Industry experts said that the new iPhone 4 is going to change the face of mobile commerce, and both brands and retailers need to adjust their strategies accordingly.

The technology behind the new device is based on the same operating system powering Apple?s iPad tablet, which has already reinvented the mobile commerce experience. With mobile commerce sales reaching $1.2 billion in 2009 and projected to almost double to $2.2 billion this year, retailers need to take advantage of the new iPhone and make their mobile experiences more gripping.

?There are two things that the iPhone 4 is going to do,? said Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow, Mountain View, CA. ?First, this is an HD phone. The clarity of the screen, plus the ability to take high-resolution pictures and HD video, is going to raise the bar on the mobile visual experience.

?I think it is finally at a point that even the Rolexes and Tom Fords of the world will be pleased with how the quality of their products will be represented,? he said. ?Second, the iAd network that comes with iOS 4 is about to change everything we know about mobile advertising, and in turn, mobile commerce.

?The ads themselves are as powerful as apps, and can be mini-networked games, video channels and location-based trivia contests. You could even make a purchase directly from an ad. It's the first mobile ad network to have both reach and rich ad units. Mobile banner ads will instantly become archaic, and all of us will have to rethink mobile engagement.?

HD display
Apple?s new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super-crisp text, image and video.

In addition, iPhone 4 features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple?s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time ? in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.

IPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of what is undoubtedly world?s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes more than 100 new features and 1500 new APIs for developers.

Creating buzz
As we all know, Apple is a master at creating buzz around its new devices.

Walking by SoHo?s Apple store on June 24 was absolutely impossible. There was a huge mob of people waiting to get in to pick up their phones.

Apple reports that it received 600,000 pre-orders for the device on just the first day alone. That is 10-times more than it did on the first day the iPhone 3GS became available for pre-order.

The slogan that Apple is using for the iPhone 4 is, ?This changes everything. Again.? Most industry executives agree, especially in the case of mobile commerce.

?It?s not only the device that will alter mobile commerce, it is the underlying iAd platform which allows for in-app purchasing,? said Neil Strother, Kirkland, WA-based practice director at ABI Research. ?Assuming this process is as seamless as promised, and consumers can easily make purchases within apps, then this could be an important step forward for mcommerce.

?Given Apple?s ability to deliver a high-quality user experience and attention to detail, it?s a good bet this will work well,? he said. ?It?s important to remember too that this purchase capability will extend to other devices running iOS 4, such as iPads and iPod touch devices.

?So, mcommerce should not only get a boost from users of the latest iPhone version, but also from users of these other devices as well.?

iPhone-driven improvements
Marci Troutman, founder/CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta, said that three quick iPhone-driven commerce improvements will be:

1. Better quality social media interactivity, which will improve ad marketing revenue

2. More sophisticated OS and screen resolution, which will improve the gaming and entertainment experiences, leading to more revenue through download and content purchases

3. More APIs and developer tools, which will improve quality and the number of new applications available for downloads creating revenue through the download and use of iAds through the applications

?Longer term impacts are OS speed, ability to multi-task, battery life improvement, camera quality and higher screen resolution will lead to faster emergence and adoption of technologies such as augmented reality, bar code scanning and near field communications - which all create revenue streams,? Ms. Troutman said.

?Of course, the caveat is that this is all for just iPhone users,? she said.

Apple?s iPhone OS 4?s new multitasking feature offers users a new way to quickly move between applications. It provides developers seven new services to easily add multitasking features to their applications as well.

New services include background audio, so applications such as Pandora can play music in the background.

Additionally, the VoIP service lets applications receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other applications.

Not everyone's impressed
Gary Schwartz, founder/CEO of Impact Mobile, New York, feels that Apple is too focused on applications and that mobile commerce growth is going to depend on more than just apps.

?The iOS 4 continues to focus on app domination,? Mr. Schwartz said. ?IOS 4 offers app productivity features such as app multitasking, which allows for services to run in the background while the shopper navigate secondary apps. No surprise Apple?s focus is still on 200,000-plus apps which are, in great part, Apple?s marketing communications strategy.

?Other players in-market are focusing on the super-app, the mobile browser, which, with HTML5 allows for rich app-like functionality,? he said. ?Steve Jobs talks about apps and the HTML5 browser as two separate platforms ? Apple continues to focus all of its energy on apps and in-app iAds. 

?Commerce enhancements such as iOS 4?s peer-to-peer app gifting is a self-serving feature. Ultimately, Apple will have to let go of this smorgasbord approach to the phone-top and focus on centralized browser functionality for mcommerce.?

Mr. Schwartz said that shoppers need a one-stop impulse click.

?The shopper needs integrated SMS activation and retention hooks,? he said. ?Focusing on the browser with integrating location APIs and rich media caching will enable the browser to behave more like a downloaded app and drive more commerce adoption long-term.

?HTML5 will ultimately be the demise of the app as a mainstream commerce medium. Apple knows this and is reticent to push in-browser functionality which would cannibalize its app-dom.?

Not everyone agrees.

Bringin' sexy back
Just as brands and marketers flocked to the App Store for the iPhone and its successor, the iPhone 3GS, the same will hold true for the new iPhone 4.

Let?s face it. There is something sexy about an iPhone application. And as the iPhone gets smarter, the whole application concept becomes ever-more appealing.

Retailers and brands recognize this, as already mobile commerce giant eBay has revamped its iPhone application for the new iPhone 4.

With a new look and feel, the eBay application is even more compelling.

?Apple's first iPhone was revolutionary to the smartphone market, and as it continues to release more sophisticated and user-friendly devices, mobile commerce will become more and more a part of consumers' every day routines,? said Nick Taylor, president of Usablenet, New York.

From a retail perspective, the iPhone 4 is a new opportunity to increase sales.

The phone will fuel smartphone adoption, which will drive mobile commerce activity.

?The new iPhone 4 provides more fuel for consumer smartphone adoption, at a time when distribution rate growth is already more than impressive,? said Kevin Ranford, director of Web marketing at 1800Flowers, Carle Place, NY.

?The iPhone 4's functionality specifically favorable to mcommerce is the multi-tasking functionality so that shoppers can make a purchase while still engaged with another app, and the sharp Retina display making merchandise images pop,? he said.