With Apple likely to launch its new iPhone 4G at next week's Worldwide Developer's Conference, as the company has done for the past three summers, speculation is rampant about what new features might emerge that haven't been seen in two leaked prototypes.
One question is whether CEO Steve Jobs may wow iPhone fans with a larger screen size, said IDC wireless analyst Ramon Llamas. "With 4.0, a lot is predicated on the touchscreen, and so the next question is how big is that screen?" Llamas asked.
The iPhone 4G prototype that turned up on a technology site after being sold for $5,000 had better screen resolution, 960 by 640 pixels, up from the iPhone 3GS's 480 by 320. But the screen was described as slightly smaller than the 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 3GS.
With competing devices mimicking the iPhone's touchscreen with bigger screens, Llamas wonders if Apple will raise, call or pass.
"The HTC HD2 has a 4.3-inch screen," he said of the smartphone currently selling in Europe and Asia and expected on the U.S. market in November. "Other players in the market are testing larger screen size. The question is, does Apple want to go there?"
One reason why Apple may not, he said, is that developers may then have to produce versions of their apps that work on the larger and smaller screens, a problem faced by some Android developers whose products work on multiple devices.
The HTC EVO 4G launched by Sprint on Friday also has a 4.3-inch screen. Dell's Streak tablet/smartphone hybrid, also released Friday in the United Kingdom, has a five-inch screen.
Among the other questions to be answered if Jobs, as expected, releases the iPhone 4G at Apple's WWDC Monday in San Francisco is, if it is different from the prototypes seen by the world,...
Posted: 2010-06-04 14:57:53
