Sorry about the harsh statement…but in my opinion very true. I am not talking about the design elements of the site, because some of the designs are quite good. I am speaking of usability, updating capabilities and SEO friendliness. Car dealerships are still playing by the old game of, we just need to get these people through our doors and then we can sell. This is no longer the case…WE LIVE IN AN ONLINE WORLD. The majority of wise car shoppers are going to do most of the research and decision making before they leave the house.

If you ask someone in the market for an automobile where they start their search, most probably say online; or even more specifically AutoTrader.com or Cars.com. Consumers are willing to travel further nowadays to get their vehicle if it is at the right price. And with technology, consumers have the edge, especially over local dealerships. Find the right price on your iPad while waiting for those 30 minute visits to the ‘sales manager’? I’ll drive those extra miles if you can’t match the price. Why aren’t these local dealerships doing everything they can to keep their local customers? Let’s get to the meat and bones…

Usability

This is one of the big factors that cause people to go to AutoTrader.com or Cars.com. They are just much easier and less stressful to use. The #1 key to their usability is they actually SHOW THE PRICE. If I am looking for a vehicle online the last thing I want to do is call you for a price so you can use your sales pitches on me and then call me 3 times a week for the rest of eternity. Consumers shop online for a reason: they can compare prices, read reviews, do their research right from the comfort of their own home.

My second frustration is not listing the mileage. We all know that this is one of the major factors in buying a used car. Take the extra 30 seconds to list the mileage because the customer will find out at some point. Internet shoppers are not patient and they know that they should get all of the information that they desire in a fraction of a second. Wasting a visitors time with the lack of information (mileage or any other pertinent details) is not a key factor of usability, believe it or not.

Mobile

I doubt this is a news flash to anyone, but people use their mobile devices to make buying decisions when they are  away from their computer. What is with all the flash? While my phone supports flash (thanks to Froyo) there are many mobile devices out there that don’t…remember the iPhone? If your main site must be in flash, make sure you are creating an easy to use mobile version of your site. If you can’t do that or aren’t convinced it well help, just ask.

It’s Not All Bad

More and more dealerships are improving their sorting, browsing and search functions. This is certainly a step in the right direction. If you don’t have the budget or in house ability to do so on your own, there are options to have your inventory powered by a 3rd party source such as AutoTrader.

Inventory Updating Capabilities

A web consumer expects is accuracy. Leaving your ‘sold’ cars on the website is not an option (unless they are marked as sold). After a sales takes place, take the <5 minutes to mark the vehicle as no longer available. If your inventory management solution does not allow easy access of updating your inventory, get a new solution. Additionally, it is in the dealership’s own best interest to get the vehicles online ASAP. It will give the consumer a higher likelihood of finding what they want from your dealership as opposed to someone else that already listed a similar car.

SEO

Get the attention of the locals and people traveling in your area with good local optimization, both on your main site and mobile site. Major dealerships supported by a manufacturer is generally better with this than the small used lots, but those smaller lots can easily compete and can often have the upper hand in terms of price and if they are low-pressure, a better relationship once the consumer gets through their door. Ensure that you are not only optimizing for the city or town’s name, but also zip code and nickname (for the locals). Keep your local listings up to date and accurate with addresses, phone numbers and links to inventory. With the right strategy your ROI on SEO should be through the roof.

Along the same lines, create descriptions of the vehicles that are unique. It seems as though the copy writers are following a book of car descriptions that are suppose to sound enticing and exciting. Users are not searching ‘a car that has it all’, ‘immaculate’, or ‘must see’. The car description is valuable real estate. Use it for what the user needs to know while taking into consideration what they might be searching.

In Conclusion

I am obviously not speaking of every car dealer website out there…but let’s be honest. Too many of them are not meeting the needs of today’s online consumer. Because we are more apt to travel for the right price and we can find information so easily, dealerships are only hurting themselves.

