Apple constructs new iPhone operating system

With the new release of the iPad, Apple has probably been featured on the front cover of every gadget magazine. Today, Apple is once again on the front page with OS 4.0. The update includes many changes, for better or for worse.

A long awaited feature for the iPod, iPad, and iPhone is multitasking. For example, currently users who want to surf the web while listening to Pandora radio cannot because the Pandora app closes as soon as they opens Safari. However, with the new multitasking feature, users will be able to listen to Pandora in the background while surfing the web or using any other app.

Although multitasking is not a new technology for smart-phones, it has never been included on any Apple mobile devices.

“Now we weren’t the first to this party, but we’re gonna be the best. Just like cut and paste,” said Apple founder Steve Jobs said.

Usually, multitasking tends to bog down mobile devices. Apple has changed that. In a demonstration at the iPhone OS 4.0 conference changing from mobile Safari to Flickr seemed seamless. In fact, Apple claims to have made multitasking more power-efficient.

Scrolling through the menu on the iPhone has also been a problem. After downloading several apps, it becomes difficult to find a specific application. To fix the dilemma, Apple has added Folders to the iPhone. Folders store several applications in one icon, taking up less space and allowing for more applications on the iPhone. For example, currently users can only see 180 apps on the iPhone; soon, a user will be able to view 2,160 on the iPhone menu.

iBooks has been one of the best features of the iPad; now, it is joining the iPhone and iPod Touch. iBooks will feature a bookshelf that allows the user to choose a book simply by touching its cover on the screen.

iBooks will also be able to sync between other Apple devices. In other words, if a user owns “Pride and Prejudice” on the iPad, the user will also be able to read the book on the iPhone. Bookmarks will be carried over to other devices as well. Also, “Winnie the Pooh” comes free with the download.

Prices for iBooks will be based on how well a book sells. For example, a popular book like “Twilight” will be cheaper than a poorly selling book. Popular books will match the prices of Amazon or may even be cheaper. This price range encourages book publishers to allow Apple to sell the books.

Currently, large corporations have turned their backs on Apple because of Apple’s focus on mobile personal use rather business use. To change that, Apple has added wireless app distribution, mobile device management, and even better data protection, as well.

Wireless app distribution allows the bypassing of the iTunes store, so when a employee tries to download the lightsaber app, it will not be allowed. Also, Apple has cracked down on data protection which, according to Apple, will encourage corporations to allow employees to use the iPhone or iPad for business use.

Apple currently has over 50,000 game titles. This number is huge in comparison to Sony PSP’s 2,477 game titles and Nintendo’s DS having 4,321 game titles. Apple has created an equivalent to Xbox Live. Game Center creates a leader board of all game apps that are submitted by third party developers. Users are able to invite friends to a player vs. player match, or Game Center can arrange a match with a stranger.

Ads have been another frequent dilemma not only for consumers but also for Apple and third-party developers.

“We have a lot of free or reasonably priced apps. . . we like that, but our devs [developers] have to find ways to make money,” Jobs said. “So our devs are putting ads into apps, and for lack of a better way to say it, we think most of this kind of advertising sucks.”

In order to help developers and consumers, Apple will begin a program called iAds. The program’s goal is to achieve the emotion from an ad on television and also the interaction of an online ad. Apple will have a 60/40 split between the company and other developers, and ads will pop up on a device on an average of ten times a day.

iAds sounds like a blessing toward developers, but problems may ensue for consumers. However, the ads do not appear to be boring ads. In fact, the ads feel like an app. For instance, the Target app asks questions about what gender the user is, what the user likes, and what college the user will be attending. Then, the ad builds what his or her dorm room will most likely look like.

Currently, e-mail is one of the iPhone’s strongest points, but the changing between accounts becomes irksome. To fix this dilemma, Apple has added unified inbox. Instead of switching between a Gmail account and a Yahoo! Mail account, a user can simply view both of the account’s e-mails on one screen. Also, there is the ability to search for a specific e-mail and the ability to open attachments using an app.

Apple’s OS 4.0 will be released this summer for iPhone and iPod Touch devices and this fall for the iPad. Unfortunately for iPhone 3G owners and iPod Touch second generation owners, OS 4.0 will not be able to run certain processes on the device, such as multitasking or folders.

Many people were upset about this; Jobs promptly replied, “Well, a lot of these products that are out there are the most recent products. The old devices will get the update, but they’ll miss some of these features like multitasking. If that’s an incentive for them to upgrade to a new device. . . terrific.” The reason that iPhone 3G is unable to run multitasking is due to the lack of RAM.

The OS 4.0 looks to be a huge change, but may create a lot of angry iPhone 3G customers. Hopefully, Apple will be able to help with the dilemma, but this is highly doubtful. Until OS 4.0 is released, many Apple fans wait in great anticipation.