iPhone 4 U?

Pluses

Design: While the new angular glass-and-steel body is thinner than the 3G/3GS, it still feels solid.

Display: The “Retina display” packs a punch at a solid 326 pixels per inch (double that of the 3GS!), which translates to smooth, true-to-life images. Colours are vivid with high contrast.

Performance: Powered by the same CPU as the iPad, zipping through apps and Web browsing is a breeze.

Cameras: The main camera captures HD video, while new sensor technology means that still photo quality is higher than expected for 5 megapixels.

Software: New features include multitasking, app folders and new apps such as iBooks, which debuted with the iPad.

Battery: While smartphones tend to require nightly charging, the battery was impressively still half full after a day of heavy use.

Minuses

Reception: The sleek steel edge is also an external antenna, and, as reported by multiple sources after its launch, reception appears impaired if the phone is held ‘wrongly’ – an astonishing defect for a flagship product!

Video Calling: Apt to label existing tech-nologies (think Bluetooth and MMS) as ‘breakthrough’ features, Apple now ‘introduces’ video calling with FaceTime. Available on global 3G networks for years, video calling had never really taken off. But with Apple’s track record, FaceTime may just kickstart a wave of mass video calling – even if it’s only with other iPhone 4 users over WiFi for now.

Still no Flash!: Apple supports HTML5, the next Web standard that integrates video and interactivity. But major sites will continue displaying Flash content for a while yet – and hence remain inaccessible to iPhone/iPad users.

Conclusion: Despite its shortcomings, the iPhone 4 is a marked improvement over its predecessors in terms of design, functionality and usability. If you’re shopping for a high-end smartphone, this is one definitely worth considering.