iPhone 4.0: iAds, multitasking, and 98 tweaks

Multitasking, GPS

"Multitasking is de rigueur in other devices such as the Palm Prē and phones based on Google's Android"

Let's not forget Symbian which has always been a proper OS based on multitasking, long before these kids came along. Though multitasking is perhaps the flaw of Symbian also. Too much stuff going on in the background.

"Background location uses cell-tower triangulation rather than a power-hungry GPS circuitry"

How about fixing the iPhone so it's not power hungry. Comparing my Nokia with friend's iPhones I was surprised they complain so much about leaving the GPS on. No problem on Nokia's. Can leave the GPS active all day without much drain (essential for apps like Sports Tracker).

Calm down!

Ok people calm down and read the article:

1) Adverts exist in current free iPhone apps

2) Accessing these typically drops you out to Safari, loads up a URL and there's your advert

3) This ruins the seamlessness of the app & advert and means the user has to reload their app

So onto iAds...

1) Free apps now supported with iAds

2) Accessing iAd keeps you in the app. Shows you a whizzy HTML5 iAd. You interact/observe/ignore iAd and once you are done with it you close it and return to the app you were in previously.

3) iAds is not going to spam you with adverts everytime you phone your missus or read an email. Sending an SMS will not generate an iAd from the Royal Mail asking next time you need to write a message why not consider sending a letter.

Bottom line is nothing has really changed. The ads get to be a bit prettier and Apple get to take a percentage cut.

Adverts don't excite me but I understand the need for them. People have such a massive kneejerk response when they see the word "ad" that the ability to be reasonable seems to go out te window. The ability to read the article fully and comprehend what it is telling you also seems to disappear.

AC 12:05

"As for the ads already existing in Applications, the fact they terminate the application means there is a disincentive for the app developers to do them. With Apple making it easier and more "integrated" (meaning the app doesn't have to close), the chances of paid apps getting ads is greatly increased."

They exist in free apps so that developers can make some money from developing free apps. Sure they would prefer you to buy the paid ones but generally they know people tend to download the free app and if they like it buy the paid one. It is accepted that free apps are ad supported, in the same way we in the UK accept that TV on ITV/Channel 4&5 are also [mostly*] free but supported by ads.

I look at the reviews before purchasing apps, and if a paid for app was reported to punt ads then I would not purchase it - I expect that (1) I am not alone in this and (2) developers know this.

OK, I accept it is possible for an app update to start punting ads, but that would be suicide for the app developer that did that - no-one would buy anything from them again.

*some portion of the license fee is paid to these channels under the public service broadcaster system, however this certainly doesn't mean you are paying for both Ant&Dec and teh adverts in the middle of their programme. And the rip-off phone in of course....

Watch the iAd demo

iAds can be much better than some rubbish banner or text ad. It is like a mini promotional tool, there are already many of these for films and other things. It's an interactive application, not some annoying video.

iPhone is dull

I have a Nokia smartphone, and I know that in two or three years time I'll have a wide range of new phones to choose from as a replacement. As so many phones run Symbian, most of them will run the apps I've gotten used to on my Nokia... or I might go with Android to see what that's like. I may decide to go for a phone with a physical querty keyboard, or a phone with a high-end camera. However, I know I won't be buying an iPhone because as far as I can tell, the iPhone of three years will be pretty much identical to the iPhone of today.

I guess that's the point. If you decide to go down the Apple route, you'll get a high-end, reliable device that does lots of things well and is easy to use. However, it's very likely that you'll be doing pretty much the same thing you do now in the same way you do it now for the next ten years. Look at the last 10 years of changes in the non-Apple PC market: we've had Windows 98 > XP > Vista > Windows 7. We've had dual core PCs, quad core PCs, netbook laptops, netbook PCs and tablet PCs. We've had at least two major browser wars, Office ribbons, Facebook etc eBay, Amazon, Alta-vista vs Yahoo vs Google vs Bing etc. The only notable innovations Apple has done in the traditional computer market since the iMac back in 1998 is the poorly recieved Macbook Air, the Napster rip-off called iTunes and, several years after the competition, a tablet PC.

I think I've finally, finally got down to what really bothers me about Apple. For all the fanfare and hype and the mainstream media love-ins, once they become established Apple products are pretty dull. iPhone v3 is pretty much the same as iPhone v1 & v2, whilst iPad v2 & v3 will be pretty much the same as iPad v1. I like the up-and-down choppy waters of getting to grips with a new Windows OS. I like to chose from wide range of mp3 or mobile phone products, switch systems occasionally and try out new ways of doing things on the devices I already have. I want to buy cheap when I have no money, and expensive when I do have money. I want to encourage loads of different companies to exploit common technologies to a purpose they are specialists in. I don't want to be tied down to universal familiarity, and I certainly don't want a monochromatic technological environment where everything works in exactly the same way.

Apple's existence is fine by me - I may even buy an Apple product one day. However, the Utopian Jobsian world where Apple is the only technology company that anyone ever needs fills me with dread. Kinda reminds me a little of Communist Russia.

Multitasking Correction

Small quibble with the write up; local notifications allow apps to schedule alerts/notifications even when the app isn't running, so for example a tv guide app could remind you that a show is about to start. Also task completion allows an app to continue running in the background (yes, actual multitasking!) so that a task can complete, for example a flickr type app could allow you to upload photos, even if the user switches to another app.

I have an Iphone

And wont be getting another, Android is calling and I think Ill be following, might wait for Windows mobile 7 to see.

Re: iPhone is dull

>> I guess that's the point. If you decide to go down the Apple route, you'll get a high-end, reliable device that does lots of things well and is easy to use. However, it's very likely that you'll be doing pretty much the same thing you do now in the same way you do it now for the next ten years.

Yes, and Symbian phones are so horrible to use, that you will be doing the same thing 10 years from now - i.e. nothing, scratching your eyes out and/or wishing your phone contract would hurry up and expire.

>> Look at the last 10 years of changes in the non-Apple PC market: we've had Windows 98 > XP > Vista > Windows 7. We've had dual core PCs, quad core PCs, netbook laptops, netbook PCs and tablet PCs.

Yes and Apple have had multicore processors, they have also had a shift from PowerPC to Intel architecture and a shift to a Unix like operating system.

>> We've had at least two major browser wars,

and all the major browsers run on Mac

>> Office ribbons, Facebook etc eBay, Amazon,

Again, the Mac has these two

>> Alta-vista vs Yahoo vs Google vs Bing etc.

Yes these search engines work with browsers on the Mac too.

>> The only notable innovations Apple has done in the traditional computer market since the iMac back in 1998

How the feck, was the iMac innovative? Many early computers were built into the monitor housing - or are you referring to translucent plastic in a range of colours ? I think Tupperware may have been first with that.