The fanfare is subsiding now following this week’s announcement by Apple of the new iPhone 4 at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2010.

In case you were unconscious or just missed it, here are the headlines. Apple will begin selling the new iPhone 4 on June 24 for $199, with a two-year exclusive AT&T service contract. More on that later.

The new phone has a higher resolution Retina Display, an HD 720p rear video camera with LED flash, a forward facing camera for video chat, a new Apple only A4 processor brain, and a new operating system.

Clearly this will be a device that will set the standard for the next generation of smart phones. The push from technology companies to “one up” each other is paying off in better devices for the consumer.

But at the end of the day a phone is just a phone, or is it? I thought I would investigate what these new devices might do for our ability to gather and deliver news content, increase efficiency, and improve our overall day-to-day operations, specifically the soon to be rolled out iPhone 4.

PDF’s & iBooks

This is more a function of the new OS4 software than it is the iPhone. Apple is putting its e-reader, iBook, on the new phone. It already lives on the iPad.

Two things happen here. Media companies can now begin publishing to the more mobile crowd in the form of interactive magazines. The ability for the two portable devices to stay in sync to the pages read is pretty cool. This takes portable reading to a new level. Magazines can be the big winners here, but the opportunity is there for everyone.

From an operational standpoint, the ability to read pdf files in iBook, gives more credence to replacing printed scripts with those of the electronic version for TV news anchors. I remember when I ran newsrooms, my paper and printing costs of scripts for an average month ran in the neighborhood or 4 to 5 thousand dollars. Not to mention the cost of printer repair and replacement.

It now makes sense to replace newscast scripts with e-readers. Pdf files can be marked up and annotated just like regular paper scripts. Only the markup takes place on the iPad. Instead of printing to paper, the pdf file is transmitted to the iPad. Brilliant! There are a couple of stations around the country experimenting with this concept now, but the built in Apple app is sure to be more bullet proof, with less chance of failure.

iPhone Video & Editing

The new iPhone sports a 5 megapixel, 720p HD video camera on board. The LED built in flash should also help with low light. Granted video in a phone is nothing new, but quality and the ability to edit it, is.

Apple is integrating iMovie, its basic video editing software, into the iPhone 4. It is now possible for a journalist in the field to shoot quick video, edit out the bad shots in the same phone, and send it for online posting, or even on-air. Breaking news is not about live and satellite trucks any longer. It is about the speed to which you can move images and the iPhone 4 will apparently give us a leg up.

FaceTime

FaceTime is Apple’s new in-phone video conferencing feature. Similar to Skype, where two people can carry on a video call over an internet connection, except everything happens in the iPhone.

FaceTime would allow a journalist to video conference to another FaceTime user, anywhere in the world. So a journalist in the field, calls the content center and offers a live report via the FaceTime connection. A simple Apple supplied cable ($49) gets the audio and component video out of the phone and on-air and online.

FaceTime has some growing problems to overcome. At launch it is only available if the phones are connected to a Wi-Fi network. In other words, unlike Skype, FaceTime does not work on 3G cellular networks at the moment.

Nagging Questions

As ground breaking as the new device is there continue to be nagging issues: iPhones don’t play flash videos – H.264 is Steve Job’s platform of choice, with the AT&T network – users still report dropped calls, the lack of a tethered modem limits the ability to the use phone as an internet connection, and like many other phones no ability to act as a wireless wifi for other devices.

Then there is the question of cost of data plans, on top of the regular calling fees. AT&T just recently, June 7, changed its $30 unlimited monthly data plan to $25 for 2 GB of data. With phones now capable of streaming music and video, the demand on bandwidth will be high and wireless networks put to the test.

AT&T’s website says 2GB is about 200 minutes of standard quality video from You Tube per month. Remember, the iPhone shoots HD. Those with current unlimited plans, get to keep them for now.

I have owned an iPhone 3G for more than a year, it is wonderful device. The apps are the most impressive, along with the ability to store media.

But as much as I appreciate the device, the AT&T network will prevent me from buying into the updated model. There has been plenty of speculation about Apple opening up to other carriers. From my perspective, living with dropped calls and limited service for more than a year, that can’t come soon enough.

Stay tuned…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.