Earlier today, Apple unveiled its new iPhone OS, version 4.0.  The new software will power the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad and adds a variety of new features to the mix.  Chief among these is a form of multitasking, and other “tentpoles” include an Xbox Live replica called “Gaming Center,” enhanced email support, and more:

• Multitasking on iPhone 3GS
• User-changeable wallpaper (something jailbroken users have enjoyed for years)
• Bluetooth keyboard support (from iPad)
• Spell check (also from iPad)
• Tap-based autofocus for video (not just photos) on 3GS
• 5x digital zoom for camera (why?)
• Enhanced playlist support (on-device playlist creation, nested lists)
• iBooks (from iPad)
• App folders (another jailbreak favorite- you can finally sort multiple apps into folders)
• New mail features (unified inbox for multiple accounts, threaded email, in-app attachment viewing, support for multiple MS Exchange accounts)
• Enterprise enhancements (remote device management, wireless app distribution)
• iAd (Apple’s new mobile advertising system, promising more interactive ads than ever before, 60:40 revenue split with Apple)
• Game Center (Apple’s mobile replica of Xbox Live for iPhone games, including matchmaking, achievements, and leaderboards; will launch sometime later this year (after OS 4 launch))

More details after the break.

Multitasking

Apple says its implementation of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0 is going to be the “best” on the market.  Double-tapping the home button brings up a “dock” that shows icons for each currently-active application.  Tapping on an icon switches the phone to the selected app.

However, this is not the kind of “real” multitasking found on Windows Mobile, Android, or Palm WebOS phones, which let full applications switch into the background, just like your desktop PC.  Nor is it like the current iPhone OS, which completely shuts down apps (except Apple’s own Mail, iPod, and Safari apps) upon returning to the home screen (some apps save some data upon exit to be able to return to where the user was, but most don’t).

Instead, iPhone OS 4.0 borrows a page from Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 OS and can “suspend” certain applications in their current state when the user switches to something else.  Then when the user switches back to the app, it can be restored to the foreground exactly as it was before.  What makes Apple’s system worthy of being called “multitasking” is that it allows apps that are about to be suspended to request up to 5 minutes of time to continue running as-is.

This would allow, for instance, a Flickr app to finish uploading photos before it gets suspended.  Apps can also request the OS to run seven different types of services for them in the background:

• Background audio – allows apps like Pandora to use the standard pop-over iPod controls for background playback
• Voice over IP – allows apps like Skype to receive calls in the background
• Location services – GPS and social networking apps can continue to provide location-based updates (like TomTom driving directions)
• Local notifications – background apps can notify you (currently, the iPhone only supports server-hosted remote notifications)
• Task completion – apps can finish tasks like file uploads in the background
• Fast app switching – apps can be suspended/resumed (as described above)

Apple claims that its implementation of multitasking avoids the pitfalls of “real” multitasking- namely that running background apps causes higher power consumption and negatively affects the performance of the foreground application.  We doubt the OS can completely alleviate these (after all, it will still be running extra services in the background, even if not full apps, so it’ll have to use additional CPU power), but it will indeed probably save a bit of battery life.

Instant messaging clients like Beejive will be left out of the iPhone OS 4.0 multitasking party

Limitations

The vast majority of iPhone users have been living happily for years without any form of multitasking for third-party apps, so iPhone OS 4.0 will definitely be an upgrade.  Unlike Windows Mobile, Android, or WebOS, which provide task managers to let users manually close applications, the iPhone implementation has no such feature, preferring to manage app closing only by itself.

We see some issues in Apple’s approach– primarily that some types of applications, like instant messaging (IM / IRC) clients, will not be supported for background usage.  IM apps require little more than a constant network connection, which the OS’ background VoIP services can provide, but IM apps likely won’t fit into that category in the app store.

Further, the multitasking pop-up display, showing little more than application icons, is more reminiscent of the classic Windows Mobile Task Manager, which Apple has often ridiculed, than the current state of the art, namely Palm WebOS’ task switcher.  WebOS provides live snapshots of apps (“cards”) that the user can then switch between or close.  This is something jailbroken iPhone users have enjoyed for a while, through apps like ProSwitcher:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apple probably can’t provide this kind of multitasking UI because unlike “real” multitasking systems, full apps aren’t actually running in the background in iPhone OS 4.0 (so what would it show a screenshot from?).

Apple claimed the iPhone 2G's chipset was physically incapable of supporting Stereo Bluetooth, yet a simple jailbroken patch enables it

The Usual Apple Upsell

Unfortunately, iPhone OS 4.0 continues an Apple tradition of artificially restricting features on its older devices in order to promote new hardware upgrades.  OS 4.0 will not enable multitasking on any device released before the iPhone 3GS and the latest iPod touch.  This is unfortunate because even the first-generation iPhone is completely capable of “real” multitasking (through jailbreaking), so it would definitely have no problem with OS 4.0′s “lighter” implementation.

