[I've been quiet here because my wife just had our fourth child and first son! :D So things have been a bit mad @ home!]

I was lucky enough to get my iPhone 4 upgrade today. I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you about it. First off, the big question: FaceTime is so, so, so worth it! No, your cell minutes are NOT used. FaceTime uses phone numbers to connect, but will not make a voice connection if you connect via the Contacts app. Any contact with a phone number has a FaceTime button you can use to call them. Once you’ve successfully made a call, a camera icon appears on the FaceTime button. Video quality is very good, better than iChat, and much better than many videophones (both hardware and software) out there. I look forward to more FaceTime enabled devices, and especially to bridging FaceTime and the VRS 10 digit database. It feels like I have a real 10 digit number to make real video calls now. Just plain awesome.

The iPhone 4 feels nice, has a good heft in your hand, the stainless steel feels good in your hand. It’s different from the 3GS, but not different enough, you know its still an iPhone. The Retina display is just plain gorgeous. When i turned on my iPad after playing with the iPhone 4, i was struck by the big difference between the two displays. The iPad display seems to be not as nice now, ha. I can see the pixels etc on it. The Retina display is the best computer screen I’ve seen, period. It is quite usable in direct sunlight, and very usable in indirect, yet bright sunlight. Just plain cool.

In spite of Apple’s emphasis on the strength of the glass front/back, I feel nervous about letting the entire front/back sit on a table without a bezel to protect it. There is a thin ring around the camera on the back, but it worries me my nice camera will get its lens scratched in no time. I ran over to Best Buy and picked up a $20 polyurethane case, that will keep it safe until I decide what kind of permanent case I’d like for this.

The iPhone 4 is fast. I’m getting used to the multitasking, double pressing the home button instead of single pressing to go to the home screen. Apps look great even if they are not optimized for the Retina display, and if they are, they’re just beautiful.

I love it. Hope those of you getting yours tomorrow have fun with it. I’ll be in the chat room, so feel free to pop in and ask anything or just hang out and share your experiences, or find somebody to test FaceTime with.

Last, but not least, we plan to have a live chat/stream next Tuesday evening, so stay tuned for more details!