Everything iPad

A little bit over a year ago, Apple brought the world iPhone OS 3.0, and here we are, rocking in the wake that Steve Jobs and company has created after officially announcing their latest, and best, version: 4.0. But, as you should expect, this isn’t about the iPhone proper. No, we’re keeping it iPad-centric here, and that leads us to the bad news. Yes, there’s bad news, unfortunately. While the iPhone OS 4.0 SDK is available right now, and come this Summer general consumers will be able to get their hands on the updated software, but not for iPad owners. The update to OS 4.0 isn’t coming to the iPad until this Fall.

But, what’s the good news, you’re probably asking yourself. Well, truth be told, there’s plenty to look forward to come this Fall. First and foremost, and definitely way above anything else in the mainstream, anyway, is the simple fact that Apple has figured out a way to make multitasking work in iPhone OS 4.0. They’ve created a method that doesn’t decrease battery life at an accelerated rate, and best of all, it doesn’t slow down the system at all. Utilizing their multitasking methodology means you can continue to use your applications, move from one to another seamlessly, and even have some apps running live in the background. Take, for example, Pandora Radio. Right now, if you open up Pandora and then close it to get to something else, that’s it: end of music. But with 4.0, it will keep running in the background, playing your favorite tracks.

So, how is it done? By double-pressing the Home button, you’ll get introduced to Apple’s new multitasking app tray. It basically features a list of running applications, which you can switch to on command. No more need to hit the Home key, go to the springboard, and then pick another application. They’ll remain saved in a solid state in the background, depending on the application, and you can navigate from one to another with ease. The implementation is great, and makes perfect sense for the platform in which it is being built upon. For the iPad, the usage will be fantastic, especially switching between those lovely applications, to the Browser, and back again.

Other features of note, especially for the iPad, are Folders and the upcoming Game Center. The former is a great way to handle your endless amount of application icons. Simply create a folder, move it somewhere on your springboard you like, and then fill it with applications of your choice. If you’re a social networking fanatic, for example, but don’t want the application icons filling up your screen, this is a great way to get them all in one place, with ease of accessibility thrown in for good measure. You can even rename your folders, if that’s what you like doing.

Now, Game Center. It’s designed for social gaming, and a new level of social networking for a mobile platform. With the gaming aspect of the service, we can see this being a huge differentiator for Apple. They’ve got a bold idea here, and they’ve thrown just about every detail imaginable into the foray, which includes the kitchen sink. Truth be told, with features like Skill-Based matchmaking (like TrueSkill for console FPS games), friends list, achievements, and multiplayer titles, it seems Apple is dead-set on making sure that everyone knows Apple’s mobile platform, from the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad isn’t going anywhere.

We are a bit dumbfounded that the iPad update to iPhone OS 4.0 (or 4.0.1, or 4.1, even) isn’t coming out until this Fall, but we imagine that Apple has their reasons. If we had to guess? We think that Apple is making some significant changes to the Operating System with the iPad version. That makes us think that, indeed, the iPad’s OS will warrant a different version number than the one the iPhone and iPod Touch will garner. But, that’s just a guess. As soon as we know more, we’ll pass it along. Until then, go visit SlashGear for their complete coverage of the event, along with their wrap-up here.