Thursday 24^th June sees the launch of the iPhone 4 and by all accounts, it’s set to be the fastest sold consumer device to date (the iPad reached 1m sales within 28 days and the iPhone 4 has already received 600,000 pre-orders).

With this in mind, we look at the top 5 features that we will be leveraging for our client’s mobile strategies:

1. Multi-tasking

Finally!  Multi-tasking will allow apps to run in the background and feed back to the user on a continual basis.  This will allow them to interact with the user on a continual basis instead of when called upon, thus transforming the app experience from “on demand” to pervasive.

2. The Retina Display

Whilst not a game changer in itself, the clarity of display should re-enthuse the design conscious amongst us.  At 300+ DPI, we will truly have a mainstream handheld device at a higher resolution than print for the first time.

3. A Front Facing Camera

We’ve run into several creative concepts that rely on a front facing camera and have had to walk away … but no longer … finally we can all age booth and fat booth ourselves! (not overly sure that’s a good thing though on reflection!)

4. Gamecenter

The iPhone has gained a reputation as a solid platform for gaming over the last year as anyone who has been addicted to Angry Birds will testify. Gamecenter allows us to take this one step further with leader boards, matchmaking and achievement trophies all available “out of the box”.

5. Gift Apps

The natural evolution of buying apps for yourself is surely buying apps for friends and relatives and Apple has introduced exactly that.  Coupling this with in app purchasing and over time this gives mobile business models another revenue stream to explore.

In Apple’s own words … This changes everything.  Again.