TECHNOLOGY Apple announces iPhone 4, coming to Ireland in July [updated]

Apple (finally) announces iPhone 4 - and it's exactly what we all expected [updated]

Fergus Kelly

IN-DEPTH LOOK Apple's new iPhone 4 – thinner, faster, better?

The big surprise of this year's WWDC Keynote speech by Apple's Steve Jobs was that there were no big surprises. The only real surprise was problems with with his most important demos, apparently caused by 570 WiFi basestations in the audience. Someone's head will roll. It's interesting that at the biggest product launch of the year so far, the tech company with the biggest market capitalisation in the world was reduced to asking people who paid thousands of dollars to attend a special event to turn their technology off.

So, the big announcements? As expected, Jobs debuted the new iPhone 4 and its new operating system (the slightly rebadged iOS 4), in his words Apple's 'biggest leap' since the original iPhone. This is the device 'discovered' by Gizmodo in April. No surprise there then. So, what's new?

iPhone 4

• 2 cameras (for video conferencing - or "FaceTime video calling" as Apple prefer it, Wifi only in 2010)
• 2 microphones (one for noise cancellation)
• 5MP camera sensor
• HD 720p video recording
• Basic video editing on the phone
• iMovie for iPhone for more advanced editing ($4.99)
• New "Retina" display at 326ppi - better quality than a printed magazine
• iBooks - from iPad to iPhone and it can now read PDFs

So how much is it and when is it available in Ireland?
It's the same price in the US as the current model - $299 for 32GB model, $199 for 16GB model. It's on sale in the US, UK France, Germany and Japan on June 24 with preorders starting on June 15. Ireland has to wait until July (unless you want to take a trip to Belfast).

• UPDATE July 15, 2010: Three Ireland are now taking registrations of interest in the iPhone 4. They expect the new phone to be available in late July or early August. They have not announced any details of pricing or contract length, but there is speculation that the minimum term for a contract will be 2 years. Vodafone and O2 have not yet announced any details and are not taking registrations of interest. Apple have also started a 'Notify Me' service on their website and the phone is now on their online store as a 'Coming Soon' product.

• UPDATE July 16: Apple have announced that the iPhone 4 will be available in Ireland on July 30. They have also announced that due to problems with the antenna, every purchaser of the iPhone 4 will be entitled to a free case.

WWDC is a developers conference so there were some technical announcements that will change how apps are made and how users interact with them. Possibly the biggest was the announcement of Apple's new advertising platform, the imaginitively titled iAds. They've already signed up lots of major corporations so expect to see many more ads in your iPhone apps starting on July 1.

I've been waiting for this phone for months, being harassed weekly by O2 reps trying to 'save me money'. I've kept telling them that I wanted to see the new phone before I committed to anything. Looks like I'll have to put up with them for a little while longer. Roll on July. The iPad can wait for another year!

Watch Apple's promotional video here

IN-DEPTH LOOK Apple's new iPhone 4 – thinner, faster, better?

Thanks to Ars Technica, AppleInsider, Gizmodo and Engadget for their live streams.