Apple Readies 'One-Two Punch' With iPhone 4.0
iPhone 4.0 will likely include full support for multi-tasking and allow for third-party applications alongside Apple's applications, according to AppleInsider.
Apple doesn't permit VARs to sell the iPhone, but Nick Gold, senior account executive for Baltimore, Md.-based Chesapeake Systems is nonetheless excited to see what iPhone 4.0 will include.
"Multitasking does seem to be the main focus that many people are looking for in the update," Gold said. "The iPhone OS is currently capable of multi-tasking -- it's just that only Apple's own applications like Safari and the iPod software can run in the background."
Apple last updated the iPhone OS last March with iPhone 3.0. That update added cut, copy and paste, a feature that iPhone users had long been asking for. In some ways, multi-tasking has become the top feature users are asking for now, according to Gold.
"Multi-tasking is very useful to a lot of folks, but is probably not critical for all users," Gold said. "Whenever Apple implements a major feature such as this, they always make sure to do it better than anyone else on the market."
Gold likes Apple's "one-two punch" of major product news -- first with the iPad and now with the iPhone OS 4.0 update -- and says it's a smart strategy. "This approach brings even more attention to the company," he said.
Apple earlier this week sent invitations to the media for the Thursday event at its Cupertino, Calif. campus, although they didn't explicitly say that Apple would reveal iPhone OS 4.0. Instead, the invitations show an image of a number "4" along with a brief statement that reads, "Get a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS."