Apple Set To Unveil iPhone OS 4.0

Summer of 2010 is approaching, and the smartphone industry is abuzz with activities. Apple has recently sent invites to the press for a special event in Cupertino on Thursday – to unveil the next major version of the iPhone OS. Rumors are rife that it could be multitasking for the iPhone, with some even pointing their fingers at iPad.

Analysts and enthusiasts who have been following Apple closely have been engaged in decoding the invite itself, which is cryptic - the shadow of a large number "4" stretching across a blue background, with a caption that reads: "Get a sneak peek into the future of the iPhone OS."

What is the new iPhone OS 4.0 set to offer?

The revealing of the new iPhone OS is nonetheless a sheer indication of the fact that there’s always room for improvement in the operating system. This is flattering taking into account the fact that Apple has sold a large number of devices running the iPhone OS — an estimated 40 million iPhones, more than 20 million iPod touches and now 300,000 iPads.

All in all, the news of the unveiling of the iPhone OS 4.0 has raised expectations for iPhone users considering the fact that the last major revision of the iPhone OS — version 3.0 was a huge hit, as it had added many long-awaited features. It had included break-through features like copy and paste, support for picture messages, the ability to buy and rent movies and TV shows directly over the iPhone, stereo Bluetooth, and a landscape keyboard for email and text messages.

The most expected feature in the iPhone OS 4.0 is that of multitasking. There has been an ardent endeavor for quite sometime to bring true multitasking support to the iPhone for third-party apps via an Expose-type interface. With the help of this feature, core iPhone apps like email and the iPod music player can run simultaneously in the background.

What to expect from iPhone OS 4.0……

Multitasking, which facilitates running more than one third-party application at a given time has been one of the most requested iPhone OS features. Although, the current iPhone OS is capable of multitasking since the feature is currently supported on some native Apple applications like listening to music in the iPod app while web surfing or checking mail; there are however, certain limits to it.

Analysts are optimistic that an enhanced multitasking feature for iPhone OS 4.0 would help attract consumers towards iPad – as it is set to be the potential laptop replacement. With iPhone OS 4.0 multitasking in iPad, you can edit pictures and get web links as well, while creating blog posts.

Higher resolution is one of the most expected features of the new iPhone OS 4.0. Although iPhone’s HVGA display has significantly improved since 2007, offering better than 800×480 displays over the iPhone’s 480×320 screen, an upgrade in the forthcoming version of the OS will revolutionize the display feature.

Support for a second camera is also one of the anticipated features of the to-be-released iPhone OS 4.0, considering the fact that the next iPhone will have higher configurations than the current 3-megapixel sensor. There are also rumors about an addition for front-facing camera for video chatting.

A unified inbox is on the expected lines in iPhone OS 4.0. Even though you may wish to have a separate space for personal and office work, it is preferred by most to access it from an unified, so that you do not have to tap, tap, tap our way from one mailbox to another.