable background processing for a couple apps like.. Messenger and internet radio.

[Sehnsucht]

The iPhone "4G" sounds totally badass. Each new feature discovered is convincing me more and more that it'd be worth it to drop my current carrier and sign a contract with AT&T. :D

One little suggestion: If Apple are indeed planning to add a flash, it should be the Apple logo on the back as one huge LED. Then maybe have it much dimmer during non-camera use so it emits a soft glow like the logos on the MBs/MBPs. A little pretentious, but totally awesome. :D :D :D

[mikeinternet]

All of those were taken with the iPhone? You have some nice pictures in there..... Looked like it would of been a blast!

Yes all photos were taken with the 1st Gen Iphone. The trip was a blast. not only was the iphone my only camera. Also maps with google search was amazingly helpful. Plus I was able to update the blog by sending emails.

[MacFly123]

Funny, here is my mockup that I did like 6 months ago. I actually like mine a bit better haha. You tap the preview on the top right and flip it over like the album art in the iPod and it switches the camera from back to front! :D

At risk of sounding prideful, this is actually not the first time I have been eerily close to what Apple does in reality with my predictions and mockups. :o

[ipoppy]

because, as was explained to you earlier, those you bought an original phone paid full price.

if you don't think iphone 3g is subsidised, take a look at the price of the pay and go iphone (even after subtracting the cost of 12 months' web and wifi bolt on).

Sorry, but i am still not convinced. Original iPhone owners paid so much because that was first iPhone, first time on the market and Apple know how to play with their toys to get most out of it. Second generation which was 3G obviously was cheaper to make, that one point, and another is that Apple knew it won't be able to sell it with the same pice as first iPhone. Regarding Pay as you go...hmm...have you seen original iPhone on it?...I guess no so you cant compare. Good Pay as you go phones tend to be always overpriced and there are no surprises especially with 3G now.
Having say that none of us can tell what will happened in June/July. We have to wait and see.

[MikeDTyke]

But it seems where they failed was the OS. And the iPhone (ipod touch) OS was better than those from launch. And I wouldn't call that camera on the iPhone right now top notch... but Apple locked down why there product was great first, and then got around 2 years later to the standard features found on smartphones.

The iPhone camera is top notch in terms of what it`s designed to do and what Apple was capable of at the time. I`ll grant you it was the weakest part of the whole package, but as a point and go snapper without a flash it does pretty well.

Apple can`t deliver everything day 1, and they`re smart enough not to try. Shame you think they should be delivering fairy dust and unicorn tears.

[MikeDTyke]

Um, didnt apple make one of the first consumer digital cameras back in the early 90's?

Yeah that camera was even less capable than what`s in the iPhone and do you really believe anything remains of that technology or the engineers who worked on it. Oh wait i just remembered it was a rebranded kodak in an Apple designed shell. :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_QuickTake

[W1LLk]

Is this only for a new device or the new upgrade on the OS?

There is an upgrade in the OS to 3.0, but it is assumed that some of the features, like video and the things dependant on the digital compass, will require 3rd generation hardware to work. The third generation phone is also suspected of having an improved camera, so obviously there will be differences in what the software will allow between models. For example, it has already been revealed that the 3.0 OS implements MMS, yet it won't work with 1st generation iPhones.

[W1LLk]

i wasn't to excited with the new OS 3.0.. Cut n past, MMS, Push and etc... But all these new features found on the 3.0 are really awsome !! specially the integrade FM transmitter and the new camera feature wow !!!1111!! totally awsome !!!

Just because the FM capability is there, doesn't mean it's activated. The current wifi card has FM but there is no FM on this model either.

[jaggunothing]

Hardware confirmation coming from parts vendors on new version.

Source: Chinese business paper and reported here http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/08/new-iphone-parts-begin-shipping-from-suppliers-for-june-launch/

New iPhone parts begin shipping from suppliers for June launch?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 8th 2009 at 6:19AM

At this point there's little doubt that a new iPhone model (possibly two) will at least be announced in June. Now the Commercial Times have chimed in with a report saying that components from Taiwan-based suppliers have begun shipments as Apple (or its China-based assemblers, rather) readies for a "June launch" pegged by said suppliers to reach about 2-3 million units per quarter. A phone that looks to be fitted with a 3.2 megapixel still / video CMOS camera, digital compass (magnetometer), possibly 802.11n WiFi, more storage, and all the MMS, copy/paste, and push-notifications you can shake a gesticulating finger at. Assuming all the firmware sleuthing and rumors are true, of course.

[jholzner]

Sorry, but i am still not convinced. Original iPhone owners paid so much because that was first iPhone, first time on the market and Apple know how to play with their toys to get most out of it. Second generation which was 3G obviously was cheaper to make, that one point, and another is that Apple knew it won't be able to sell it with the same pice as first iPhone. Regarding Pay as you go...hmm...have you seen original iPhone on it?...I guess no so you cant compare. Good Pay as you go phones tend to be always overpriced and there are no surprises especially with 3G now.
Having say that none of us can tell what will happened in June/July. We have to wait and see.

It's well known that ATT is paying 600 bucks or more to Apple for the phones and selling them to consumers for 200 or 300 dollars. They are being subsidized and there is no way around it. 3G owners will not get the cheaper price unless their contract is up. You can disagree all you want because you don't want to pay more but that's how it's going to be.

http://www.techspot.com/news/30554-att-paying-apple-325-per-iphone-3g.html

[iMacoo7]

It just keeps getting better and better!!!

[H$R]

why so happy without the iphone? i have been enjoying the heck out of every new version of the iphone for the past two years! i guess you could just keep sitting around waiting...every year it gets better...

because I could use copy and paste for 2 years, when you couldn't.

and that really was a deal breaker for me for getting an iPhone until this summer.