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Looking for a solution to manage your social media accounts? While there are many and we weren’t able to test each one, we did test a few so you don’t have to.

Dave and I both like the standard desktop applications, despite the lack of some capabilities. They tend to be the most user friendly and have the most stable mobile counterparts. Want to learn more about social media management and strategy?

Helpful links:
Hootsuite
PeopleBrowsr
MediaFunnel
Seesmic
Tweetdeck
Socialite

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If your business or organization hasn’t felt the effects of the economy over the past couple of years, congratulation!  I hope you count your blessings daily.  Most businesses have.  We’ve seen many firms look to the web for salvation, and unfortunately that means a lot of marketers have come out of the woodwork claiming to offer “SEO”.  I won’t go into why some of these services aren’t really SEO because Josh has already discussed that in a previous post.I want to talk about why relying solely on local in the engines isn’t enough for most businesses.

Local IS Just That

I know, it’s quite obvious.  Local search listings such as those found in Google Maps are simply a listing found when someone searches your location and your services/business name.  Why isn’t this enough?  As you grow your business, you are entering markets and reaching customers that are NOT specifically looking in your area for your services.  Yes, you may catch some here and there, but not nearly as many as you would with real SEO or sponsored advertising.

Local Limiters Are Not Always Used

What percentage of the time do you use local limiters in your Google/Bing/Yahoo/etc searches?  Exactly!  If you’re like me, you use them when you’re traveling somewhere, or when you’re looking for a business you already know of.  This doesn’t help generate many new leads.

Organic Content Results Can Offer More Attention

For starters, you can control your Page Titles, Descriptions, and the other items visible in search engine results when your site is listed.  This allows for more call to action and engaging copy.  You don’t have that opportunity with local listings in the SERPs.  It’s also much more likely that your content results will be shown more frequently than your local listings, warranting more focus and investment in those.

Don’t Get Me Wrong

I do think having a local listing is important.  I just feel that it a low hanging fruit element of your web strategy that is easy to setup/manage then move on to items that will provide more new business like SEO, Sponsored Advertising, Social Media, etc…

I would recommend against paying for local listings anywhere but in very industry-specific directories.  In other words, I would not spend money on getting listed in an online phone book. More people search Google for listings like this than phone book websites, and the Google listing is free!

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Tablet computing has been the buzzword among hardware manufacturers and software developers since the first credible Apple tablet rumors came to light at the end of last year.  Now it seems like you can’t turn around without a new tablet prototype being featured in an Engadget article, but many folks are quick to forget that tablet computers have been around for years.  Ten years ago Bill Gates stood on-stage at the Consumer Electronics Show and demonstrated the benefits of using tablet devices, and since then Microsoft has run Windows on countless tablet PCs.  Despite that the tech industry’s perception of what a tablet should be has changed drastically in the past year, and there are rumblings coming from Redmond about a new tablet offering from Microsoft.

Ballmer Speaks
So how do we know about Microsoft’s renewed interest in tablet computing?  Steve Ballmer (CEO of Microsoft) has told us of course!  He was quoted in an article published on July 12th in which he stated:

“Over the course of the next several months you will see a range of Windows 7 based slates that I think you’ll find quite impressive.  This is a terribly important area for us.  We are hardcore about this.”

An additional article was posted on TechCrunch today detailing a new Microsoft study in which the company is inviting iPad users to visit their campus, presumably to research their likes and dislikes when it comes to Apple’s tablet device.  In a Facebook post Microsoft’s User Research Group asked iPad users – particularly students – to visit Redmond for 2 hours at a time so they can study how the iPad is being put to use. 

