iMovie App, iPhone 4 to Turn Everyone Into a Movie Director

During yesterday’s WWDC10 keynote address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced iPhone 4, confirming a number of new features on the hardware front, as well as in iOS 4. Two additions, one on the hardware front, the other on the software one, are said to go great together when the new device reaches customers – the built-in, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, and the iPhone-optimized iMovie application.

According to Apple’s Steve Jobs, “iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone.” Thanks to new features such as FaceTime, Retina Display, Gyroscope, Multitasking, and Application Folders, the product should be everything Apple touts it to be, if not more. However, for those who carry around their phone taking pictures and shooting video on a regular basis, the addition of HD Recording and the iMovie app should be more than enough for them to be sold on iPhone 4.

“Because your iPhone goes with you everywhere, you’re always ready to capture every moment,” Apple says on its website, talking about the new HD Video Recording features. “And with iPhone 4, you can do it in stunning high definition. Its advanced backside illumination sensor delivers great-looking video in both bright and low-light settings. And in dark environments, you can brighten the scene with the built-in LED light,” the company reveals.

Just as important is the new ability to tap to focus on a certain part of the image when shooting video. “Say you’re recording a scene with subjects in both the foreground and the background. How do you make sure the camera focuses where you want? Just tap that part of the image on the iPhone 4 display,” Apple explains. “The camera immediately focuses on it and adjusts exposure to match the lighting. When you want to focus on another part of the scene, just tap again.”¬ HD Video Recording is likely to up the ante for all smartphone vendors, even more so thanks to the 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch Retina Display. A demo for the cool function is available here.


HD Video recording, iMovie app for iPhone 4 (promo material)
Credits: Apple
As for iMovie, the upcoming five-dollar app is said to aid users in making beautiful, HD movies anywhere, as well as creating video postcards, and to publish the content to the web, or send it via email, and MMS. According to Apple, “The iMovie app was designed specifically for the Multi-Touch technology on iPhone 4. You tap to add or record video into your project. Drag to trim the length of clips. Pinch to zoom the timeline and get a closer look. Slide to quickly scrub through the video in your project. It’s a completely natural way to make a movie.” Users can choose one of five themes — Modern, Bright, Travel, Playful, and News to apply a coordinated set of titles and transitions. Everything on the iMovie iPhone app is detailed on Apple’s website, here.

As if the app wasn’t cool enough, iMovie for iPhone lets users add a soundtrack to their project by either choosing from custom-scored music that matches each iMovie theme, or by browsing their own song libraries. The feature intelligently reduces and increases the volume of the soundtrack so it doesn’t interfere too much with the audio in a video clip.