[iMacoo7]

It's well known that ATT is paying 600 bucks or more to Apple for the phones and selling them to consumers for 200 or 300 dollars. They are being subsidized and there is no way around it. 3G owners will not get the cheaper price unless their contract is up. You can disagree all you want because you don't want to pay more but that's how it's going to be.

http://www.techspot.com/news/30554-att-paying-apple-325-per-iphone-3g.html

Stop telling everyone that they will not be able to upgrade. What you should do is call ATT and find out when you are eligible for an upgrade. I called and am eligible to upgrade/update with whatever subsidized price they put on the new iphone to the new iphone as long as I sign a new 2 year contract. It all depends on when you purchased the 3G.... Really tired of seeing people on the forum telling everyone they will not be able to upgrade/update to the new version without the subsidy.

[Raidersmojo]

because I could use copy and paste for 2 years, when you couldn't.

and that really was a deal breaker for me for getting an iPhone until this summer.

honestly the "it doesn't have copy and paste" argument for the reason you not getting the phone is so asinine I can't even believe it.

thats great while you were copying and pasting. I was using the internet fully on a rich touch screen device, answering email, listening to music, watching movies, syncing all my calendar dates, downloading apps that are awesome like amazons app, direct TVs application for my DVR unit, finding the closest restaurants, using the GPS, when I travel a host of other apps like iBART, oh and I could make and receive phone calls and texts too all on the coolest phone on the planet
hope your copy and paste was worth missing out on all of that :D which it wasn't

[jnc]

honestly the "it doesn't have copy and paste" argument for the reason you not getting the phone is so asinine I can't even believe it.

thats great while you were copying and pasting. I was using the internet fully on a rich touch screen device, answering email, listening to music, watching movies, syncing all my calendar dates, downloading apps that are awesome like amazons app, direct TVs application for my DVR unit, finding the closest restaurants, using the GPS, when I travel a host of other apps like iBART, oh and I could make and receive phone calls and texts too all on the coolest phone on the planet
hope your copy and paste was worth missing out on all of that :D which it wasn't

Oh my! You can listen to music on your phone? AMAZING. Can you record a video?

The things you mention are available on other phones, and flip out and crash on iPhone software. I could do pretty much everything you just said on a G1. Oh, plus copy and paste. And remove the battery. lol.

[H$R]

honestly the "it doesn't have copy and paste" argument for the reason you not getting the phone is so asinine I can't even believe it.

thats great while you were copying and pasting. I was using the internet fully on a rich touch screen device, answering email, listening to music, watching movies, syncing all my calendar dates, downloading apps that are awesome like amazons app, direct TVs application for my DVR unit, finding the closest restaurants, using the GPS, when I travel a host of other apps like iBART, oh and I could make and receive phone calls and texts too all on the coolest phone on the planet
hope your copy and paste was worth missing out on all of that :D which it wasn't

Yeah I get your points. But the coolest phone isn't always the most practical one.

I've been using a Palm Treo for quite some years now (when most people where using their standard Nokias or whatever. Nothing against that, my first one was a Nokia too. But it couldn't handle everything I needed good enough. And doesn't make sense do carry around a PDA and a phone)

Sync contacts, notes, calendars, email, downloading apps, listening to music/video..everything no problem even with a Mac. (sure it might not have been as comfortable as with iTunes nowadays, but it was availaible the days back then. Compare it like when you could still listen to a CD player when the mp3 players came). I have all apps I really need.
(I used MMS once, and I 've shot 3 videos with the phone. this is nice to have, but not really a keypoint)

I don't think I missed the 21st century, because I weren't able to watch TV on the go. There are many alternatives. Yes GPS is a good thing (and I really am looking forward to it when I get my iPhone this summer) but I am smart enough to find my way on the map without GPS.

But I was also editing doc files long before you could even look at them mobile (and I did edit them). And when you're working and writing on the go, you will need copy and paste several times on a daily basis. c&p contacts, putting in email and moving text from one app to the next. It really is essential in daily life. Who many times a day are you using c&p on yoru computer? Sure it goes without it, but it's just to comfortable to not use it.

Now this is my story. Sure, it's not a 100% because of the copy and paste, but it's a key problem not having the option too.

Gotta go, later

[MattyMac]

so innovative!

[DeathSticks]

regreqgre

[viccles]

Oh, I wants it now!!!

[sault]

The iPhone "4G" sounds totally badass. Each new feature discovered is convincing me more and more that it'd be worth it to drop my current carrier and sign a contract with AT&T. :D

One little suggestion: If Apple are indeed planning to add a flash, it should be the Apple logo on the back as one huge LED. Then maybe have it much dimmer during non-camera use so it emits a soft glow like the logos on the MBs/MBPs. A little pretentious, but totally awesome. :D :D :D

damn.. that would be so amazing. chrome is nice but i'd take a white one anyday

[mikeinternet]

Has anyone uploaded video recorded with this? That's if this is actually working for people who dug this out of the beta.

[Romanesq]

Stop telling everyone that they will not be able to upgrade. What you should do is call ATT and find out when you are eligible for an upgrade. I called and am eligible to upgrade/update with whatever subsidized price they put on the new iphone to the new iphone as long as I sign a new 2 year contract. It all depends on when you purchased the 3G.... Really tired of seeing people on the forum telling everyone they will not be able to upgrade/update to the new version without the subsidy.

That guy is referencing the policy from almost a year ago. We'll know more soon enough but still going to hope that maybe an upgrade on the Apple product is available at a discount for an extended contract.

So we'll see but I'm not going to be a bit optimistic. I got the 3g the weekend of its release and I'd be happy to move it along with this new one which does sound like it's going to be darn good.