I’ll keep this quick:
OS 4 will be released sometime this summer…not soon enough. So, here is my basic breakdown on the features and what they have to offer.
Multitasking:
I’m very happy that Apple has added multitasking to the list of things that the iPhone will be able to do. For many of it’s users, we wanted it awhile ago and were just willing to deal with not having it. The UI is okay, but I don’t like the fact that it will push the current app up. I would rather have it up over as a ‘pop up’ and just switch that way. It is a personal design aesthetic like I think I’d personally like more than what they showed, but I’m not going to complain about having multitasking. Now, to be fair, it isn’t “true multitasking” in all cases, because some apps are just essentially paused instead of keep going in the background, but I think for the user that is best anyways. You don’t want a game to keep going when you need/want to do other tasks. The ability to use music streaming apps and geo location apps in the background will be a big plus overall with the phone. I’ll stream last.fm in the background while I do other things on my phone.
iAds:
This honestly makes me nervous. I understand that Apple is directly competing with Google in this and that all they want to do (besides make money) is to show that they can compete. It may be nice fo devs to integrate their ads better into the app, but I hope that with paid apps we won’t see them. Free apps I’m okay with seeing them, as long as they aren’t overwhelming. I don’t have the issue with Apple. I have the issue with devs getting greedy and making ads obtrusive. Overall, it just makes me nervous, and for now until I see it in a real life application I can’t judge it.
Application Folders:
This will finally allow me to store apps on the iPhone that I don’t use all the time. I still expect to use the search feature to find most apps, but at least I can keep my app pages down to 1 or 2. The first page of apps I use often, and the 2nd of apps I don’t use all that much but still want to have on hand just incase. The UI is nice, but it isn’t what I imagined.
Universal mailbox:
I like having my e-mail addresses separate, so this isn’t a big deal to me, but I’m sure there are a lot of people that are really happy about this. They also have threaded messaging, which is nice, but again, I’ve learned to live without it.
iPad:
It won’t be available for the iPad until Fall. To me, this bites. I knew that the new OS would run on the iPad, I was just expecting them to release it at the same time as the iPhone update. It isn’t really logical to me that they are waiting to add it to the iPad, but that is the decision they are making. It just means that I will be buying the iPad when multitasking is an option. I really like the iPad, after having played with it in person for about 2 hours now, but I’m still going to wait until I can do several things at once and use it the way I want to.
Other:
Spell check – Finally!
Bluetooth keyboard – Finally, although I don’t see myself using it with something other than the iPad
User-defined wallpaper – Just like the iPad…finally, it is here. Will I use it? I doubt it, but we’ll see.
Tap to focus on video as well as 5x digital zoom for camera – Video: about time; Camera: meh
Playlist creation – I use smart playlists for that, and that is sufficient for me. I actually keep very little music on my iPad now that I use last.fm for most of my music discovery.
iBooks for iPhone – This isn’t a big deal to me, but I’m sure it will make the people who plan on using the iBooks store heavily happy. They are trying to make it available on more devices and I believe that they are responding to Amazon here.
More enterprise features – I don’t use it, but again the people who do will be happy I’m sure.
Game Center – meh. I don’t see the value in it yet, but I hope to later.
Conclusion:
Overall, it is good that Apple is updating the iPhone OS. It is about time, and some of the things they are fixing I’m very happy about. Most of it I am able to gloss over though because I’m not an App developer and truly can’t understand the power of everything announced until I see how it affects me as an end user.
oh, it will only work on the iPhone 3GS and the new hardware they are most likely coming out with in June/July. I have a 3GS because I’m fine upgrading every 2 years. I’m sorry for the 3G owners who will have to upgrade to get multitasking and other features, but I understand that Apple wants to push newer hardware with faster processors.
-Kyle
Check out Apple, Gizmodo, Engadget, and any other tech sites you enjoy to see videos and pictures of the features. 
