iPhone 4 Takes Over the Nation

By Ashley Taylor

CHARLESTON, S.C. - People lined up outside of Apple stores in Charleston, as well as every other major city on June 24, 2010, in order to finally get their hands on Apple’s newest iPhone.

This is the fourth iPhone in the series, and presumably the best yet.

According to WCSC Charleston, about 500 people were lined up at the Apple store on King Street by 9 am. Approximately 200 people camped out at the store overnight to ensure a spot in the front of the line. The first two people in line had been waiting at the Apple store since 2 pm.

The iPhone 4 was launched in Japan and moving through France, Germany, and Great Britain before going on sale in the US at 7 am, according to each time zone.

Some stores, including those in Miami, Charlotte, Tokyo and San Francisco sold out within hours as the phone went on sale.

More than 600,000 phones were pre-ordered before the date of release, which caused Apple and partner AT&T to stop taking orders before the Thursday launch. On Apple’s website, new orders weren’t promised for delivery until July 14. Those who did not pre-order a phone had to wait in line outside of Apple stores nationwide, not being guaranteed the new iPhone.

Some of the features of the iPhone 4 include two cameras, including a five-megapixel camera with a flash. The phone allows consumers to shoot video in high-definition.

The new iPhone is a 16-gigabyte and costs $199, and the 32-gigabyte version costs $299. This is not including a monthly plan from AT&T with a contract.

According to Apple, the new iPhone is made with engineered glass, known as aluminosilicate glass, which is the same kind of glass that is used in the manufacturing of helicopters and high-speed trains. This engineered glass is recyclable and has been “chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic,” according to Apple.

This phone has never-before-seen features, including the 960-by-640 backlit LCD screen, having a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, according to Apple. This makes the iPhone 4 the highest-resolution phone screen ever made.

In order for engineers at Apple to achieve this, they had to develop pixels so small that they are not visible to the human eye, only 78 micrometers across. This makes for excellent color quality as well as text that is easily distinguishable.

One of the most amazing features that the iPhone 4 has to offer is video calling, which has never been seen before on a cell phone. When you call someone in your contacts list, you can press a button called FaceTime, which will give the person you are calling the option to join in on the live video chat with you.

The iPhone 4 has two built-in cameras, one on the front and one on the back. The camera on the front of the phone is designed specifically for FaceTime, or video calling, in the sense that it was made to focus directly on your face at arm’s length.

The camera located on the back of the phone is designed to record things at a distance, so that the person you are engaging in FaceTime with can see what you are seeing. A tap of a button can bring you from the front camera to the back instantaneously.

The iPhone 4 also focuses on multitasking. According to Apple, you can run multiple apps while switching between them instantly. You can do this without having to worry about slowing down the performance of your phone or draining the battery life of your phone. These things no longer need to be thought of, as they should no longer be problems to iPhone 4 users.

An iPhone would not be an iPhone if it was not able to record video in high definition. You can create your own movies and even record in low-light settings due to the illumination sensor and built-in LED light on the backside of the phone.

Not only can you make your own movies, you can also edit them right on your iPhone. All of this is possible using the new iMovie app that is available on your iPhone.

The iPhone 4 also has an app called iBooks, which is a free download that enables you to purchase books. You can browse tens of thousands of books and read the books through this application with the ebook reader. When you are finished reading, iBooks bookmarks where you left off.

With all of these amazing features, who wouldn’t want the new iPhone?

It is clear that the iPhone 4 is taking over the nation due to the high demand of the phone. The willingness of consumers to camp out and to wait in line for hours in order to receive the phone is truly indicative of the amazing features this phone has to offer.