I'm honestly not really sure what I'd want.
I guess cheaper price, better battery life (never can have too much), and faster processor (cause you never can go wrong with a faster processor).
Other than that, not really sure there is any new features I really care about seeing. The camera is fine for me now (a better camera wouldn't really entice me that much), I like having video camera ability, the GPS is pretty good now (as compared to before), I have no issues with antenna, and I just can't think of anything really off the top of my head.
Well, I suppose one feature would have me drooling... some how managing to get an actual optical zoom in the camera (digital zoom is pointless, you can do that in photoshop and it just gets grainy).
You've summed up my thoughts exactly. I'm not a keen photographer so I never have a "real" camera with me and even forget to pack one when I go on holiday about half the time (when airline security ask me what electrical items I have is when I get the "d'oh, I forgot the camera" moment). For social gatherings it's no big deal because the iPhone camera is perfectly good enough but for scenic holiday snaps then 90% of the time it's useless without a zoom. Integrating a zoom would need to be done with no increase in phone size when the camera is inactive, and I realise it's a dream right now, but if/when it can be done (properly) then that will be a hugely significant new feature.
Don't dismiss digital zoom completely. You never know, it might be the route to what we want. Speaking for myself, I don't want optical zoom per-se, what I actually want is high quality zoom and I don't care if that is implemented optically or digitally. Because of sensor limitations it isn't possible to get high quality 3x digital zoom (for instance) and, sadly for us, it isn't currently possible to get 3x optical zoom into an iPhone body either.
Now, if there was some miracle sensor technology that could deliver a 45MP sensor in the same space and with the same quality as the current 5MP sensor, and a lens to match, then digital 3x zoom would be clipping a 5MB square out of the middle of the 45MP sensor data (and happily the middle of the lens is the part that has least optical distortions) so that would give a workable level of high quality zoom. In fact I'd say that you don't need to get to that level, I was pretty happy with 2MP snaps from a normal compact camera and definitely happy with 3MP so if one only wants to crop out 2MP or 3MP from the middle of the frame for a 3x zoom then one is talking about sensors of 18MP and 27MP respectively. Again, not possible within the size constraints today but maybe one day.
I realise that both the optical and the digital possibilities for high quality zoom are impossible with today's technology, and for some time to come I suspect, but I'm just saying that there are two possible routes to get what we want.
On the other stuff I am also running out of things that I want. I agree with all yours. I would prioritise improving battery life over improving performance but the one thing that I would add to your list is doubling the flash capacity. I would really like a 64GB phone since, once all my music is on my 32GB phone, it will be full.
- Julian
