Apple to reveal hallowed iPhone 4.0 on Thursday
Exposé exposé?
Apple will uncloak a new incarnation of its iPhone operating system on Thursday morning during an event at its Cupertino headquarters.
According to CNet, the Jobsian cult sent invitations to certain members of the media on Monday morning that said it would be providing "a sneak peek into the future of the iPhone OS." But The Reg has yet to see one. And we have reason to believe we never will.
The event is set for 10am on Thursday morning, and, well, that's about all the invitation said.
The word from AppleInsider is that the new iPhone OS 4.0 will offer "full-on" multitasking. According to the publication's sources, Jobs and company will provide a multitasking manager that taps technology already included in the Mac OS.
As of March 11, these sources said that 4.0 development still had a ways to go, and they did not provide details on the alleged multitasking set-up. But last week, a subsequent story from AppleInsider reported that the iPhone would adopt an interface similar to the Mac's patented "Exposé" UI, which lets fanbois choose various views of running-application windows via key combinations.
Apparently, with the 4.0 firmware update, Apple has deigned to give fanbois the power to run third-party applications in the background, and they'll be able to switch between them by hitting the device's "home" button twice in quick succession. Currently, you can use this double-click technique to summon one of five iPhone choices: your home page, search function, "Favorites," camera, or iPod app.
Based on the Mac OS kernel, the iPhone OS has always been capable of preemptive multitasking, but Apple has barred third-party apps from running in the background in order to protect people from their own battery-draining habits.
Incidentally, Apple also bans third-party background apps on the iPad, the Jobsian tablet that launched over the weekend. But Steve Jobs says it's "magical and revolutionary." So lots of people waited in long lines to buy one. ®
COMMENTS
Wow, it's going to multi-task!
Now when did I last get excited about multi-tasking? Oh yes, in the late 80's when I first saw the Amiga 1000. That was over 20 years ago. Poor little iphone. That is one reason why I rejected you, you mono tasking fashion icon for lemmings.
Fanbois?
Is the author a 12-year-old child? C'mon. I visit The Reg for tech news, not 1337 h@x0R 5p33k.
Jobsian cult?
while I do realize there exist mindless apple fan-boys and I don't consider myself one of them (I don't own any of their excessively priced products and don't think I ever will) using language like this really diminishes this site in my mind. I always considered The Register to be on a higher level than trash rags like Fudzilla or Semi Accurate, but apparently the differences are less significant than the similarities.
If you insist on throwing mud on the playground with the other children I would suggest adopting the old classics in puerile invective like "neener neener neener!" or "I know you are but what am I!" this will communicate your childish mentality much more effectively and eliminate any possibility of disappointment from people who might be expecting legitimate discourse from rational adults.
Boring, isn't it
Slam the company all you like, but the constant fanboi references, "Jobsian cult", the inference that people bought ipads just because Steve told them too - that's just insulting the users, from the genuine Mac fan right down to anyone who so much as bought an iPod. Which is, let's face it, most people these days.
Point out what's wrong with Apple by all means, but if all you can do is resort to name-calling a significant portion of your readership, maybe it's time for a rethink on that.
You see...
... while your device is obviously absolutely awesome, I'll just get my android phone which can do exactly the same, without any cracking.
