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Apple Prepping iPhone OS 4.0 Beta? SDK to Include Tablet 'Simulator' Tools?

MacRumors said:


Reports of the fourth-generation iPhone and updated operating systems in the wild have also begun appearing over the past few weeks, with hints of unreleased iPhone hardware and software appearing in App Store analytics data.
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That's what I'm waiting for: the next iPhone.

I sure hope Apple announces the next iPhone at the January media event. :apple:
 
amorya said:
How on earth does that make sense? You need a totally different UI for a 10" tablet compared with a 3" phone. The issue isn't technical, it's related to designing a new interaction model for how people will use your app on a larger screen.

Amorya
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You are assuming the iSlate WILL have a totally different UI. I think it may very well be tweaked or polished for the tablet, but will still very much be the iPhone OS. So I guess we will find out!
 
MacFly123 said:
You are assuming the iSlate WILL have a totally different UI. I think it may very well be tweaked or polished for the tablet, but will still very much be the iPhone OS. So I guess we will find out!
Click to expand...

True, I am assuming. My logic is that an iPhone OS app typically has one list on screen at once, surrounded by the odd toolbar or whatever. If you expand that to a larger screen, you end up with loads of wasted space and a rather inefficient design. If I were making an app for a 10" screen, I'd probably lay it out more like a Mac app, with a sources list on one side and a content pane beside it. I imagine Apple will have thought through all these design decisions.

I'm not saying the look of the controls won't be similar to the iPhone OS. It'll probably bear a visual resemblance. But just stretching an iPhone OS app to a bigger screen will seldom make something particularly usable, IMO.

Of course, if you enabled multiple iPhone OS apps on the tablet at once, in their own floating windows... that might work.
 
Mal said:
EDIT: Darn, Peace just beat me.

Not crazy, just slightly out of touch. Apple has been pushing developers for some time now to make their App Store apps resolution-independent (and the SDK allows for that). Many of the existing apps are not designed that way, but many are, and those will be ready to go on the tablet (although I suspect many of them should be tweaked for better aesthetics if not better usability).

jW
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Interestingly, most of Apple's own stuff in the iPhone OS is done with bitmaps instead of resolution independent drawing. I spent ages working out how to draw something that looked like Apple's cut/copy/paste menu. I drew it all in code, and when I finished it was awesome. Turns out Apple used an image!

To address the issue, there's somewhat a bias towards images on the phone, because they're less processor intensive. I don't think Apple has been pushing for resolution independence in the same way they tried on the Mac… certainly they don't have the same level of support for things like embedded PDFs or multi-resolution TIFFs like Cocoa on the desktop. If they are pushing for resolution independence, I guess I missed the memo!

Amorya
 
What if Apple decides to take a full-on approach and put full OS-X on the iSlate thingy? This will allow them to port the same apps on tablet and the entire Mac desktop and laptop lineup and also take full advantage of the whole 10 or 11 inch real estate on the tablet. Giving OS-X even more leverage over competing OSs....

bring it on :apple:.... its right about time now!
 
Didn't read the full thread but to me this is the best news yet, if indeed true. It would have no need for simulator tools if it was just an enhanced version of iPhone OS !!! :D;):p:)
 
MacGohil said:
What if Apple decides to take a full-on approach and put full OS-X on the iSlate thingy? This will allow them to port the same apps on tablet and the entire Mac desktop and laptop lineup and also take full advantage of the whole 10 or 11 inch real estate on the tablet.
Click to expand...

This would be most effective if the "iSlate thingy" has an x64 chip. If it's x86 or ARM, then it would run same apps as OSX.

(This assumes that OSX 10.6, like Windows 7, is the last version of the OS with 32-bit code support. It would be foolish to release a new x86 line of devices just as OSX moves to x64 only.)
 
camperdown9 said:
Do you really think they will?? I mean new iPhones have at least until now gone on sale in June or July. So unless the launch is earlier this year it would seam at least to me way to early to tell us anything about the next phone. Maybe we will hear about 4.0 in Jan.
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It's at least a possibility given that the difference between the 3GS and 3G felt like a half-step.
 
Hopefully they'll announce something about the next iPhone or OS 4.0. They have to. Now that the smartphone wars are heated up, Apple can no longer wait a year between each phone. Things are way too competitive and Apple needs to keep up by adding new features. And they need to do it while they've got the momentum. Cuz if not, the $175 early termination fee can be easily made and I won't think nothing of it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

multi-tasking apps
5MP camera w/ flash
1GHz+ processor w/ GPU chip
record HD video
matte gripping backing instead of the glossy back

That would be so perfect for me.
 
Razeus said:
Hopefully they'll announce something about the next iPhone or OS 4.0. They have to. Now that the smartphone wars are heated up, Apple can no longer wait a year between each phone. Things are way too competitive and Apple needs to keep up by adding new features. And they need to do it while they've got the momentum. Cuz if not, the $175 early termination fee can be easily made and I won't think nothing of it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

multi-tasking apps
5MP camera w/ flash
1GHz+ processor w/ GPU chip
record HD video
matte gripping backing instead of the glossy back

That would be so perfect for me.
Click to expand...

Emphasis mine.

That's what people have always said about Macs too, that they can't afford to wait so long between updates now that they have Intel chips, but it hasn't seemed to hurt them there. If you make a good product, there's no need to update it every 3 months, because people are going to want to purchase it 6 months after it's released, and 9 months, and so on. We've seen that with the current iPhones, demand is still high until the next one is announced. Why not wait a year between releases?

jW
 
Razeus said:
Hopefully they'll announce something about the next iPhone or OS 4.0. They have to. Now that the smartphone wars are heated up, Apple can no longer wait a year between each phone. Things are way too competitive and Apple needs to keep up by adding new features. And they need to do it while they've got the momentum. Cuz if not, the $175 early termination fee can be easily made and I won't think nothing of it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

multi-tasking apps
5MP camera w/ flash
1GHz+ processor w/ GPU chip
record HD video
matte gripping backing instead of the glossy back

That would be so perfect for me.
Click to expand...

I hope they don't increase the MP. That will just make the pictures noisier and make them take up more space. No point in adding a "feature" that makes pictures worst while allowing you to fit fewer of them on the device and increasing the amount of time it takes to get them off the device. I can also live without HD video given that the lens sucks and all HD video will do is highlight the crappiness of the optics.
 
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