Today’s iPhone OS 4.0 preview included plenty of new features that have been requested by developers and users alike. We’ll run through a quick summary of the major additions to the operating system and go in-depth as more information becomes available.
One of the biggest features that Apple has now added to iPhone OS 4.0 is multitasking, implemented in a way that prevents Apps from draining the battery or slowing performance. Apple listed 7 core functions that would be provided by APIs for use by developers:
- Background Audio
- Voice over IP
- Background location
- Push notifications
- Local notifications
- Task completion
- Fast app switching
Applications that were demoed performing functions in the background include Skype, which allowed a call to remain connected, Pandora, which kept streaming audio running, and TomTom which continued to provide turn-by-turn directions even after the user had switched away from the App itself. Read more
Another record financial quarter for Apple
Apple hosted its quarterly earnings call today at 5PM EDT, announcing revenue of $13.50 billion and net profit of $3.07 billion or $3.33 per diluted share, up from $1.62 billion net profit and $1.79 per diluted share from one year ago. Gross margin was 41.7 percent, up from 39.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer predicted that the company expects to see revenue of $13.0 billion to $13.4 billion for Q3 2010 along with earnings per share between $2.28 and $2.39.
The press release posted to the Apple website quotes Steve Jobs as saying Apple had its “best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent”. Read more