What's new (and gorgeous) in iOS 4.2 beta
iOS 4.2 beta has some great new features for all three of the main touch devices, meaning that you can expect the following on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad come November:
- AirPlay: Demoed by Steve Jobs at the keynote on September 1st, AirPlay gives the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch the ability to stream music to the Airport Express and movies, photos, and music to the new Apple TV with the touch of a button.
- AirPrint: As wireless printing has been one of the most commonly requested features of the iPad since its launch, it's no surprise that Apple has once again put pressure on the netbook market by granting consumers' wishes for full over-the-air printing from Safari, Photos, Mail, and more (provided you have a printer that is part of the admittedly limited compatibility list). Your print queue can be managed from a new "Print Center" icon that appears in the multitasking bar. The biggest surprise? You'll be able to print from your iPhone and iPod touch, too.
- Changing fonts in the Notes app: In what designers and artists may hail as the greatest single advancement ever made on the platform, Apple has given users the option to change the font that the included Notes app displays. Your choices now include Apple's original "Marker Felt," the equally ugly "Chalkboard," and the wonderful, majestic king of typefaces known as "Helvetica."
- 'Find In Page' Search in Safari: A small but incredibly useful feature makes its debut on all devices in iOS 4.2 beta. 'Find In Page' appears below the Google Suggest search results when the user activates the search box, and it works quite similarly to Safari for Mac.
As tech blogs have been reporting, iOS 4.2 is all about making the iPad even more appealing to the average consumer. Apple hasn't disappointed, and it's added a metric ton of new features to bring the iPad up to snuff with the iPhone and iPod touch. Here's what you'll be seeing on your iPad once iOS 4.2 drops:
- Multitasking: Yes, it's here, and it works just like it does on the iPhone: really well. Double tapping on the Home button will reveal the fabric toolbar that we know and love. The most notable changes, however, are only apparent when swiping the bar to the right. This reveals a new brightness adjustment slider (thank you, Apple!) and a dedicated icon for locking and unlocking the iPad's orientation. Speaking of which...
- The orientation switch is now a mute switch: It's obvious that Apple has realized their apparent mistake in changing the function of the side switch just weeks before the iPad launched. It now acts just like it would on an iPhone: muting and unmuting the device. Previously, the volume rocker buttons had control over the iPad's mute function, leaving the side switch to function as a dedicated hardware toggle for the most frequently changed setting on the device. People who got used to the switch acting as an orientation lock may end up disliking this change, but it's a good move. It standardizes functionality across all iOS devices, meaning users don't have to get used to switches doing different things on different devices.
- Game Center: Apple's much-anticipated social gaming network is already a hit on the smaller devices, and I expect it to be just as popular on the iPad. Game Center for the iPad is adorned with the same gorgeous coat of emerald green felt, polished wooden framing, and golden tokens that look so great on the iPhone and iPod touch. Apple made some unique additions to take advantage of the iPad's larger screen, such as the new login screen that showcases featured games in a style reminiscent of poker chips on a game table.
- Folders: It shouldn't have taken this long, and the iPad probably should have shipped with the feature, but we can finally rejoice in the arrival of folders on the iPad's homescreen. Unlike the iPhone and iPod touch with their 12-app maximum, the iPad can hold up to 20 apps per folder. With six folders containing 20 apps each, you can easily store 120 apps on your dock. Well, provided that you have 120 apps and a four-hour block of free time to reorganize them all.
- Unified Mail inbox & threaded messages. The iPad can now handle multiple email accounts with the style and grace of a thousand figure skaters by merging all of your inboxes into one easily readable list, organized by message threads. These features are already available on the iPhone and iPod touch, and they are welcome additions to Apple's tasty tablet computer.
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Source: http://tuaw.com/tag/iOS
If you're as excited as I am about the iOS 4.2 beta being released, you probably spent the majority of Wednesday paging through all of the...
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air play don't play (under 4.2)...went back to 3.2.2 :(
September 19 2010 at 10:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI do mot like the orientation button change. I often hold it in odd positions laying on my side, and I use it to ensure it doesn't flip endlessly with the slightest angle. It takes a millisecond to mute with the volume rocker.
Allow us to chose, it's that simple.
Guess that answers the question if I'm going to jailbreak 4.2...
Consistency across all iOS devices?
Um, the iPod touch doesn't have a mute button. Just power, volume up, volume down, and home.
I quite literally use mine for work every day - five days a week. I write reports in Pages, make and give presentations using Keynote (on the iPad), check and respond to email, research items online, use the Google Voice website as a call center...
The iPad is hugely useful as a productive device - it has essentially replaced my MacBook - I only take the MB along with me now when I need a second screen.
So far on iPad...
- Mail crashes a heck of a lot.
- I do not see the Wi-Fi signal strength indicator, and often despite saying it's connected, I have no access
- Safari randomly does not load all of the content of web pages
Sniffing out other bugs to report now. It's not as bad as the beta of 4.0 was on 3G, but it still isn't ready for prime time.
man you apple fan bois kill me, i remember when they could do no wrong in my book as well. the second anyone denigrates a product from apple, no matter if it deserves it or not, you get voted down to half a star bunch of crybabies.
im so sorry that i offended your weak sensibilities! /end sarcasm.
i know the iPhone is running some flavor of iOS but that doesn't mean any apps for the iPhone or iPad or anything else will run on the steaming pile of junk.
Right now I have the original AppleTV downstairs hooked up to a terabyte hard drive with over 1000 movies on it sharing its collection with every other AppleTV in the house. no need for any other computers, just a wireless router. will that be possible with the new appletv? no. is that a giant step backwards? yes. does airplay or netflix make up for this? not a chance.
and do some research before you vote me down or bash me, the USB port on the new AppleTV is host only, it will be impossible to hook a hard drive up to.
correction, i meant to say i know the AppleTV is running some flavor of iOS
September 17 2010 at 5:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have access to 4.2 for my iPhone 4. Does the iPhone have AirPlay? or maybe AirPrint in Safari?
What I've noticed on a 3G iPad (and have accounted it toward the fact it's a 'beta'):
On the Cellular preference, the option to view your account is not present. Only a toggle to turn data on and off; while on, a second toggle to enable roaming. SIM PIN option as well. But nothing about the account info.
"When are we going to see an "iPad Pro" for people who want to do some actual mobile computing instead of just watching movies on the couch?"
That's called "Macbook".
"I've owned and used most every mobile computing device you've every heard of and the iPad is *not* a mobile computer. It's a portable *screen*. There is a big, BIG difference."
Uh....if all you see is a "portable screen" then I suggest you take it back and get it replaced. Cuz yours is obviously broken.
It seems pretty obvious to me that the "reader" functionality in the new Safari for OSX would be much more useful in iOS on the iPhone. It's not uncommon for me to have to rotate to landscape just to get text large enough to read. Anyone else feel the same way? Anyone heard anything about this feature making it's way into Safari for iOS?
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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