Vodafone has edge for new iPhone 4

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco this week to make a widely expected announcement that his company was sprucing up a cellphone it first launched in 2007.

Everyone in the audience had already seen pictures of the new version online.

Most of its improvements simply match technology already available in rival devices and when Jobs tried to demonstrate its capabilities, a problem with the Wi-Fi connection in the room meant he couldn't access the internet.

New Zealanders - with mobile users across most of the world - still don't know exactly when they can buy the device, or how much it will cost.

Think that all sounds somewhat underwhelming? Don't you believe it. The iPhone 4 has arrived.

"Stop me if you've already seen this," Jobs quipped as he paced the stage clutching the device.

It has been the consumer technology world's worst-kept secret since March when gadget blog Gizmodo published photos and a detailed technical breakdown of the features of a prototype unit reportedly found in a Californian bar.

Debate still rages in geek circles over whether the find was the result of a major security bungle by Apple or a carefully planned stunt designed to generate a storm of publicity before the product's official launch.

Whichever it was, it generated megabytes of coverage without taking any of the puff out of Jobs' unsurprising announcement to an audience of about 1100 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference this week.

Jobs' claim that the new device is "the biggest leap since the original iPhone" is fair.

The iPhone 4 is being touted as the slimmest smartphone on the market.

It incorporates more than 100 new features not found on its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, including a front-facing video camera to allow for video-conferencing, a better still camera, improved battery life and a screen with higher resolution.

It will go on sale on June 24 in Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States and will cost US$199 ($300) for the 16-gigabyte model and US$299 for the 32GB version.

Apple says the iPhone 4 will be available in New Zealand by the end of next month.

Vodafone New Zealand, the only local mobile network company with an agreement to sell the iPhone, could not yet give any details on local pricing.

Rival Telecom has so far been unable to secure an agreement with Apple to stock its devices but has lured some iPhone owners across from Vodafone with a competitively priced usage plan and by virtue of the fact that its third-generation XT network uses a frequency that allows iPhone 3GS devices to download data faster in urban coverage areas.

That technology advantage will shift back to Vodafone with the arrival of the iPhone 4, which is designed to perform best on the 3G urban frequency used by Vodafone.

Just as importantly, the new iPhone uses a "micro-SIM" card to store the subscriber details needed to connect to a mobile network.

This means switching the iPhone 4 from the Vodafone to Telecom networks will not be as simple as swapping one operator's SIM card for another, as is the case with the 3GS model.

Telecom may overcome that obstacle shortly, however, with the company reportedly saying this week it intends to eventually offer micro-SIM cards.

The arrival of the new iPhone also presents an opportunity for mobile network newcomer 2degrees, which is close to launching its own 3G network using the same iPhone 4-friendly urban 3G spectrum as Vodafone.

Globally, Apple is counting on the iPhone 4 to fend off mounting competition from Android, a Google smartphone operating system used by handset manufacturers Motorola, HTC and Google itself.

The iPhone is evolving fast enough to keep competitors at bay, even if the new version lacked major surprises, according to William Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones.

"They remain the technology innovation leader," Kreher told Bloomberg.

"While nothing was really revolutionary in terms of the new features, I think that Apple took a nice step forward."

Jobs this week downplayed the Android threat, saying the iPhone was the second largest-selling smartphone in the US during the first quarter of this year, with a 28 per cent share of the market.

He said it lagged only behind BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion, which has a 35 per cent share of the market, while Android-based devices accounted for 9 per cent.

Although many of the iPhone 4's enhancements were expected, analysts who keep an eye on the smartphone market said the upgrade provided Apple with a unique package of capabilities.

The competition from Google and other phone makers "has sparked an almost fierce level of innovation at Apple", said Yair Reiner, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co in New York.

"The competition is taking aim but the target keeps moving faster."

Apple has now sold more than 50 million iPhones and has released a new version every year since 2007, when the device first shook up the smartphone market.

The iPhone is now Apple's top-selling product, generating 40 per cent of company revenue.

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