Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 4 during this morning’s WWDC Keynote Address and among the features of this new smartphone is a built-in camera with some serious specs. As smartphones progress we see more and more features — communication, entertainment, and photography for example — combined into a single portable device. And if the specs of the iPhone 4 are any indication, Apple is now ready to give point & shoot cameras a run for their money.

iPhone 4 Camera Specs

• 5 megapixels
• LED flash
• 5x digital zoom
• 720p, 30fps HD video recording
• Tap to focus video
• Built-in video editing with iMovie for iPhone ($4.99 in the App Store)
• One click sharing

Focus on Image Quality

The iPhone 4 camera may mean the end of using the phrase “camera phone quality” as a derogatory description of an image’s IQ. Not only have they bumped the resolution up from 3 MP to 5, but there is no reduction in pixel size. In his presentation, Jobs said:

“Now everybody loves to talk about megapixels, but we tend to ask the question how do we make better pictures? Megapixels are nice, but what these cameras are really about is capturing photons and low light photography. So we’ve gone from 3 megapixel to 5 megapixel, but we’re using a backside illuminated sensor.

“In addition to that, when most people increase megapixels they make them smaller, but we’ve kept ours the same size. They don’t capture less photons.”

An ultra-portable, 5 MP point & shoot camera with a focus on image quality, and HD video recording capability? Count me in.

Steve Jobs quote via Engadget.