I usually try to stay away from discussing rumors on iPhone J.D. Speculation on future Apple products is so rampant that it is the subject of many different websites, and often the reports that are passed off as “rumors” look to me to be completely made up. Other times, the feature may well be something that Apple is considering, but for one reason or another decides not to include when a product actually ships. Thus, unless Apple itself tells us that a feature is coming in the future — such as Apple’s recent preview of some of the features of iPhone 4.0 due out this summer — I try not to waste too much time talking about it here.
On the other hand, I don’t see anything wrong with coming up with a wish list of desired features, and I started to think about what is on my wish list a few days ago when California attorney David Sparks — a really smart and nice guy who runs the great MacSparky website and also co-hosts an excellent podcast called Mac Power Users — asked me to share a picture of my iPhone home screen and answer a few questions about what I love on the iPhone and hope to see in the future. The post that resulted from our talking is now up on MacSparky so check it out if you want to see a picture of my home screen as of today. It is part of a fun series of posts on MacSparky called “Home Screens” that shows you the first iPhone screen of different people so you can see the apps that others value most.
So anyway, back to those wishes. As much as I love my iPhone 3GS, there are two features that I would like to see in the future that Apple has not yet discussed. It just so happens, however, that there are new rumors that these features are coming. (Thanks to Daring Fireball for the links yesterday to these latest rumors.)
iPhone HD
I’ve predicted for a while now that the next version of the iPhone will be called the “iPhone HD,” and the main reason for my prediction is my hope that a primary new feature of the next iPhone is a substantially improved camera. The camera on the iPhone 3GS is decent, especially if you are outside with good light, and according to independent tests the video that the iPhone 3GS takes is comparable to a non-HD video camera. But now that tiny cameras such as the Flip MinoHD and the Flip UltraHD take decent 720p (1280 x 720) HD video at 30 frames per second, it seems reasonable to predict that Apple can and will add this same technology to the next iPhone.
I own a Nikon D50 SLR camera that takes amazing photographs, but that camera is bulky so I don’t always have it with me. The same can be said for my Canon HV10, which takes very good HD video but is yet another thing to carry. My iPhone, on the other hand, is always with me, so when my kids do something funny when we are at the zoo, park, etc. it is often going to have to be my iPhone that captures the memory. I’ll never use an iPhone instead of an SLR camera when I have a choice, but when I only have the iPhone, it would be great to have a better camera.
When Gizmodo recently paid $5,000 to acquire a “lost” prototype of the next iPhone, one of the features discovered was what appeared to be a better camera on the back. Paul Miller of Engadget wrote an excellent summary of the features seen on this prototype, and he describes the camera on the back as follows:
Around back is more good news: the camera lens seems to be larger, which
would theoretically point to an improved camera, a sort of no-brainer
for phone updates in this day and age, though it’s hard to see Apple
shooting up all the way to the 8 megapixel sensors we’re starting to see
from the competition. We’ve heard 5 megapixels as one possibility,
which sounds more reasonable, but this could really fall wherever. Next
to it is an LED flash, which will help for those dastardly low light
situations that the iPhone so struggles with.
Although Gizmodo and Engadget were really just guessing that the camera was improved, there is now a report from Arnold Kim of MacRumors that the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4.0 gives third party apps the ability to record either 640 x 480 video or 1280 x 720 video — i.e., 720p HD video. While MacRumors often guesses wrong, this report does seem consistent with what Gizmodo and Engadget thought that we might see based on that “lost” prototype iPhone. So maybe the rumor is true.
It is my wish that we will see a better camera in the next iPhone, and if Apple calls the next device the iPhone HD, that would be a clear indication that Apple is very proud of the improved camera.
Screen Orientation Lock
My other wish is for a software feature that is admittedly minor, but one that I would appreciate. On the side of the iPhone there is a switch that turns the ringer on and off. On the side of the iPad, there is a similar switch, but since the iPad is not a phone the switch instead locks the screen orientation. That way, if you are reading something in portrait mode and happen to tilt the iPad because of the way you are sitting, the screen won’t rotate to a landscape view by mistake. I doubt that Apple wants to add an additional button or switch to the side of the iPhone, but disabling auto-rotation of the screen seems like an easy preference to add in software.
There is new report from the Boy Genius Report — although I suppose that site is now just known as BGR — that the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4 has an orientation lock feature that can be accessed by pressing the Home button twice and then swiping left. BGR has a picture of what this apparently looks like in the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4.0.
Just because something is in a beta version, that doesn’t mean it will make the final release. But once again, it is my wish that this one will make the cut.
I’m sure that Apple has lots of goodies in store for us in the next iPhone and the final version of iPhone Software 4.0, including some surprises that may well become my favorite new features once I see them. But for now, these two wishes are at the top of my list of unannounced new features. My fingers are crossed.