However, this is nothing new– when Apple released iPhone OS 3.0, it finally added MMS (picture messaging) support for 3G and 3GS iPhones, but not the original one, citing technical reasons (when in fact jailbroken apps could provide full MMS support on the 2G model).  Similarly, Apple added A2DP Stereo Bluetooth support (for wireless headphones) but left out the iPhone 2G, saying its Bluetooth chipset lacked the necessary features.  This, too, was false, and a simple patch can enable A2DP in 2G iPhones.

Related posts:

1. iPhone SDK 3.2 hints at 3rd party app multitasking
2. Apple announces iPhone 4S: A5 processor, HSDPA/CDMA, 8 MP, dual antenna
3. Next-Gen iPhone 4G Rumors: iPhone HD?

Several questions were left unanswered at Microsoft’s launch of Windows Phone 7 Series at the Mobile World Congress 2010 on February 15.  Since then, and particularly at the MIX developer conference this week, we’ve begun to hear answers, most of which indicate that Microsoft has dramatically shifted its view of smartphones.  To summarize, Windows Phone 7 Series has no multitasking, removable storage (MicroSD cards) support, file explorer, or copy-and-paste.

It’s quite clear that Microsoft has shifted lock-stock-and-barrel from its idea of shrinking near-PC-level functionality into smartphones (Windows Mobile actually used to be called “Pocket PC”) to instead embrace Apple’s tightly-controlled, appliance-like approach to phones– the kind of vertically-integrated approach Microsoft has already used for Xbox and Zune.

Essentially what we’re left with is a misnamed OS– this is not a Windows Phone, but a Zune Phone.  The “Windows” brand implies a full-fledged computer, not a music player with a phone built in.  It’s important to note that Apple’s phone is not called a Mac Phone– it’s an extended iPod, hence iPhone.  Microsoft also makes this branding separation- Xbox and Zune don’t contain any Windows branding, for example.  Why, then, does Microsoft continue to use the Windows Phone brand when its mobile OS no longer has anything to do with Windows?

Read on for more details.

Multitasking

The first question that arose after Microsoft’s MWC presentation was whether Windows Phone 7 Series would support real multitasking as seen in Windows Mobile 6.x, Google’s Android OS, and Palm’s WebOS.  The answer is no.  While we were initially led to believe that the OS has some form of multitasking enabled for only certain applications, Microsoft revealed at MIX that in fact it has no multitasking support at all.  Once the user returns home from an app, the app is suspended in memory (“dehydrated”).  If the OS needs more memory, it’ll shift the suspended app into storage.  When the user starts the app again, it’ll be restored (“rehydrated”) either from memory or storage, but the key point is, of course, that the app cannot run in the background when it’s not immediately facing the user.

This means that, just like the current iPhone, Windows Phone 7 Series will entirely lack multitasking.  In other words, simple tasks like playing internet radio from Pandora or chatting in an IM client while browsing the web will now be impossible.

Most interesting, of course, is the rumor that the iPhone may get multitasking support in version 4.0 (likely arriving in June), which would create quite an amusing situation– Microsoft will have regressed from an OS (Windows Mobile) that supports true multitasking, copy-and-paste, and much more, into one that has none of those, while the competition will have moved in the other direction.

Side-Loaded Apps

Windows Mobile 6.x was like a real Windows desktop OS in that you can install apps from anywhere– load your own programs from an SD card (“side-loading”), use Microsoft’s Marketplace for Mobile, buy apps from one of the dozens of third-party stores online, etc.

Microsoft has stated that the only way to load applications on a Windows Phone 7 Series device, however, will be through the Windows Phone Marketplace (though special arrangements will be made for enterprise customers).  This is identical to Apple’s apps policy on the iPhone and much more restrictive than that of Windows Mobile or Google Android, both of which support “side-loading” apps.  As a result, while you could theoretically write your own WinMo or Android app and host it (or sell it) on your own website with no additional costs, this is not the case for Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft clearly now thinks of mobile phones in the same category as media players and video game consoles– both Zune and Xbox have tightly-controlled third-party content and application support.

Removable Storage

Most Windows Mobile phones have limited on-board storage, instead relying on MicroSD cards (which are currently available at sizes up to 16GB, with 32GB cards coming soon) for memory expansion.  This allows manufacturers to save a bit on phone production costs, gives customers flexibility (you can choose different sizes of cards, swap out cards, etc.), and also makes phones more futureproof (you can always purchase a larger card later on, instead of having to buy a new phone, as on the iPhone).

Yet Microsoft opted to remove MicroSD card support in Windows Phone 7 Series.  We can think of two major reasons for this.  One, built-in storage is probably easier for average consumers to deal with than external cards.  More importantly, however, it allows for Microsoft to much more tightly control DRM content (songs, videos, etc.) and organize the phone’s storage space as it likes.

