iPhone 4

Apple dropped the bomb on us all when they revealed a few days ago that tomorrow is the date of an iPhone 4-related event which up until recently had been totally shrouded in secrecy, so I decided to share with you all five things I want to see in the next-generation iteration of the software,  as well as the hardware, despite the fact that this event is unlikely to enlighten us as to what we should expect from the fourth iPhone model itself.

So without further ado: Screen recording. The iPhone is as far as I know one of the only phones in existence which allows users to take screenshots and capture the files into the on-board image gallery. Apple should go a step further ahead of the competition by introducing a screen recorder integrated into the software to pretty much do what the feature says on it’s tin. Taps, swipes, scrolls and pinches could be marked by small whites dots overlaid onto the video itself. If someone is typing while recording their screen I wouldn’t know whether to recommend the dots continue to appear or not because that could end up looking a bit messy. Anyhow, options to save, edit and upload the clip should appear once recording is finished.

1. Expose multitasking. Apple doesn’t want to integrate multitasking capabilities into the iPhone for fear that the battery life will drop like a brick. The solution? Implement a superior battery and your device’s juice will flow out quite a bit slower. Once that hurdle is conquered we’d need a way of switching between apps. I’d personally recommend stealing the concept of Expose from Mac OS X, scaling it down a bit and sticking it on the iPhone. When Expose is activated a screenshot of all running apps appear. Simple, but how do you activate Expose? Call me crazy but Apple could always attach two buttons to the sides of the handset…
2. Two cameras. iPhone started his life carrying around two megapixels of camera over his shoulder and when the time came for a rebirth he continued carrying that load. On the second re-incarnation one wise old man from the Apple Temple handed iPhone a third megapixel. Along with the ability to shoot videos. iPhone continues trudging along in the hope that one day his creator will give him more megapixels. And of course a camera embedded into his front so that videoconferencing is easier than falling off of an imaginary log.
3. Touchscreen rear. People have talked about spreading the touch-sensitive surface of a device around a handset so that it’s completely wrapped in touchability. Apple wrapped an entire mouse in the stuff so why not do it with the iPhone? When the fourth iteration falls from the Apple tree I want to see Apple truly define innovation by breaking all expectation barriers. But then again I’m being a tad overboard here… I mean, where would that Apple logo go?!
4. Improved accelerometer. I don’t mean improved in terms of sensitivity and responsiveness, but more in the universality department. There’re a lot of areas within the iPhone operating system which render the use of the landscape keyboard an impossibility. While Apple sorts this out it’d be pointlessly fun to turn the iPhone upside-down while continuing to use it. iPad-ish, y’know?

So they’re some of the things I wanna see Apple shove down the throat of the next instalment.

I’ll confess, some of those ideas are pretty much impossible what with the limits of technology itself. Wrapping a phone in touch-sensitivity is simply not possible yet. We’ll see tomorrow whether Apple knocks us off our seats. Perhaps they’ll do something excitingly new. Unless it’s another bony event lacking in juicy meat for us to drool over. (I’m a vegetarian just so you know).

By Steve :)