I realize folks involved in technology and gadgetry are obsessed with the latest, the greatest, and the ever pursuit of the “perfect gadget” (whatever that means). Let me preface this by saying that I am guilty of this too. To some, the iPhone is a closed device that stifles competition and customization. To some, the Android OS is an ugly user experience nightmare designed by engineers. To the market analysts (who’s sentiments eventually trickle into the mainstream, outside of our little circle of tech enthusiasts), the iPhone/Android/Blackberry/Palm smartphone market has to be a zero-sum game. That one device must clearly be a winner, while others must be losers.

Let’s stop with that and take a step back from the cynicism. Regardless of what smartphone or mobile device you use, or even desktop/laptop you use, it is quite amazing what technology can do. Ten years ago, heck even five years ago, who said you would be able to access nearly any television show or movie from a pocket size computer? Your mobile device can locate you anywhere in the world and give you information of businesses and restaurants around you. This stuff is just amazing, never mind what platform or operating system you are using. We are only a relatively few years into this smartphone revolution, imagine where we will be in short future?

We will always argue what is the best way to do these amazing tasks, which is what our industry has always been about. I think because Microsoft was the clear winner by numbers and dollars along in the desktop market, that we expect a clear winner for mobile. Fortunately, since so much innovation has happened so quickly in mobile, there isn’t a clear winner. There are roughly four or five strong platforms in mobile, and maybe that will change in time, but that gives so much promise to the future of this stuff.

Sure, everyone wants to talk about the iPhone, but it still has a long way to go to have the numbers of being dominate smartphone in the US. Android has a long way to go to catch up to the iPhone’s user experience, which is something a little more intangible.

I guess my point is, these are really exciting times we live in. I really believe 2009-2010 will be looked back on as being a pivotal time in the world of technology.

Mr. Jobs has once again delivered the newest iPhone and related goodies from the mountain top today. If you had been following the Gizmodo-stolen-phone-gate, the new iPhone announcement does not come as a huge surprise. However, unlike most Apple announcements, this doesn’t stir me quite like other new products have. Unlike the iPad unveiling, which gave me strong emotions both ways about what it actually is and does, the iPhone 4 has left me a bit undecided. Basically with iPhone 4 you have:

New case design – The new case design is pretty slick. It calls back more to the original iPhone from 2007 with the flat back. I feel it is much better looking design than the previous iPhone 3G and 3GS.

High resolution screen – The 3.5in screen has been bumped from 320×480 to 640×960. That is huge. This is the only new feature that I would greatly welcome. This will be even better for reading long text. I am also curious as to how this will affect mobile web design. Should designers not use pixels at all for units of measurement? Stick to percentage and EMs? I am curious to see how this plays out.

HD video recording – I feel this is just a marketing move to keep up with competition. Yea, it’s HD 720p video it’s shooting, but remember its all through a tiny pinhole of a lens. Megapixels and resolution only matter to a certain point, the lens is a huge factor in cameras.

FaceTime video calling and front facing camera – Yeah, its the future alright. I actually think this would be of value at some point in time. Though people wouldn’t use this for every single call, there is still a lot of potential in having a handheld video phone call. However, it would be pretty useless if it only is able to call other iPhone 4 owners. That greatly reduces it’s value. Hopefully the Skype app will be able to use the front facing camera at some point.

Overall, while the new high res screen and case design are amazing, the features I care more about are in the software. The renamed iOS 4 will be a good upgrade when that comes up. It will be cleaning up a lot of little things that should have been there all along, such as the home screen folders, unified email inbox, and a few other things. The major change will be the multitasking, which I am very pleased about. Just being able to leave Last.FM (yes I use that instead of Pandora, I’m weird) open while checking my tweets or email will be welcomed. One intangible thing that I will look for are the little polishes throughout the system. This is one thing Apple really excels in over any other tech company. Major OS updates, be it Mac OS X or iOS, bring a list of new features to help sell the product, but it’s the little things that really make it shine.

Now, this goes completely without saying anything about AT&T. I’m a Verizon user, and based on everything I’m told about AT&T, it’s not amazing. iPhone 4 remains an AT&T exclusive, unfortunately. My dilemma over this will be saved a for future blog post.

As a last note, I am glad they decided to rename the mobile OS to iOS. From the iPhone, iPod, to the iPad, it makes sense to call it a certain name, since they are all running basically the same operating system. In the past, I referred to the Apple devices as “iTouch”, but it feels better to have a official canonized name now.