Talking about Apple and swooning over their products like an obsessed fanboy is boring. But what can’t be ignored is the sheer hype machine that IS Apple. The volume of queues for two days this time round for the new iPhone 4 must surely mean they’re doing something right? First off the new iPhone. The new iOS4 is great and best served by the gorgeous new hardware that it now sports. Bit of a summary below and in my next post I’m going all out Apple fanboy as I explain WHY I love Apple, even though they often infuriate me.

Apple have leapfrogged every other smartphone right now with the iPhone 4. Android offers some great devices but the OS remains fiddly and the entire package is not yet a slick match for Apple’s hardware / software / App integration.

What’s to like about the new iPhone? Lots. The display has a crazy pixel resolution and looks fantastic. The engineering of the phone (Antenna issues aside) is so meticulous it makes the outgoing 3GS seem like a toy – you can only really ‘get’ this when you hold it in your hand. The speed of the device means that Apple’s ‘multitasking’ seems to work well, even if it isn’t really true multitasking but more ‘fast app switching’. The camera is improved, the new iMovie for the phone is a nice touch and in general it’s a big move forward even from the 3GS.

The only thing that does bug me with the iPhone is the complete lack of a dashboard display showing all your stuff at once. Even though multitasking now makes things easier it’s still not as good as showing your mails, social media nonsense and other bits and pieces all on one screen. A shame because I think if Apple turned themselves to such a dashboard it would be great. Oh well, maybe next year then. I’d also love some form of LED notification system on the hardware instead of badges which I find crude.

The new phone seems to be even more of a hit than the 3GS with practically no handsets available in the UK today. Crazy stuff.

What does interest me is that all networks now can sell the iPhone but not one of them is really doing anything on price. I expected THREE to come in with unlimited data as their usual data plans are generous but no such luck. Bizarrely whilst I don’t really rate their network I’ve decided to stick with O2. They seem to be the only people doing visual voicemail (Which I couldn’t live without) and their prices don’t differ too much from anyone else. As for the nasty 500mb data cap – well, go online and see what your data use is each month. I use my phone all day long and don’t really ever go above the 500mb mark.

So in summary the iPhone 4 is a worthwhile upgrade, even for 3GS users. WIRED have a video if you haven’t been able to have a look for yourself yet:

“Set during the end of WWII, Black Book is the story of a Dutch Jewish girl who narrowly survives the war in Holland. She joins the resistance to find out who betrayed her family after all of them were killed in an attempt to reach the liberated south.” IMDB

Zwartboek (Black Book) is a brilliant film directed by Paul Verhoven, responsible for huge blockbusters such as Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers. Here he goes back to his native Netherlands however for a superb WWII film so very different to his mainstream fare. I’ll leave IMDB to outline the plot in detail but I’ve not seen such a mesmerising performance by someone in many years – Carice van Houten is simply stunning, captivating, beautiful and sharp in her lead role here and brings a genuine moral ambiguity and strength alongside frailty to the film.

*****