Nice to see Apple playing catch up. I had a look at the big features they touted at the release and none of them seem more compelling than the ones my Incredible (which should be fresh off the assembly line by now...slowly making its way to a FedEx box) offers.
Cameras - 5MP camera in the back - OK thats nice, nothing special. I've seen shots from both, and I think the Incredible takes better pictures. Plus you can focus on certain spots by touching the spot you want. Flash? Cool. I have 2. Front camera? You can use it for self portraits, but who wants a VGA size portrait of themselves? 13 year old girls have been turning cameras around and taking pictures of themselves for years. iMovie for iPhone? That would suck. I don't want to edit a movie on my phone. If I'm actually making something worth editing, I'll do it on my computer where i can see better and work faster. HD video? One of like three iPhone 4 features that I actually will miss on the Inc.
FaceTime - This doesn't seem desirable. You either have to hold the phone way up in front of your face, or the other person looks up your nostrils. Think about the way you hold your phone when you use it. If you're standing up, you're usually holding it by your belt buckle. Why would I want someone I'm video chatting to get the view my girlfriend gets of me when we're alone? I'd hold my arm up and that gets old quick (lazy? yes.). Plus that probably kills battery like nothing else. If I actually want to video chat, I'll want to be doing something else in the background. When I Skype people from my computer, I'm always looking at other stuff in the background. It's just like regular phone calls. When you can't work on something or look up something in the background during the call, it kinda blows.
"Retina Screen": Okay, that's cool. I don't think it'll be that noticible over the Incredible. I did some math, we've got about 250 pixels/inch. Sounds cool, but the "retina screen" isn't that much better that the Incredible's... nothing too special.
iBookstore - not interested. I don't read books anyway. Is anyone else getting sick of the iShit? iAds, iOS4, iBooks, iPod, iPad, iPhone, iMovie, iPhoto, iLife, iWork, iTunes, iMsickofstuffbeingnamedthisway. It was great for a while, when it was just the iPod and the iPhone, but now it's gone too far. Product names are cool. My phone is(will be eventually) called the Incredible. There's the Mustang. The Camaro. The Corvette. All of those names are better than iPhone. Like who would buy an iCar?
Multitasking? I like the implementation better, with the dock you can switch apps from, but this almost levels the playing field with Android. It's not quite as good because only certain apps can run in the background.
Home Screen - Oh boy, wallpapers and folders. We've had that for a while, along with widgets and live wallpapers.
Search - Not as good (I don't think?). I know the search button on the Incredible will search Google, but will it also search the phone? That would be a nice feature.
Battery - Apple claims that it lasts a really long time, but Apple's claims are always BS. Plus, the Incredible can probably match the real life performance of the iPhone with an extended battery. And then you can swap batteries and keep on going.
Maps & Compass - Free navigation on the Incredible. Enough said.
Processor - Advantage Incredible.
2 Mics - This could help. I feel like it wouldn't do much for me, because I usually have a hat on, and my hair is down to my ears and it's pretty thick. Plus, what if it's windy and that mic picks up wind interference? I don't want it to try to cancel the sound from that. I've never had a problem hearing people on the phone before, so I don't think this is necessary. If you're somewhere that you actually can't hear the person you're talking to, you're probably not in an appropriate place to make a call. And noise cancellation won't help at a concert. What would be better is cancellation of ambient noise around you for the sounds you transmit, so people won't be able to hear it if you're driving or something. From what i've read, it doesn't appear that the iPhone does this.
Design - The only thing I prefer about the iPhone's design is its dedicated silent mode button. But I really hate the whole way that the iPhone OS handles sound anyway - ringer volume and music volume should be separate. You don't need that many steps for ringer volume, and you usually want the ringer to be at least as loud as the music you're playing. Anyway, design. The new iPhone is ugly. I don't like the completely flat back, or the stainless band that goes around the phone. The buttons look stupid now too. Same with the white face. There'll be at least a 10:1 ratio of black to white iPhones sold. But the whole phone looks kinda stupid. Also, it's 2mm thinner than the Incredible. It's also about two mm thicker than my iTouch. I don't like the iTouch without a case because it feels TOO thin. Just my personal preference I guess.
The Apps argument for the iPhone is dying slowly. It has more apps than Android, but I can't find something that there is no app for on Android, but one for the iPhone. Just because the Android Marketplace doesn't have 200 different bowling applications doesn't mean it's worse. I do wish Google would moderate the apps.
And wow that was long. Just kinda kept going maybe some of you will actually read this haha. Just my thoughts after reading the WWDC notes.