The Courier, This Is Not

This isn’t the first news we’ve seen about a promising new Microsoft tablet computer in the past year though.  Last September, when the entire tech world was brimming with anticipation for the rumored (at the time) Apple tablet, a video of an intriguing booklet-style tablet was leaked.  The device’s codename was Courier, and it has since been attributed to Microsoft.  The device showed a ton of promise but there was some skepticism amongst the gadget blogs as to the legitimacy of the product.  Was the Courier simply a prototype, a mock-up of a potential future device, or was it the real deal?  Unfortunately Frank Shaw, Microsoft Corporate VP of Communications, has since confirmed that the Courier project has met its end:

“At any given time, we're looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. It's in our DNA to develop new form factors and natural user interfaces to foster productivity and creativity. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.”

So we know that Microsoft has made deals with several hardware manufacturers including Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony to work on tablets.  We also know that the tablets will not be based on the Courier prototype.  Well then, what will Microsoft tablets look like?

Windows 7 to the Rescue!
Based on what has already been shown at various events including this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, it would seem that the tablets produced by Microsoft will take on the hardware style of the iPad: monolithic devices which use touch as the primary input method.  What’s more it has been confirmed that these devices will be running Windows 7, so the only question is what flavor of the popular operating system will be employed?

The examples that we’ve seen already, such as the HP Slate, seem to lean towards Microsoft’s original tablet approach.  The Slate, which was the featured demo of Microsoft’s 2010 CES press conference, runs the full-blown desktop version of Windows 7 that has been modified to allow for touch input.  Basically, it’s a tablet computer from 2003 minus the stylus.  With that said there is still potential for the company to expand upon what they’ve already created with the Zune, Windows Phone 7 and the Kin phone projects.  Those devices also run Windows 7 but it has been heavily customized for touch input from the ground up, and has a sleek and stylish appeal that can be a strong competitor with the likes of Android OS 2.2 and iOS 4.

Personally I’m hoping that Microsoft will lean towards using their mobile operating system on whatever tablet devices they have in development, and based on their interest in the iPad it would seem that’s the plan.  If advancements in mobile computing have taught me anything in the past few years it’s that a user’s experience with a smartphone or tablet computer is significantly different than that of desktop computing.  Factor in the complexities of working with a smaller screen size and multi-touch input and I think the only way to succeed is to build a custom software solution specifically for these devices.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Windows 7 on my laptop, I’m just not sure if I want it on a device that can fit in my pocket.

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There is a lot of talk about what employers need to do to keep them ‘safe’ from the social media world. But what about individuals? I see a lot of Facebook updates and pictures and it seems as though people don’t understand the implications that can occur from some of them. What you post on these sites lives somewhere whether you delete it from your own account or not, so it is important to think before posting. What can you do to keep yourself and family safe?

Parents: I want to start with what I believe is the most important area. The Facebook discussion is obviously new, but I strongly believe that parents need to make their children aware of the dangers, some which can be long term. I know that some parents aren’t extremely knowledgeable about social media, but it is worth taking the time to learn and discuss…you may even learn some tips from your kids! Make sure your kids understand that what they are posting may not only be seen by friends. Even if their privacy settings are appropriately set up, that doesn’t mean that people that see the posts or pictures won’t talk and word can spread to other adults, teachers, and maybe future employers. While Facebook has taken steps to improve their privacy concerns, that cannot stop the human nature urge to gossip.

Second, at this point we should all be aware of the issue of online predators. Social media is not exempt from this, and at times may even be a breeding ground. While some of these issues are being tackled abroad, the US is still lacking some features. Just announced today is a ‘panic button’ for U.K. minors using Facebook. The panic button will allow the user to report suspicious behavior immediately to the proper authorities. While this was being rejected by Facebook just a few months ago, it appears to be a reality now and should spread to the U.S. shortly after the U.K. release. Learn more about the ClickCEOP app.Also find more tips for child Facebook safety from PCWorld.com.

Employees: Yes, you may be heading your company’s social media policy, but are your posts going to keep you out of trouble? Exclaiming how bad your work day was or how much you hate your boss can easily get back to them. Maybe they won’t fire you for it…but what about that promotion you were hoping for? Those types of post aren’t going to sky rocket your career.

