Filed under: SDK
iPhone OS 3.2 supports video calling, file downloads, SMS and...multitasking?
Engadget's sources said there are hooks to accept and decline a video conference, flip a video feed (which suggests a front-facing camera) and -- most importantly -- run the video call in either full screen mode or in just a portion of the screen. Video calling in just part of the screen (the other part left open for other apps) would be indicative of some basic type of multitasking.
Engadget also confirms that "iPhone OS 3.2 supports file downloads and local storage in the browser, which means you'll be able to pull files off the web and use them in other apps, and there's at least the beginnings of SMS support buried within the code."
While our sister site is quick to point out that it's not sure if any of the code will ever be implemented, they're starting to get the feeling that Apple didn't tell everything there is to know about their latest creation...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Keith said 2:14PM on 1-30-2010
Re: "which could explain that mysterious space at the top of the iPad's leaked pictures they received. "
I'm pretty sure that space is for the 3G models' antenna.
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NateF said 3:05PM on 1-30-2010
The 3G antenna space is largely along the top and on the back, not on the front-facing black bezel:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/
Still, it's kind of hard to imagine they wouldn't have talked about a webcam at the event if it had one. Video web conferencing, while not often used, would be a pretty nice application for a tablet.
I'll cross my fingers, though. If it's not in the bezel, it could also be hidden behind the display, as this recent Apple patent proposes:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/08/apple_files_patent_for_camera_hidden_behind_display.html
l33tpmp said 6:34PM on 1-30-2010
Actually Mona... Everything is assigned a phone number. So a device with only a data plan would in-fact have a phone number assigned to it. Thus, SMS would be possible on the device.
I do think everyone is making too much of this. It's obvious that the iPad OS is contains all of the iPhone OS code (whether it's for peripherals in the device or not).
Let's not start going crazy over nothing people.
Mike said 2:16PM on 1-30-2010
SMS support...? Isn't that already in iPhone OS? Coulda sworn I've been texting for quite some time...
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grahamtastic9889 said 2:35PM on 1-30-2010
Thats what I thought too. I'm pretty sure I've been texting on my iPhone since 1.0. Suffice to say I am extremely confused.
The other stuff is pretty cool though and may address the issues I have with the iPad, if not by release, then sometime down the road.
Mona said 3:18PM on 1-30-2010
When you SMS, you send text to a phone number.
A 3G data-only plan does not include a phone number or voice plan.
So, no SMS.
Use your brains, people.
Mike said 3:20PM on 1-30-2010
The article doesn't say that iPad software has SMS. It says that iPhone OS 3.2, which will presumably be available at some point soon for all compatible devices, has SMS.
Solidstate said 2:17PM on 1-30-2010
Is it crazy to hope that when it actually comes out it will have a camera in it?
There was talk in the weeks before release that there was going to be a delay due to a technical problem. Did Apple show a model without a camera just to give the press something to handle until they fix it - but when it's released the real model will include one.
Perhaps the Wifi model doesn't have a camera and the 3G one does. I'd like to ask those who went to the Apple event and have touched them - were all the demo models the Wifi ones or were any the 3G models.
It's all very curious.
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NateF said 3:16PM on 1-30-2010
If the camera was a last-minute thing, I could see that.
They produce 50 iPads for the event, then realize a camera could be included after all but it's too late for the show.
We can hope.
doelcm said 2:23PM on 1-30-2010
External camera. Maybe more than one. Works for video calling iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad.
Wireless (wi-fi or bluetooth) communication between the phone and camera. The camera has its own mic and can be plugged in, or has a battery.
The iDevice can be the display, or it can be projected or displayed on a larger monitor.
The more I think about this, the more I want it to be true.
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Confucious said 2:28PM on 1-30-2010
Thats a really good idea. Doesn't even have to be wireless. They've got that dock connector that already has a bunch of attachments planned for it.
mare said 2:41PM on 1-30-2010
This is just the same multitasking the iPhone does. The Phone application is always up and you can go to another app while you're on the phone.
Doesn't mean that developers outside Apple get access to multitasking.
And of course there will be a video camera, but probably In iPad version two. Apple want to sell you a new iPad/iPhone/iWhatever every year (and give the old one to your family members), that's how you increase your user base.
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Izzy said 2:57PM on 1-30-2010
Agreed. Con mucho gusto!
Hawkman said 2:42PM on 1-30-2010
Surely "the beginnings of SMS support" is actually "the remnants of SMS support". It's *iPhone* OS, after all.
The video call stuff is interesting, though. iPhone 4th Gen, perchance? But I'm not sure it indicates multitasking any more pervasive than is currently true with a phone call.
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redfood said 3:43PM on 1-30-2010
"Video calling in just part of the screen ... would be indicative of some basic type of multitasking"
iPhone OS has always supported multitasking. It just isn't available to 3rd party developers. What you mean is that the feature hints at non-exclusive screen control.
Pedantic aside, I think its more likely to be the difference between showing the video at its native resolution or scaling it up to the full screen - just like the iphone apps.
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Gazoobee said 3:30PM on 1-30-2010
This is faulty reasoning by the author.
Running video in just a portion of the screen versus full-screen does not necessarily indicate multi-tasking. Obviously, if you are video-calling, you might (as with iChat), want to see yourself talking at the same time as you are watching the other feed.
If you think about it rationally this is much more likely to be a feature for the next iPHone than the iPad and if you are walking down the street holding the phone, you need to see yourself so the camera doesn't wildly go all over. the non-fullscreen video is so the other feed can use the screen.
Additionally, "multi-tasking" doesn't necessarily mean that two programs will share the screen in any case. They are two different concepts. The iPhone already has multi-tasking of course, but the UI by *design* (and it's a good design), does not allow for anything but full screen apps. It's really unlikely that Apple will change the entire UI design to allow two programs to be on screen at once, when it isn't required for multi-tasking, and gives no benefit.
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MC SE7EN said 3:48PM on 1-30-2010
1) Shouldn't that "iPhone Simulator" say "iPad Simulator"? Aren't they separate applications?
2) Where are the close, minimize and zoom buttons on that title bar? If that was iPad or iPhone Simulator, it would either have those buttons or not have a title bar, I'd think. (iPhone Simulator doesn't have one, but I don't know about iPad Simulator.)
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Jill said 4:50PM on 1-30-2010
I REALLY hope the iPhone never gets 'real multitasking'.
It will just encourage "dead batteries" and "slower devices" and "virus running the background".
The iphone can *ALREADY* communicate with users... from apps that are NOT even running.
"Push notification" is MUCH better than "multitasking".
"Multitasking" is so 1985'ish.
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Patty said 11:43PM on 1-30-2010
I'm hoping the next iPhone has at least 1 of these.
Which would you like to see?
A front lens.
Two lens... front and back.
A switch that flips a tiny mirror than faces the lens front or back.
A pivoting lens that rotates 180 for front/back/middle.
The last idea has all kinds of possibilities:
Take pictures/video just by setting the iphone into any stand, or even laying flat on a desk... with the lens pivoted up towards your face.
(No need to try to hold your camera steady... and arms length... during a 30 mins video-chat.)
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Jerry Schuman said 5:05PM on 1-30-2010
I would like to point out that Apple has a patent that people might have forgotten about. The patent in question surrounds technology that actually allows a LCD display to also be a CAMERA.
Apple made such a huge deal about the screen at this announcement that they just might be waiting to blow people away and are not showing all the cards.
There might just be a 'one more thing' moment around release time. The patent in question can be located here and was issued in 2006.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9059
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