The iPhone 4 in Review

Matthew Pick is Catchfire Media’s summer intern who will be assisting with the firm’s strategic efforts on behalf of our clients.

Living in Iowa sometimes has its perks: shorter lines and friendly people, especially considering the much anticipated iPhone 4 release in stores last Friday. Sharing yawns with fellow computer geeks at 5:30 a.m. definitely isn’t a normal morning. I enjoyed chatting with iPhone enthusiasts and Des Moines acquaintances; they had a good sense of humor and let nothing stand in the way of owning the latest Apple gadgetry.

When I left the line to come in to the Catchfire office at 8 a.m., my brother put in the long haul. After six hours in line with our newly-found friends, my brother finally made it to the front. With much high-fiving and hollering along the way, the coveted iPhone 4 was acquired.

Here are some quality apps I’ve found and use regularly

• Golfshot GPS – A range finder for the golf course
• LogMeIn – Access your computer remotely
• MotionX GPS Drive – Navigation system replacement
• Air Video – Stream videos on your home library to your phone
• AppBox Pro – a toolbox full of handy apps
• Prowl – Receive push notifications from your computer
• Find My iPhone – Requires MobileMe service
• Shazam – Find names of songs you hear
• Photoshop.com Mobile – Edit, upload, and send your photos

Some quick tips for new iPhone users:

• Try making your own ringtone if you haven’t changed the default ringtone.
• Wander through the App Store, you might find something useful! It’s easiest to sift through apps by Genre and highest ratings. Make sure you read some reviews and check out the screenshots—a wasted dollar here and there adds up.
• Use your iPhone 4 as a flashlight! Go into the camera app, then video capture mode, then change Flash from Auto to ON. This will turn on your LED flash, which is a simple way to turn on the flash until someone develops a flashlight app.
• You can even call 1-888-FACETIME to talk to an Apple representative via FaceTime, which seems a little odd, but it’s fun if you haven’t been able to try it.

What’s new in the iPhone 4?

• Retina Display w/ 4x the pixels as 3Gs
• Smaller body style
• 19% Larger battery
• Faster processor – Apple’s A4 chip, also used in iPad
• 5 MP camera w/ LED Flash, and front-facing camera
• HD Video Capturing
• FaceTime Video Chatting over WiFi

Problems with the iPhone 4

While some are having trouble with losing signal with the new iPhone, others have not been affected. I noticed that the phone drops to one bar within half a minute when I hold it in my left hand, but regains signal once I change hand positions. This is a problem—even for right-handed people. Often, I hold my phone with my left and when surfing the web. It was a bigger problem when I was using it for navigation and the internet connection slowed down. It has been rumored that Apple will fix this with a software update, or possibly even give iPhone 4 users bumper cases. In the meantime, this issue is just a minor annoyance.

Overall, Apple has once again put out an amazing product, adding features that are bound to change mobile communicating. If Apple can sell 1.7 million iPhones in three days, they must be doing something right.

Are you an iPhone user? Have you tried the newest version? Use the space below to pose any questions about the iPhone 4 you may have, problems you have encountered, etc., and I’ll do my best to answer.

Tagged as: Air Video, App Store, Apple iOS, FaceTime, Golfshot GPS, iPhone, iPhone 4, LogMeIn, MotionX, Photoshop, Prowl