There is definitely a strong feeling among users that Apple’s iPhone keeps getting better, while others continue to try to force the iPhone into a technological vortex. With the release of the iPhone 4, Apple has enhanced the capabilities of this small smartphone with a host of new features. iPhone 4 features dual cameras, Face Time video chat, multitasking, and enhanced Hosted Exchange email. The most recent update to iOS 4, version 4.2, includes wireless printing via AirPrint, AirPlay for wireless streaming of music, videos, and photos, as well as many, many other improvements.

The iPhone email interface has been updated and reorganized. The user can now view all email via an inbox and can view email replies via a thread-like arrangement. iPhone Exchange email features continue to support Exchange ActiveSync accounts and now allow the setup of more than one Hosted Exchange account.

While the iPhone 4 has been shown to wield its technological prowess through AT&T’s networks, Android and Blackberry users are in its way. To their credit, both Android and Blackberry offer various models of their smartphones to all network providers. Therefore, there is a growing number of Android and Blackberry users.

The capabilities of the iPhone are also spreading to other smartphones. For example, FaceTime is a video chat feature that uses your phone’s cameras and a Wi-Fi connection to create a live chat. Users can use the front-facing camera for “face-to-face” chat, as well as switch to the rear-facing camera to include views of their immediate locations. The same video chat feature is available on select Android phones with T-Mobile service and does not require a Wi-Fi connection. This puts the iPhone in a very awkward position with its users.

More recently, there is an audible hum of rumors circulating about the possibility of an iPhone 5. Apple and Verizon have publicly announced the start of their relationship with the iPad tablet. This relationship can quickly become something more with an iPhone built just for Verizon. Many bloggers and techno-geeks have started intense speculation as to whether this will be the true introduction of the iPhone 5 or whether Apple will introduce something like an iPhone 4.5 that will have the ability to run on Verizon’s network and still have all the capabilities of iOS4.

But despite all the rumors and speculation, the iPhone 4 will still face a lot of competition from Android, Blackberry and new Windows mobile smartphones in the coming year.