People in general: A carpenter will always say measure twice, cut once. Take that into consideration with social media: think twice, post once! I have seen several status updates that were obviously regretted afterwards. You see them in your news feed, but they are deleted from the profile just a few minutes later. Just because you delete quickly, doesn’t mean that no one saw it. Remember, it only takes one person to see it for word to spread.

What about your location? Sometimes I think that this issue is a little overblown, but there is some validity to it. When you exclaim to the Facebook world that you will be away from your house for 2 weeks, it could create a predicament.  My guess is that the majority of people can’t really trust 100% of their Facebook friends, and if you think you do you should probably think twice.

Obviously this is not an all inclusive list, as it would be much longer. And by no means am I trying to deter you from using social media, just use it smart. Again, think twice…post once. Review these tips from Mashable for improving your Facebook privacy settings. Consider what a simple status post or photo could do in the future and take responsibility for your actions and you can still have fun and enjoy the social media world.

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There’s no question that development for mobile is exploding because consumption of mobile content is growing tremendously.  Although there are some challenges to developing for mobile, some of which I outlined in my last post, there is still an enormous opportunity in mobile. 

It’s vital to keep a few major variables in mind while developing for mobile devices.  For clarity, I am speaking about software AND websites. 

Your Market

This should go without saying, but it’s surprisingly overlooked all too often.  Specifically, we need to look at the type(s) of handsets and devices your target market actually uses.  Do they use Smart Phones?  Feature phones?  The dumbest of the Dumb Phones?  This question alone will dramatically impact your options for development and functionality.

Take the average rural Mom target market.  We’ll use the age range of 30-55.  The majority of these folks use feature phones or dumb-phones.  This limits the options for developing software or websites.  The browsers are typically underpowered, the resolution is quite small, and not all of these devices have a QWERTY keyboard.  Obviously, developing for a higher-powered device will hurt the actual target market.

Platform(s)

The platform for development (ie, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, etc…) is certainly impacted by the target market.  It also has huge implications for the developer!  Because we have multiple platforms, all of which are very popular, developing software for mobile devices is quite complicated.  If you want to develop for each platform, you need to develop separate apps for each one.  This is a challenge for the developer, and the organization pushing the app. 

This touches on a question I posed in my last post about the future of mobile apps.  Until a clear answer is presented, developers will likely accommodate the mobile browser, and provide software. 

Your Revenue Generation Goal

Like the web, the mobile web and software arenas have multiple business models that an organization can pursue.  If you are selling a service and mobile access is a nice value-added service, the web is a solid option.  Software shortcuts can be created that simply point to the mobile user’s web browser.

If you are banking on advertising income, the use of software seems to be the way to go given Apple’s iAd launch and AdMob’s countless offerings.  While you can certainly gain ad income through a mobile site, software is currently more popular.

There are plenty of other avenues for generating income through a mobile device, and each will need weighed to decide whether software or web apps are the way to go.

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If you haven’t picked up on the massive growth in mobile device usage (cell phones, smart phones, tablets, netbooks, etc…) in the past couple of years, I would like to welcome you back from the rock you’ve been living under!  You’ve no doubt seen the influx of teens through senior citizens with their faces buried in their mobile devices.  With smart phones becoming so prevalent, it’s becoming easier to do just about anything you can do on your computer, right from your phone.

Mobile Software

  

If you have a smart phone, you have an App Store!  That’s just the way it is these days.  BlackBerry users have App World, if you have an iPhone, you have the App Store, Android owners (like myself) have the Android Market.  The bottom line is, if you need an app for your phone, there’re easily accessible options.  In most cases the apps you need are FREE or very inexpensive.  That certainly hasn’t hurt the growth of mobile software consumption.

Developer Challenges

With all of these platforms, developers have a pretty big hurdle in their way.  To cover the most popular smart phone platforms, they need to develop 3 separate apps.  This means a bigger investment for most companies, for an app that is almost always free.  Ad-supported software can yield big returns for developers, but it’s quite a risk to take when investing substantial time into the development of a mobile app.

One Winning Platform…  Nope

At the dawn of the PC explosion, there emerged a clear winner in regard to platform.  It can be debated all day about whether the winner was the best or not, but the bottom line is, when you look at market share, there is no doubt that they are the victor. 

In the mobile industry, I just can’t see that happening.  The explosion of popularity in the devices happened way too far into the lifecycle for smart phones.  After all, they have been around for ages now. 

What’s My Point?

Developing for all mobile platforms isn’t going to get any easier.  That is, unless the development tools improve significantly and allow for saving an app out for different platforms,

OR…

Mobile Apps Learn a Lesson From Desktop Apps and Embrace the Cloud

The web has made software development so much easier to distribute, update, and implement.  Recall though that desktop software was the only game in town when PCs started to become very popular.  Now, we use Gmail, Google Docs, Basecamp, Mail Chimp, etc…

Even Microsoft has stepped into the ring with a web based version of Office.  It’s much more convenient for the consumer, and the developer.

All Smart Phones Have Browsers

Right now, that is consistent from one device to the next.  Developing a web app, accommodates all smart phone users.  Taking a look at the mobile version for Gmail for instance, you can see that the rich interface is every bit as functional as an actual app. 

I Think History Will Repeat Itself, Much Faster

I could be dead wrong, but it would be very surprising to me, if the mobile software industry doesn’t move more towards apps in the cloud.  Anymore, you have to have a data plan with your smart phone.  The mobile data speeds are improving, allowing a DSL or Cable-like speed right from your phone.  With 3-4 major platforms running on smart phones, the cloud is the answer.

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The former Talking Phonebook has put a lot of marketing dollars into their latest identity, LocalEdge. I assume they moved away from having the word “phonebook” in their name because who uses a phonebook anymore? The new LocalEdge sales people make their rounds relying heavily on the words SEO and social media. They give free seminars about the subject, but these just end up being another sales pitch. See below from a local chamber newsletter:

MAY 11 -- Internet SEMINAR, --------- Restaurant, Route ----, Cuba, 5:30 - 7 PM.  The seminar will feature guest speaker, Mark ---------, Google Adwords Certified Professional.  Why do some websites rank higher than others?  If I advertise online, how will I know it's working?  Where are today's consumers finding my services? Seminar will also be held June 1 and July 20.  Space is limited for this free seminar, so please email --------@localedge.com or call 716-376-----.

Before I go on, I do want to mention that LocalEdge is owned by Hearst Communications. It was announced this month that Hearst would acquire iCrossing, one of the largest search marketing companies that exists. I also want to note that LocalEdge and iCrossing sharing the same owner, does not make LocalEdge an SEO firm. I highly doubt that the iCrossing talent will be providing services for LocalEdge.

I didn’t want to start knocking what LocalEdge was calling SEO without first looking into it. After all, I don’t mind competition, in fact I think it is necessary, but I am not a big fan of the way they mislead their customers. Let’s take a look at what I found when I reviewed their ‘SEO Package’.

What they are optimizing is your ‘ProAd’ that was already purchased through LocalEdge. From what I have seen, all of these ‘ProAds’ look exactly the same. The owner has the ability edit each section, with what appears to be with little guidance from LocalEdge. When you choose to edit service areas, you fill in a list, similar to a Google Places edit function. From there, the terms get populated onto your ProAd, which from the majority of listings I look at, look very spammy.

After purchasing the ProAd, you have the option to purchase an SEO package. I had access to a company’s account that had already purchased the package, so I was able to navigate around their system. From what I was able to find, you choose a few keywords that you want to optimize for, and they then place them in the Page Title and Meta Description. The options to edit your own elements or keywords were not able to be found anywhere in the interface, so to the best of my understanding these are auto-generated after you tell your rep which keywords you want to optimize for. It appears that if you do not purchase the SEO package, you do not have this ability to edit these areas, your Page Title and META description appear like this:

Page Title: (Business Name – Address) Find business listings, White Pages, Maps & Directions, consumer information, and more in The Talking Phone Book / Area Wide search directory.

Meta Desc: (Business Name – Address) Yellow Pages, online, Internet, directory, national, search, local business listings, phone book, local stores, maps, driving directions, White Pages, business phone number, consumer information, advertising, companies, products, services, addresses, find phone numbers, shopping, directory assistance, 411, consumer information, Consumer Guides, City Guides, local directories

I guess when you compare to the this, you should probably purchase the SEO package if you have a ProAd. My favorite is when other directories pull this information and use it to describe a business’ services. See below:

Why isn’t this ‘service’ SEO? Well, first and foremost, there is much more to SEO that changing a Page Title and Meta description, second, your listing in the organic results still show “www.localedge.com/…” as the URL, third, there is a search box at the top of every page on your ProAd that allows a user to easily leave yours even if they do find you through organic search. It is insulting to SEO professionals that put time and care into their work to call something that can be done in less than 30 minutes SEO. Not only that, it gives small business owners a bad taste in their mouth for SEO if they purchase this and get the results I expect they are getting.

So do they do anything right? Well, they use <divs>, <h1> and <h2> headers, for the most part the pages are content heavy, whether or not it is good content is up to the business owner, and they give businesses that have no web presence at least something.

The package you purchase will also give you access to SEO Tracker, which gives you an idea of average search engine ranking for Google, Bing and Yahoo for the terms that you chose. What they are reporting appears to be accurate compared to what I was finding through other ranking programs and my own searches.

In conclusion, I do not want to knock the services provided by LocalEdge, I just don’t think they should be calling it SEO. Call it what it is, an enhanced online phonebook listing. Some businesses will find the services beneficial, fruitful, and maybe even perfect for their situation, but again, my biggest concern is that they call these services SEO. Maybe I am off track here and businesses are getting great results from the packages they are purchasing, if so I gladly welcome your feedback.

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There has been debate for some time now regarding whether or not bidding on multiple match types for the same keyword is an effective strategy or not. An example would be purchasing:

Bradford PA Restaurants
”Bradford PA Restaurants”
[Bradford PA Restaurants]

In this case the advertiser would be attempting to purchase the same term in Broad, Phrase and Exact match types. Regardless of whether or not they are in their own ad group, all terms would be turned on in an attempt to serve an ad. So why would anyone do that?

I recommend using this strategy for testing purposes. Not all match types are perfect for all keywords. Sometimes an exact match type will carry a slightly higher CPC, but you will likely not be spending money on wasted clicks as often found by using broad match. But, yes there is a but, broad match can be a great tool. It can help you find new keywords to purchase as well as allow you to build a more significant negative keyword list if you intend to stay away from exact match.

Depending on the account structure, I will start by placing the keywords in their own ad groups, sometimes even their own campaigns. This can help with bid and budget management and will be easy to clean up when you stop purchasing all match types. According to Google:

If you have multiple keywords that are the same, the system will prefer to use the keyword with the more restrictive keyword match type.

Therefore, depending on the queries that are driving traffic, your broad terms will only be served to users that aren’t searching the exact term or using the phrase as part of a longer query (theoretically). In testing, you may find that you are getting the majority of your conversions from the less restrictive match types or vice versa. But because search is a data driven marketing strategy, why not gather all the data you can get; including which match type performs better for you. And again, even if you are nervous about broad match it can really provide some great search query reports to help you build your account with high performing keywords, or expand your list of negatives.

