The new iPhone is meant to be under tight wraps until next week’s Apple WWDC event, where it’s expected to make its grand debut. But that hasn’t stopped the first pictures leaking out, showing what appears to be a glimpse of the new iPhone in action and giving weight to earlier rumours hinted at an improved camera and integrated digital compass in the 3rd gen handset.
As you can see, it looks like a magnetometer, or digital compass, is going to be the first new addition to the new iPhone’s feature bank. Naturally that’ll mean a big boost to the phone’s navigation functions and there seems to be a good chance of turn-by-turn guidance being included as part of the upgrade.
Once the App development community gets hold of it, however, it could also mean augmented reality gaming and an untold number of other uses, ranging from the practical to the hilariously daft.
UMPCfever’s other spy shots include what appears to be photographic evidence of a new auto-focus function for the iPhone’s camera. We’ve already heard that iPhone OS 3.0 is giving all of Apple’s handsets a much needed performance boost, but this addition should help set the 3rd generation model apart.
By the looks of it, instead of having a single focus box in the centre of the screen, you’ll be able to move it around by dragging your finger across the touchscreen, so you’ll be able to pick out a specific portion of the photo to focus on.
In addition the shaky images reveal a CPU monitor, MMS functionality, copy and paste and voice recording. Unsurprisingly, the original post has since been taken down.
Out TBA | £TBA | Apple (via Pocket-lint)
