iPhone 4 = Meh

It's official, the new iPhone 4 was announced during yesterday's WWDC keynote. Almost everyone is praising Cupertino's latest smartphone, but I'm not sold on it. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I haven't had any hands-on time with it (maybe that will change my opinion), but here's a rundown of the phone's main features and why I'm meh on them:

Apple A4 Processor
The brains behind the iPhone 4 is the same processor (or a close relative to) the CPU found inside the iPad, the A4 Cortex processor. This is great news, as many people love the iPad's speedy responsiveness. However, I'm baffled as to why Apple is being so tight-lipped about the CPU's specs. We know that the Samsung Wave runs a very similar chip to the iPhone 4, but that's pretty much it. I'm just curious to know how fast this CPU can run. Regardless, the A4 on the iPhone 4 is a good thing.

Retina Display
I have no doubt that the iPhone's new display is better than the 3GS', but hearing Steve Jobs call it a "Retina" display makes me feel like he's selling me snake oil. Ok, so it has a 960x640 resolution (4x that of the iPhone 3GS) packed inside the same 3.5" screen. Personally, I'd rather have a larger screen than one with more pixels. Bragging about this new display feels like bragging about a 32" 1080p LCD. (Yeah, it's 1080p, but on a screen so small, will you notice the difference?) Your photos and text may look sharp on the new iPhone, but will you notice a difference on video or will the phone simply upscale video to 960x640?

Battery Life
Standby time: Up to 300 hours
Internet Use:
Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

When it comes to smartphone battery life, only one thing matters — how long will this smartphone let me surf the Web? If Apple's specs are reliable (they tend to be conservative with their battery ratings), then this is pretty damn nice and a huge plus for the iPhone 4. But again, there are so many factors that contribute to a phone's battery life. A smartphone that can last 2 full business days on one charge with a fair amount of use would definitely impress me.

HD Video Recording & Editing
The iPhone finally got a front-facing camera for making video calls. The feature is called FaceTime and it will only work via Wi-Fi from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. (However, the door is open for other companies to develop apps that could make it work with other non-iPhones.) In addition, the rear camera got an LED flash and bump to 5MP. It can also do 720p video at 30fps. For an extra $4.99, you can download the iMovie app, which will let you edit your videos directly from the phone. Definitely welcome upgrades, but nothing we haven't already seen or nothing to wow about.

Design
I don't see why people are so excited about the iPhone's "new" design. Don't get me wrong, I've liked the iPhone's looks since day one, but the new iPhone doesn't look that much different than the 3GS. Sure, it's thinner (which is great), but otherwise, it looks like an iPhone.

Personally, I'm just not sold on the new iPhone 4. Is it a horrible phone? Of course not, and I would definitely recommend it if you're trying to consolidate gadgets or if you have an iPhone 3G. Otherwise, I just don't see what all the fuss is about.