The big news of the day is the announcement (finally) of the upcoming iPhone, the iPhone 4 (no, sorry, not the HD, or the 4G…just the 4…). Unlike the “meh” unveiling of the 3GS last year, the iPhone 4 truly seems to be a much bigger revolutionary step in the series. We’re not just talking more memory and a faster CPU — though those certainly are on the table — but whole new features as well, so let’s look at a few of ‘em…

First off, the screen. The new “reitna display” has a 960×640 display with a freaking insane 326 dots per inch and an 800:1 contrast ratio. That’s pretty much 4 times the pixels as the 3GS, and based on the demos we saw at the WWDC, it results in much, much sharper pictures, text and so on. I have a 3G myself, and while I’m not unhappy with the display, it now looks like a freaking antique compared to the new one.

Next up, the camera. The iPhone has pretty much become my primary camera due to its ability to share photos easily. The camera itself has never been that great though. Thankfully, the new one, at 5 MP, looks much, much more impressive. We also get a front-facing camera for video chat (something I dunno if I’ll actually use) and self-pictures, something I’ll use all the time, especially at cons. The phone now FINALLY has a flash too, so nighttime and indoor shots should look a looooooooot better, or so I hope.

Next is the battery, which has always been a contentious point with iPhone users, especially when using 3G. This new iPhone has a battery that’s, I believe, 40% bigger than the previous ones, allowing for more talk time, gaming time and so on. The final feature I’m really excited about is the antenna system, which is now built into the external casing using a metal band that goes around the iPhone. External antenna’s nearly always get better reception than internal antennas, which current iPhones have. I’m excited that this will improve reception on AT&T’s craptacular network so maybe it’ll seem much less asstastic.

I’m also very excited about the new OS, renamed iOS 4 rather than iPhone OS 4. Multitasking, a unified inbox and folders alone are enough to get me excited, but I honestly hope we see more. One of my biggest beefs with the iPhone is the notification system for text messages, push messages and so on. If you get more than one at a time, the previous ones just disappear, which is really damned annoying. I’d love to see some sort of queue where you can see previous messages, but it’s not been mentioned anywhere so I don’t know if that’ll happen or not.

There are other features of the actual phone that seemed neat…gyroscope, use of glass instead of plastic, and so on, but these, in my opinion, pale in comparison to the features already listed. Am I going to upgrade, rather than go to Android? Yes, because while I do like and respect Android phones, the fragmentation of the OS across several brands and phones worries me. While yes, the iPhone is a walled garden, it’s a smoothly polished one, and that’s what I’d rather have, ultimately.

So what about you? What do you think of the new iPhone? Are you going to upgrade, or switch? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading.