Apple unveiled a number of new features in their iPhone OS 4.0 update, including multitasking, a slicker email experience and iBooks support amongst other improvements for business users.
I discuss in detail Apple’s multitasking implementation in an earlier article that I recommend you read if interested in the details. When using your iPhone double-clicking the iPhone’s Home button brings up an OS X dock-like window showing all running applications at the bottom of the LCD, tap on an app to switch to it. If you’re playing a game or something with a lot of action, it will automatically enter a ‘pause state’ when you switch, and when returning, the game will continue where you left it.
Apple has made significant improvements to the Mail application in iPhone OS 4.0, importantly for business users the Mail application now supports more than one Exchange server account at a time, as well as supporting a ‘unified inbox’ allowing you to see email from multiple accounts at once.
The iPhone Mail application update also gives users the ability to view email by thread, in much the same way they would when using Gmail on the web. You are also able to interact directly with email attachments, with files in emails able to be opened directly from the mail application, when tapped, the files open in their native application.
Apple will be finally making their iBooks app available to the iPhone. The app, is essentially a shrunken version of the iPad iBooks application, allows you to do everything the iPad app does, including purchasing from the iBookstore (though this may be restricted in Australia). You will also be able to share books between your iPad and iPhone, reading the same book on both devices, picking up where you left off on each device when switching between them.
For business/enterprise users, Apple has made some important changes that will improve the security of your devices in a direct attack on BlackBerry, all e-mail, including attachements, can be encrypted with your PIN code. Apple also plans to release data encryption APIs to third party developers so they can do the same.
Apple also made a number of other smaller announcements, including support for folders on the iPhone’s Home screen, allowing users to group together similar applications (for example, games, or business apps) to make navigation easier when users have many screens of applications installed.
Also launched at the event was what Apple is calling an apps ‘Game Centre’ which is the iPhone equivalent of XBox Live or Playstation Network, allowing games to tie into the system with achievements and leader boards, and offers the possibility of networked play.