Apple unveils iPhone 4 and names launch date for iAd

Apple says iAd, which it unveiled in April, will be promoted via mobile ad campaigns from leading global brands including AT&T, Best Buy, Campbell Soup Company, Chanel, Citi, DirecTV, GEICO, GE, JCPenney, Liberty Mutual Group, Nissan, Sears, State Farm, Target, Turner Broadcasting System, Unilever and The Walt Disney Studios.

The company says it has iAd commitments for 2010 totaling over $60m, which it says represents almost 50% of the total forecasted US mobile ad spending for the second half of 2010.

Apple’s latest iPhone features the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and HD video recording. It has also been built to be the thinnest smartphone in the world.

In the US, it will be priced from $99 – 299 dependent on memory size with two year contracts. O2 has announced that it will be selling the handset in the UK, but has yet to confirm its prices.

“iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “FaceTime video calling sets a new standard for mobile communication, and our new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever in a phone, with text looking like it does on a fine printed page. We have been dreaming about both of these breakthroughs for decades.”

“iAd offers advertisers the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web, and offers users a new way to explore ads without being hijacked out of their favourite apps,” adds Jobs. “iAds will reach millions of iPhone and iPod touch users—a highly desirable demographic for advertisers—and provide developers a new way to earn money so they can continue developing free and low cost applications.”