Technology, Iphone 4 | featured news

As Apple's chosen reviewers sounded off first on the iPhone 4 Tuesday night, they all agreed that it was a major improvement over its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, and a champion when compared to challengers from other phone makers. Still, many pointed out that call reception was no better.

As promised, Apple early today began taking pre-orders for its new iPhone 4, although only the black model was immediately available. Around 6 a.m. Eastern, however, the iPhone 4 page on Apple's U.S. online store was returning an "Oops! An error occurred" message. Minutes later, the entire store went down. It was back up around 8 a.m., and a Computerworld editor successfully ordered one of the iPhones (in black). But by 8:15 a.m., the store was again down, displaying a "We'll be back soon" message.

I spent about 45 minutes playing with Apple's new iPhone 4. In a word: Wow. And I don't throw that word around lightly. Here are a few of my first hands-on impressions.

Apple Inc is widely expected to unveil its latest iPhone on Monday, as the company aims to stay a step ahead of rivals in an increasingly competitive smartphone market.