Apple Unveils iPhone 4 [VIDEO]

YUKARI IWATANI KANE And IAN SHERR The Wall Street Journal 06/07/2010 16:30

Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives the keynote address at the 2010 Apple World Wide Developers conference June 7.

Steve Jobs unveiled a new iPhone Monday in a presentation that was long on new features but short on surprise, as the Apple Inc. chief faces increasing competition in smartphones, particularly from devices based on Google Inc.'s Android software.

While Mr. Jobs described the iPhone 4 as "the biggest leap since the original iPhone," he offered few bombshells after Gawker Media LLC's technology blog Gizmodo shared details about the device in April after getting hold of a prototype.

Mr. Jobs made a reference to the episode, telling the audience at Apple's annual conference for software developers, "Stop me if you've already seen this" when he first displayed the device.

Among other things, Mr. Jobs lauded the iPhone 4's new display technology and a new stainless steel frame that doubles as an antenna. The phone has two cameras, including a front-facing one that allows video chats.

(...) The iPhone 4, which will be available June 24 in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan, will come in black and white and is 24% thinner than its predecessor. It also has a bigger battery that allows for seven hours of talk time.

Mr. Jobs also announced FaceTime, the company's new videoconferencing technology for the iPhone. Mr. Jobs said it will initially work over Wi-Fi networks rather a cellular connection.

The CEO said also Apple is adding Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine to the iPhone, although Google will remain the default option.

In the U.S., the phone will start at $199—the same as the entry-level price of previous models—with a two-year contract with AT&T. An iPhone 4 model with extra storage space will cost $299. Apple cut its price on the current iPhone 3GS model to $99.