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Another trick the iPhone 4 is packing is the ability to record and edit HD video directly from the handset, with the plan clearly to make it into the ultimate media marvel.
Recording 720p video isn't anything new, as the Samsung i8910HD, Vodafone 360 H1, Sony Ericsson Vivaz and Vivaz Pro and the Samsung Wave all have managed to show off that trick in recent times, with the Nokia N8 coming up to do the same.
But Apple isn't about doing things the same way, and once again the interface becomes a differentiator for the video.
While the sparse settings are on offer once again, there's not a lot here you'd need. The video light can be set to 'on', 'auto' or 'off' (that's the level of detail we provide here at TechRadar and even in low light, the frame rate seems to stay pretty constant.
However, under those lighting conditions, you couldn't really say the HD quality comes screaming out at you – looking at the same footage on the computer screen shows that the graininess is out in full force.
In outdoor conditions, things improve somewhat, although there is some distortion in the image quality that you simply wouldn't get with a standalone HD video camera.
But the frame rate is good; the interface simple to use and the constant auto-focus makes things very simple to see when looking through the iPhone's eye.
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Adding to the HD video footage recording is the video trimmer we saw with the iPhone 3GS last year, and you start to see how Apple could get a real foothold in the phone/camcorder market.
Sure, it's just dragging and dropping the beginning and the end of the footage, but a home movie looks so much better when you don't have that bit where you've finished and are shaking the camera to find the off button.
iMovie
While the video trimmer won't really make you into a movie producer overnight, well, neither will iMovie actually, but it will get you just that little bit closer.
Porting the popular Mac application to the iPhone 4, users get the ability to add music, photos and videos together in a 'project', with transitions when you want to move between each.
There are themes on offer as well, making it easy to create videos with text and borders and all sorts – we hope there will be more on offer soon, as the current crop is a little limited, as are the transitions.
It's a little basic, but for £2.99 it's not a bad little application if you love taking footage with your phone. If you don't, then you're probably better spending your £3 on something better. Like really fancy jar of jam – that'll last you ages.
