Apple Improves the iPhone Ahead of Release

Apple said Monday that the estimated battery life of the iPhone will be about two hours longer than initially anticipated, along with its plastic face being upgraded to optical-quality glass.

Battery life is a common complaint when it comes to smartphones, and often heavy users of the devices need to carry a second battery to make it through a complete day's work. With the upgrade, its phone supports eight hours of talk time, and six hours worth of data, Apple said.

In addition, the device can remain on standby for as long as 250 hours, nearly 11 days, and play about 7 hours worth of video or 24 hours of music.

The glass display also makes the device much more resistant to scratching and more suitable for video viewing than its iPod counterpart. That device uses plastic for the screen, and has been criticized in the past for its susceptibility to scratches.

"There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can't wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.

Consumers can't seem to wait either. Buzz surrounding the device has been significant, and some analysts say that AT&T stands to gain as many as one million customers just due to the iPhone alone.

Its release also has other phone manufacturers rushing to match it in features: for example, HTC plans to release the Touch in markets across Europe, Asia, and North America over the next few months.

"Both of these items are important as there's been a lot of speculation over the last few days about both of these features," JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg said. "It was a good move for Apple to get in front of them."