In conclusion, my opinion is that bidding on multiple match types is a great testing and data gathering strategy, but not necessarily a long term solution. I am a firm believer that if you can gather data to improve your account performance long-term, trying various tests aside from the simple A/B test is a good practice.

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Earlier today Steve Jobs officially debuted the latest version of the iPhone during a kickoff keynote for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference.  If you had followed any of the coverage related to Gizmodo’s early leak of the iPhone 4’s hardware this announcement wasn’t exactly a shocker, but there were some cool new hardware and software features that make Apple’s redesigned mobile device pretty enticing.

Hardware
The iPhone 4’s enclosure is now significantly thinner at just 9.3mm thick, but despite that Apple have packed in new and improved components.  The phone now utilizes the A4 processor found in the iPad, has a longer-lasting battery, a new high-resolution display and 2 cameras (one of which has an LED flash and can record 720p HD video).  For the gamers in the audience the iPhone 4 even has a gyroscope that works similarly to the Nintendo Wii’s controller.  This means that developers can integrate precise motion gestures into their apps and expand the iPhone as a gaming platform.  Aesthetically the redesign is sleek and attractive, making it one of the coolest-looking phones on the market.

FaceTime 
So the iPhone 4 has two cameras, but why?  Video chat of course!  Apple have developed a new application that takes advantage of the phone’s front-facing camera by letting users communicate over video.  Think Skype or Google video chat in the palm of your hand.  The only downside is that you can only use FaceTime when you’re connected via wifi, a presumable result of AT&T’s bandwidth restrictions, and you can only chat with other iPhone 4 owners.  Both of these restraints make me question FaceTime’s usefulness.  If the user is already connected to wifi they could just as easily use one of the alternative services above.  Although the concept is cool, video chat with FaceTime doesn’t seem like a must-have feature.

Retina Display 
On the other hand, a super high-resolution screen is an idea I can get behind.  The iPhone 4’s Retina display has four times the pixel density found on previous iPhones, meaning it’s much more clear and crisp.  Android-based phones like the Nexus One use AMOLED screens that provide an improved viewing experience when compared to traditional LCD displays, so Apple upgrading to the sharpest screen on the market is a much-needed feature.  Expect the Retina display to be rolled out into other products as well, such as future versions of the iPod Touch and iPad.

720p Video Recording
One way you’ll be able to put the Retina display to use is by recording and editing HD videos using iPhone 4’s improved camera and new iMovie app.  Now you can leave your camcorder (and computer?) behind but always have the ability to capture and share high-fidelity video in a snap.  The iMovie app is reminiscent of editing video with an iPhone 3GS, but now you can add transitions/media to your movie and even give it a theme.  It’s also nice that iMovie is a standalone app that you can get from Apple’s App Store, which should mean that older iPhone models can take advantage of it as well.

iOS 4.0
Finally, iPhone 4 will be the first Apple device to come with iOS 4.0 pre-installed.  Now your snappy A4 processor can take advantage of features like multitasking, application organization and custom playlists right out of the box.  The good news is that if you don’t plan on getting an iPhone 4 you can still use iOS 4.0 - the iPhone 3G and 3GS will get the update as well.  iOS 4.0 will come to an Apple phone near you on June 21st.

Is it time to upgrade?
With all of that said, is it time to upgrade?  For me, no, but not because I don’t think the iPhone 4 is a great smartphone.  One announcement a lot of folks (including myself) were really hoping for was a break in AT&T exclusivity when it comes to Apple’s devices in the US.  My personal experience with AT&T’s service hasn’t been great and it seems as though it has only gotten worse as of late.  In many areas I’m lucky if I have 1 bar of service, and if I take a few steps outside of town it drops off completely.  Verizon, on the other hand, provides a warm blanket of service in our area and I’m beginning to miss it.  I have my fingers crossed that Apple will find a way to get the iPhone to other carriers or AT&T will put up a few more towers near the Protocol 80 headquarters, but until then I’ll make due with my one lonely bar.

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