Following up on the point made in the previous entry, in relation to the iPhone replacing the need for a point-and-shoot camera for a majority of users – the announcement of the iPhone 4 makes this statement even more plausible.
The largest complaint heard about the iPhone 3G S camera was poor quality images in any lighting condition apart from clear sunshine. The new LED flash ticks off this common problem and means images taken in overcast weather and enclosed rooms will be drasticlly improved over the previous phone. In addition to the image quality enhancements in the new rear camera, the system also supports 5x digital zoom, and the tap to focus I’ve grown rather fond of.
There’s even less of a reason now to carry around a Flip video camera for odd times when you’re wanting to capture better quality video as iPhone 4′s rear camera is now capable of recording HD video in 720p at 30 frames per second.
Aside from having to carry one (or two) less gadgets around, the greatest advantage the iPhone 4 holds over regular point-and-shoot cameras include the ability to send captured stills/video to the web at the press of a button. No need to plug in the camera, download media, head to a website and upload. It’s now a one step task to upload HD video to YouTube, send images and HD video via email, or send either still images or video via MMS.