Iphone 4

iPhone 4's new screen
Yeah, I know, Apple calls it the "Retina display," but I'm not interested in meaningless marketing monikers. That doesn't mean the iPhone 4's screen isn't hype-worthy, however. The display is capable of displaying games at a resolution of 960x640; four times the pixel density of previous versions of the iPhone, which run at 320x480. At that resolution, iPhone 4 games would have unprecedented clarity, the likes of which have never been seen on a device this size. That may sound a bit hyperbolic, but 614,400 pixels on such a relatively small screen is nothing to sneeze at.
This feature will not only benefit 3D games, but especially 2D games, as 2D artists will be able pack tons of detail into each asset and could make for some truly beautiful-looking, traditional side-scrollers.
The IPS panel used in the iPhone 4 has me just as excited as its high resolution. All previous versions of the iPhone have used a Twisted Nematic (TN) panel. TN panels are cheap to manufacture, but have bad viewing angles (the colors shift when the screen is not viewed straight on) and largely inaccurate color reproduction, even when viewing straight on. An IPS panel addresses both of these deficiencies with wide viewing angles and much more accurate colors. Look for a full evaluation of the iPhone 4's screen after release similar to my roundup of five popular smartphones.
The Gyroscope
When pondering this blog last week, I thought I would focus strictly on the graphics side of things. Of course, Apple always has a few surprises up its sleeve, this time the Gyroscope, which will be available only in the iPhone 4. Coupled with the already included accelerometer, it will turn your iPhone 4 into a full motion controller, able to detect nearly any form of movement.
I'll leave it to game designers to decide the best way to use this feature, but it's rife with possibilities, especially considering you won't have trouble viewing the screen from multiple angles given the IPS panel. With motion gaming potentially about to take off with the PlayStation Move and Natal this year, Apple seems poised to make sure its premiere gaming platform isn't left behind.
But will developers even be given the chance to take full advantage of the iPhone 4's capabilities? So far, developers who have wanted to take advantage of the 3GS' increased speed and OpenGL ES 2.0 support have had two choices: develop two versions of their games or include special graphical features that could by switched on or off on 3GS phones.