I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get my hands on the iPhone 4 one day before it was released to the public. Activation went fine and all is well in my tech world these days. After having the device for almost 24 hours, I wanted to share some initial thoughts and pose some questions.
Initial Thoughts
From a design perspective, the iP4 is probably the slickest piece of hardware I've ever owned. It's very thin, yet feels very sturdy in my hands. I do worry about the glass and whether or not it'll scratch, as it's been reported. I'd hate to have to cover this thing up with a case. Yea, it's that pretty. From the first touch, it was like riding a bike. All the buttons were in the same place as the previous models (yet designed differently). It's basically a slimmer, cooler design over the 3Gs.
Activation was ridiculously easy. I called 611 on my 3G, the system recognized my number and realized that I had the new phone to activate. I press a couple of numbers, powered down the 3G, powered up the iP4 a couple mins after and bingo, service was running without a hitch.I then plugged it into iTunes, backed-up from a previous session and bingo, all my apps and data was there. Piece of cake.
In terms of the user interface, it's much smoother and quicker than it was on my 3G (even after the iOS4 upgrade). The multi-tasking, while not a game changer, is very useful. There are all sorts of minor tweaks in the OS that I won't get into here because most have covered it already. Long story short, it rocks.
Overall, I'm very happy with the device. It's going to be a work horse for me considering that it shoots HD video (720p) with immediate uploads to YouTube (wish there was a vimeo, blip.tv, etc. app though).
Questions
Despite the infatuation that I now have with this device (sorry, two month old iPad), there are some outstanding questions I have about it, including:
- What wasn't the iMovie app available for download today with the launch of the device? That's a fail in my opinion Apple. Come on...don't show us how cool it is to edit videos on the fly and then give us the Heisman.
- How can I get my video files off my device and into iMovie other than emailing them to me or dropping them in Dropbox? Wish there was an iPhone to iMovie importer.
- How can you close apps that are running in the background? When I go to the multi-task option, I slew of apps are running. Guessing that slows things down a bit so it would nice to be able to close some apps without having to reboot the device.
- I've tested out this hands-on device no wireless signal issue and it's legit. How could Apple let this issue squeak through? What if I'm on a call and by virtue of me holding the device, I lose signal and thus, my call. Will AT&T get hammered with inquiries after people think the drop calls are from their network? Yes, I know it takes a little bit for the depleting bar issue to happen, but it does happen. Just try it.
- I worry about scratches per the recent news. I guess the device is made of uber-glass and shouldn't scratch, but if a test model did, won't this one? Do I have to get a case for it and bury its beauty in some ugly silicone?
Overall though, the iP4 is the killer mobile device. In essence, it has put my Kodak Zi8 to rest mostly because I don't have to carry two devices anymore with the camera and video functionality on the iP4 being top notch (though, an 8 megapixel camera would have been better than five).
If you're in the market for a new device or hestitant to upgrade to the iP4, don't. You won't be sorry.
What are your thoughts on the iP4 (regardless or not if you have one)?
My buddy Jim Rattray informs me that iMovie was released at midnight. Guess I should have checked that. Thanks Jim!
Update: iMovie for the Iphone 4 is great. It has most of the functionality you'd expect for a mobile device -- editing the footage, adding transitions via a theme (though I can't figure out how to add one on it's own without the theme), add music, etc. The output options are great, including HD. I uploaded one file to FB directly and the quality of the footage was decreased severely. Same when I uploaded it to Dropbox. Syncing to the mac back to iTunes works fine with no quality loss.
Last update for today: Seems as if the only way to get videos off of the iPhone 4 is to connect your device to your mac, open up iPhoto and download from there. Worked like a charm. No video quality loss either.
I lied, this isn't my last update. So, I just realized thanks to @ChadNorthrup that my YouTube videos aren't in 720p. What's the sense of shooting in 720p if I can't upload directly to YouTube in that format? Guess I'll have to check the ones I can download to iPhoto.
Another thing, I still can't figure out how to close apps. My multi-task list is basically a lengthy list of all the apps I've opened since I've had the device up and running.
Still in love with the thing, but like any marriage, there are pet peeves and I'm still discovering them.
To kill apps running in the background, just hold down an icon in your multi-task tray and a delete icon will appear on each app. Hit the delete button and bingo, closing an app is all done.