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Apple iPhone OS 4.0: Diet multitasking!


iPhone OS 4.0, announced Thursday morning, April 8, at Apple's Cueprtino Headquarters, gives users what they have been clamoring for - multitasking, but on a strictly need to do basis.

It's multi-tasking on a diet. You get it to the extent that you need to use it, not to the extent where you could abuse it. It won't let third party applications hog processer cycles or precious memory.

The upgraded OS for iPhone, iPod and iPad also features folders to better organize and access apps, unified inbox, iAd mobile advertising platforn and iBooks, the ebook application that debuted on the iPad.

Other improvements include, fast inbox switching and threaded messages; enhanced Enterprise support with even better data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution and more.

The OS was released to developers today along with an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,500 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

"We're delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support, and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

Multitaksing - the iPhone way

The iPhone OS didn't support multitasking for third party applications so far because of Apple's concerns over the adverse impact it could have on performance, battery life and security.

Those concerns remain. What Apple has done is give users the multitasking they need. Smartphone users don't want to be crunching numbers in a background task while they are sending a text, but they do want to listen to their favorite music.

Users also want to be able to resume a task they were performing, after having been interrupted by an email notification.

Apple has managed to provide these features without opening the OS to potential abuse.

It offers users a new way to quickly move between apps, and provides developers seven new multitasking services to easily add multitasking features to their apps.

Background Audio
Voice over IP
Background location
Push notifications
Local notifications
Task completion
Fast app switching

Using these services apps like Pandora can play music in the background, and VoIP apps can receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other apps.

In the case of applications that don't need audio, VOIP or background location, the new services allow users to suspend an application and resume it from the same point, after attending to another task.

Folders

Folders help users better organize and quickly access their apps. Simply drag one app icon onto another, and a new folder is automatically created. Using folders, users can now organize and access over 2,000 apps on their iPhone.

Unified Inbox

The new Unified Inbox allows users to see messages from all their email accounts displayed together in a single inbox. With just a few taps, users can quickly switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account.

iAd

iAd, Apple's new mobile advertising platform, blends the experience of TV ads with the interactivity of web ads. Today, when users click on mobile ads they are almost always taken out of their app to a web browser, which loads the advertiser's webpage. Users must then navigate back to their app, and it is often difficult or impossible to return to exactly where they left. iAd solves this problem by displaying full-screen video and interactive ad content without ever leaving the app, and letting users return to their app anytime they choose.

iPhone OS 4 lets developers easily embed iAd opportunities within their apps, and the ads are dynamically and wirelessly delivered to the device. Apple will sell and serve the ads, and developers will receive an industry-standard 60 percent of iAd revenue.

iPhone OS 4 will be available as a software update to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer. A version of iPhone OS 4 will be coming to iPad this Fall.

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