Monday, February 1, 2010

And the 4th Gen iPhone is called....

Recently two things happened that may unintentionally reveal the Marketing name of the 4th gen iPhone.
  1. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was quoted to say the the next iPhone is a A+ device. Did he choose that definition by accident or was he trying to hide 2 facts into 1.
  2. Apple released the iPad, which features a custom silicon by Apple called the A4. This processor has technology inside suitable for smartphones.
Apple has been fairy strait forward in marketing the iPhone. The first one was the iPhone, since that was its most important feature. The second one was the iPhone 3G, since 3G speeds were the halmark of this device. An the last one that came out las summer was called iPhone 3GS with the S standing for speed, and that being its main feature.

So the big question is, what will be the main feature of the new iPhone. Seeing how the Apple approached its third generation of iPhone OS products, visual hardware change will likely not occur. What will change is under the hood. Screen resolution might change but that will not be the main new feature. I believe, Apple plans to move its new A4Chip into all its iOS products, creating an economy of scale and even more platform commonality.

If the A4 chip screams on the iPad, given its much higher screen resolution and more capable apps, it is likely that it will make the next gen iPhone go into hyperspace. Apps will probably launch so fast that the need for multitasking will hardly be an issue and battery life will likely see a significant improvement. This will contrast a lot with the approach other platforms like Android take. Better hardware with more resource hungry features resulting in similar battery life.

If Apple keeps the approach combining its iPhone trademark with a designation of its main feature then the name iPhone A4 seams the most logical choice for name.

Further, the number 4 might have been intentionally chosen at it also suggests that this is the 4th model. If that is the case then A4 chip might have been made to for iPad but named to suit better the iPhone.

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