Apple Launches second generation iPhone!!

First of all, sorry V1 and Volatire and all the other community members that I posted this without it being my day, but I felt it was very very important to relase this news to the public. So we’ve got it on authority that the second-gen iPhone is already well into testing, and numerous units are floating around in super secret pockets. A trusted source got a chance to check one out, here’s what I’ve heard.

• The first thing people will notice: the 2nd gen iPhone will be about the same size and shape as the first gen.
• It will, of course, have 3G. And proper GPS!
• The most noticeable physical difference is back of the phone is no longer metal — the whole thing is glossy black, from top to bottom. The volume buttons are now chrome.
• Because it’s got a little less metal to deal with, it doesn’t have quite as many angular edges. The battery is (still) not removable.
• The phone itself will be slightly thicker than the first gen device.
• The headphone jack will no longer be recessed, and will finally be flush with the body.
• The device itself uses roughly the same size and resolution screen as the first generation product.
• No solid word on battery life or storage capacity.

Radio
iPhone 2.0 will be 3-G. If it is to stand any chance in the as-yet-untapped Japanese market, a fast data connection is a must. The official line from both Apple and AT&T is that a 3-G iPhone will ship this year, and as two launches in one year are unlikely, we can only assume that there will be one international 3-G iPhone. Certainly, the Infineon chipset expected to power the new phone will work on both HSDPA and WCDMA networks, as well as continuing to support EDGE for customers outside of good 3-G coverage.

Camera
The iPhone’s camera sucks(I forgot that all age groups visit this website). It offers the user no more than the most basic functionality and only captures a measly two megapixels. It’s so bad that a range of unofficial software upgrades has already been released, adding new features and even video. The Infineon chipset mentioned above supports cameras of up to 5 megapixels and also video capture using Apple’s codec of choice, h.264. So more pixels and video seem very likely, but what of video calls? Apple’s Mac application iChat has had video conferencing for some time. It would be a perfect match for the iPhone’s big bright screen, but that would entail a second camera. I’d give this one a 50-50 chance.

Software
Software is arguably the most important part of the iPhone. Ever since its launch last year, seemingly every cellphone maker has released a touchscreen phone. None of them comes close in ease of use, because none of them understands that the interface is everything.

The currently beta iPhone SDK shows us that the v2.0 operating system will be an incremental upgrade, adding niceties such as search and, if we’re lucky, copy-and-paste. With the iPod, Apple has often held new features back from older models in order to drive sales. Part of this is the accounting model it uses: In order to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley (or Oxshit) laws, Apple won’t add new features to old hardware. The iPhone, though, like the Apple TV, is accounted for on a subscription basis. Expect the v1.0 iPhone to run the exact same software as the new one, exempting features which utilize new hardware.

For current iPhone Users:
Ok, first of all bad luck for us (even I have an iPhone!). Even though Apple will introduce a 2.0 upgrade which can be downloaded via the installer.app which will provide all the features which will be present in the 2^nd gen iPhone, we wont be able to experience the beautiful and exotic body of the iPhone. I have got some pictures of the new iPhone but I am not 100% sure that it is the iPhone, I think it is only a case:

It really is soooo coool! To see all the features please go to the official Apple iPhone 2nd gen website.

Now it’s your turn. What do you expect to see? Suggestions in the comments.

— Tizil 7