This is the Zune and Xbox approach to storage, not the Windows one.

File System

Windows Mobile 6.x File Explorer and iFile application for jailbroken iPhones

Windows Mobile has always had a PC-like file system accessible through USB and other means, along with a File Explorer to work with files on the phone itself.  This made things convenient for power users, but perhaps less so for normal users who are more used to iTunes than dragging and dropping files into folders on a USB disk.

Windows Phone 7 Series takes a radical swing in the other direction, completely adopting Apple’s approach.  The file system, like that of the iPhone and iPods, is encrypted and inaccessible by any means other than the Zune desktop software, which manages songs and videos.  WP7 also lacks a File Explorer for managing files on the phone.

Again, this is the way Zune and Xbox handle files (hide them from you, Apple-style), not how Windows does.

Copy and Paste

Even Microsoft's Pocket PC 2000, which predated most handheld color screens, had copy-and-paste; Apple added the feature in iPhone OS 3.0

As confirmed recently, Windows Phone 7 Series lacks copy-and-paste support.  Microsoft says it’s built in a system that detect and turn phone numbers and email addresses into links, which should take care of what most users would need copy-and-paste for.  That’s an interesting take, given that Apple, Palm, and even RIM have such a “smart highlighting” feature built in, yet also have copy-and-paste support, and even more so because Windows Phone has traditionally been strong in business productivity through the Office Mobile suite.  Doesn’t Microsoft realize that copy-and-paste is crucial for creating and editing documents?  Or that Apple added the feature to the iPhone OS (in version 3.0) for a reason?

Conclusion – Microsoft Builds a Zune Phone

Most of these issues won’t affect the average consumer.  After all, millions of people were happy with even the first-generation Apple iPhone OS, which lacked all of these features and didn’t even have third-party app support.  But the market has changed, and thanks to Google Android and Palm’s WebOS, many smartphone buyers are now used to multitasking on their phones.  Of course, it’s particularly sad that Microsoft would omit these features, given that Windows Mobile, whose expansive feature set is oft-underappreciated, has had them for years.  So what does this mean?  It means that, as stated repeatedly at the Windows Phone 7 Series launch, Microsoft now thinks “the phone is not a PC.”

Microsoft has dropped the “Pocket PC” thinking that drove nearly a decade and a half of Windows handheld computing OSes, instead adopting Apple’s idea of the phone as a smart appliance.  Appliances are meant to be easy to use, with a single or few purposes.  So what you end up with is Windows Phone 7 Series– sure, it has the same underlying bits as Windows Mobile, paired with an impressive array of development tools, thanks to Microsoft’s corporate stack of .NET, XNA, Silverlight, Visual Studio, Expression Blend, and more, but at its heart, WP7 is the Zune Phone people have long clamored for.  You asked for it, so you got it.

Meanwhile those of us looking for something more open, more tweakable, less under lock-and-key, will have to look elsewhere.  Windows Mobile 6.x will be around for a while, thanks to the HTC HD2 (quite a fitting finale for WinMo, we must say) and XDA-Developers, if not Microsoft and HTC, but what about after that?  Will Android be the only remaining open platform once WinMo withers away?

Related posts:

1. Microsoft Team Builds Windows Phone 7-Controlled T-Shirt Cannon Robots
2. Microsoft renames Windows Phone 7 Series to Windows Phone 7
3. Microsoft discontinues Zune HD

Apple’s newly-released iPhone SDK 3.2 beta has an interesting new reference to “multitasking dialog box,” a new feature of “Apex” (possibly iPhone OS 4.0?) that suggests users might finally be able to multitask with third party apps (currently only Apple’s apps like the iPod and email apps can multitask).  This could be an iPad-specific feature, or it could just be referring to a method for managing Apple’s stock apps.

The text says “some devices have spotlight [the search feature] lumped in with the multitasking dialog box,” followed by a reference to a new way to get back to the iPhone springboard (home screen), by double-tapping the home screen.  Currently double-tapping brings up the iPod controls.

Related posts:

1. Apple unveils iPhone OS 4.0, adds multitasking
2. Next-Gen iPhone 4G Rumors: iPhone HD?
3. iPhone 4 screen smashed in first drop test

A couple of interesting videos have come out of the Windows Phone 7 Series demos at TechEd Middle East.  The first shows multi-tasking with the phone’s Internet Explorer browser, showing the browser instantly loading a site (either having been paused earlier or loading the site in the background) and then having a site collapse into a live tile on the start page.  The second shows cross-platform gaming, with a game starting on a PC, then shifting to Windows Phone 7 Series, and finishing on Xbox.

Videos after the break:

Web Browser Multi-tasking

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cross-Platform Gaming

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related posts:

1. Windows Mobile 7 Rumors: Zune-like UI, No Multi-tasking?
2. Windows Phone 7 Series: Videos
3. Microsoft reveals Windows Phone 7 games: Xbox Live in your pocket