In March of 2008 and 2009, Apple took the opportunity to preview the next version of the operating system for the iPhone. The target audience has always been developers, who need to start getting their iPhone apps ready before the new operating system comes out, but mere iPhone users also have a chance to learn what is coming next. On March 6, 2008, Apple announced iPhone Software 2.0, which allowed third party apps for the first time. This was the single biggest change that Apple ever made to the iPhone, and today it is hard to imagine the iPhone without apps. The picture on the invitation for the 2.0 announcement was:
On March 17, 2009, Apple announced iPhone Software 3.0, disclosing a slew of new features including copy and paste, spotlight and search, updates within apps, push notification, GPS turn-by-turn directions, the landscape keyboard, and many others. The picture for the invitation to that announcement was:
A few weeks ago on March 17, in addition to thinking green, I also thought about the fact that Apple had not yet announced anything about iPhone 4.0. Of course, at the time, everyone was focused on the iPad and not the iPhone, but I did wonder whether we would see an announcement soon.
Yesterday, two days after the iPad first went on sale, Apple announced that this Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 am Pacific, Apple will preview iPhone OS 4.0. The picture on the invitation sent to selected members of the press is:
I'm sure that Apple has known for many weeks that they would have this announcement, but the company didn't tell the world because Apple wanted the focus to remain on the iPad. But now that the iPad is out there, developers really need to know about the new software ASAP, so Apple cannot wait much longer to have this announcement.
What will we see on Thursday? Considering how major the iPhone 2.0 and 3.0 announcements were, people are expecting quite a bit. Probably the #1 feature being requested for the iPhone and the iPad — I presume that iPhone 4.0 will work on both devices — is the ability to run multiple apps at the same time with some apps running in the background. Who knows whether this feature will be announced, but I do notice that the picture on the invitation for this Thursday includes the number four IN THE BACKGROUND. I know, I know, I'm probably reading too much into a picture, but you have to admit that this is at least a possible explanation. We'll see in a few days.
As important as the Thursday announcement will be, it is really only one half of the big iPhone news for 2010. I also expect to see new iPhone hardware this year, perhaps announced around June 28, 2010 because that is when an anonymous "corporate event" thought to be Apple is scheduled for the Moscone Center in San Francisco. But because I expect that iPhone OS 4.0 will work on most or all current iPhones in addition to the iPhone that Apple will announce this summer — which I'm guessing will be called the iPhone HD — the announcement this Thursday will be more important for a greater number of iPhone users.
I am excited to see what we learn on Thursday, and you can be sure that I will discuss it here on Friday.
