iPhone OS 4 Features

"Apple, after announcing the sale of 450,000 iPads since Saturday, today unveiled its iPhone OS 4.0, the next evolution in the company’s mobile strategy."

Kevin Tofel of GIGAOM explains the new OS and spells out the features. "Although several of the new features, due for release this summer, were on my list of expectations two days ago, the bulk of them are indeed evolutionary — on the surface. But the implementation approach and polish of these new features are actually revolutionary because they don’t merely re-purpose the PC implementations of each task but are instead redesigned for mobile use."

Checkout GIGAOM for a rundown of what iPhone OS 4.0 devices will be capable of.

EnGadget includes this summary, though go to Engadget's page for the full review.

The biggest new feature is multitasking, which Apple says is going to be the "best" implementation in the smartphone space, though it's obviously not the first. App switching is activated by double tapping the home button, which pulls up a "dock" of currently running apps, and Apple claims it can do this without hurting battery life or performance for the front app. Unfortunately, this multitasking won't be available for devices older than the 3GS and new iPod touch. Multitasking is just one of seven different new "tentpole" features, including Game Center, enhanced Mail, and more...

Notable new features for users ("tentpoles" are in bold):

• Multitasking.
• Spell check (like on the iPad).
• Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad).
• User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite).
• Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera.
• Playlist creation and nested playlists.
• App folders for sorting apps! You can even put an app folder in the dock.
• Enhanced Mail! You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly, and sync to more than one Exchange account. There's also threaded messaging (at last!) and in-app attachment viewing.
• iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle.
• Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution.
• Game Center. It's like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games. Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a "developer preview," and out for consumers later this year. EnGadget