PhoneLon

It’s here, it’s finally here! In an update of quite epic proportions, Apple have finally brought multi-tasking to the iPhone! A long time coming, Apple have finally seen sense and rectified one of the biggest issues with the all conquering smartphone. But it’s not just enough to add the functionality, how does the iPhone manage multitasking? And what other new tweaks does iPhone OS 4.0 bring to the table? Read on for all the gory details…

Unveiled at a dedicated event held in Cupertino this afternoon, iPhone 4.0 finally enables multi-tasking in every ones favourite smartphone. The latest iteration of Apple’s OS brings numerous additions with it but it is without a doubt multi-tasking that everyone has been chomping at the bit to get hands on with. Apple claim that multi-tasking on the iPhone is going to be the best implementation in the smartphone space but we’ll reserve judgment till we’ve had a thorough hands on. Switching between apps is simply a case of double tapping the home button to bring up a list of apps and then flicking between them via the touchscreen. And whilst it doesn’t sound quite as intuitive as the likes of the Palm Pre and the Nokia N900 and there are still some omissions such as managing a conversation in Twitter or an Instant Messenger client, this is still a huge update for the iPhone.

The bad news? Well, iPhone 3G users (and any one using an original iPhone 2G) are going to be disappointed; multi-tasking is only coming to the iPhone 3GS. According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, the iPhone 3G simply isn’t powerful enough, lacking the hardware that makes the 3GS capable of running multiple applications simultaneously. On the plus side, iPhone 3G users have never had a better excuse to upgrade than now and Apple have also managed to squeeze in multi-tasking without impacting on battery life or overall performance.

Multi-tasking isn’t the only improvement that comes with iPhone OS 4.0 though, oh no. Also along for the ride, we get a host of extras such as spell check, Bluetooth keyboard support and iBooks (all as seen on the recently released iPad), user customisable wallpaper, tap to focus in the video camera and 5X digital zoom in the still camera and app Folders for sorting apps. Finally the iPhone OS is starting to sound alot more like a traditional smartphone OS. Android should be worried.

iPhone OS 4.0 is set to roll out in the summer (and autumn for the as yet unreleased UK iPad) and looks set to right most if not all of the wrongs of the current operating system. Be sure to check back on the blog for a more specific launch date and our dedicated iPhone OS 4.0 review as soon as we get hands on with the OS.