With iPad preorders officially starting tomorrow, attention has shifted to iPhone 4.0 software and what features it might bring to both the iPad and future iPhone models.

Apple Insider is now adding fuel to the long-standing rumors that the next big update to Apple’s iPhone OS will feature support for multitasking — that is, the ability for third-party apps to run in the background.

As anyone with a jailbroken iPhone knows, the multitasking limitation for third-party applications in the iPhone OS is purely artificial. Whether it is for security purposes, performance or battery life, Apple has chosen not to allow third-party developers (or even third-party Apple created apps) to run concurrently in the background.

This means that if you want to listen to Pandora while surfing the web in Mobile Safari, well, too bad. Of all the complaints levied against the iPhone, this is probably the one that impacts consumers the most. It doesn’t help that you can, for instance, use the iPod application while surfing the web or using other apps.

Push notifications have mitigated some of the need for many use cases for multitasking — but it’s not a true solution.

Multitasking in iPhone 4.0?

Even a year ago, the multitasking issue with the iPhone 3.0 OS wasn’t as problematic as it is now, in part because while competing mobile platforms did offer support for running third-party apps in the background, the competition from those platforms wasn’t as strong.

A year later, we have Palm’s webOS, the BlackBerry, Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series, and of course, what many see as the iPhone’s biggest competition: Google’s Android platform.

For the iPhone to remain as enticing to developers as it is now (and in turn, as attractive to users), future versions of the software will need to support multitasking by third-party applications in some capacity.

AppleInsider says that its sources say Apple has developed a “full-on-solution,” but details about how that solution will be implemented and what rules applications will need to follow to address multitasking was not revealed.

Steve Jobs is famous for taking features out of a product if they don’t meet his standards. As a long-time smart phone user who has used devices on almost every major smartphone platform, I can attest to some of the very real problems that multitasking or excessive backgrounding can cause for those devices.

They include, but are not limited to:

Decreased Battery Life — More apps running at once means more CPU usage, which means battery life can be reduced.

Slowdowns, freezes, crashes — As a long-time BlackBerry user before I migrated to the iPhone, I remember the “three finger salute” reboot mechanism far too well. At least once a day (more often if I happened to open up my RSS reader or my e-mail was particularly heavy) I had to reboot my Berry in order to reset the memory cache and allow the device to work at a pace that didn’t resemble molasses. Android devices I’ve used have had this same problem (although not to the extent as my BlackBerry Curve) and homebrew Palm Pre developers have even written a tool that schedules phone reboots to handle the issue.

Switching apps can be awkward — This is probably one of the biggest challenges Apple will have to face — beyond just the technical tricks for implementing better resource handling and allocation — the mechanism used to switch between open applications can be cumbersome, depending on the type of application. With it’s one-button design, the iPhone will likely have to employ some sort of gesture for opening or accessing other apps — if indeed it implements multitasking the same way that BlackBerry and Android do.

Rumors about multitasking coming to the iPhone in a supported form have been swirling for literally years, so any report on whether or not it will be a reality in iPhone 4.0 is pure speculation.

That said, if Apple doesn’t address multitasking with its next big release, it risks falling behind other players moving forward.

Tags: apple, iphone, iPhone 4.0, iphone os, multitasking

Last week, an App Store error got the latest version of Foursquare for the iPhone into a few users hands a little bit early.

That hiccup resulted in the app briefly disappearing from the App Store before finally returning early yesterday. Now the newly designed version of the app is in the App Store and available for everyone to check out.

Foursquare 1.7 features a new design, faster checkins and shouts, plus an easy way to view your checkin history. The app also features pull-to-refresh, a la Tweetie 2 for the iPhone. The app is a lot more responsive in our tests and the new interface is a big enhancement.

This is a nice improvement from the old release and a fitting first-birthday gift of sorts as the app is arriving just before SXSW 2010 — where the app made its first big splash last year — begins.

What do you think of the new Foursquare app? Let us know!

Tags: foursquare, foursquare iphone, iphone apps

Web-based Twitter client Brizzly has three major developments to report: a new free iPhone app, a new Brizzly Guide (which gives trending topics on Twitter their own hub pages as permanent resources for information on the top Twitter discussion items over time), and the acquisition of WikiRank.

The Brizzly Guide is a user-editable area that fleshes out the backstory and adds contextual information to Twitter trends. Loading up the Guide shows the top 10 current trending topics at the left, and either a description of that topic or a prompt to be the first to explain the trend.

Taking cues from wiki-style user-editable sites like Wikipedia, the Brizzly Guide encourages users to curate the landing pages that will act as resources for current and past Twitter trends over time.

The free Brizzly iPhone app is available now in the App Store, featuring multiple account support, lists, photo uploads, saved searches syncing, classic-style retweet functionality, and support for the new Brizzly Guide with user-editable trends and news topics.

Further evidence of Brizzly’s adoption of wiki-style philosophy comes with the announcement of the company’s acquisition of Wikirank, an app that visualizes Wikipedia data and will soon, presumably, help visualize Brizzly data and build out a more robust Brizzly Guide. Wikirank displays popular and trending pages in a clean and easy-to-use interface. CEO Jason Shellen said of the acquisition, “We will be integrating Wikirank technology into the Brizzly Guide over the coming months,” so we should expect to see more from the Twitter client surrounding trending and data visualization in the near future.

Are you a Brizzly user? What do you currently use to monitor Twitter trends?

Tags: brizzly, iphone, iphone apps, twitter

iPhone to Become #1 Camera on Flickr

For the longest time, the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi has been the most widely used camera on Flickr. With a 10.1 MP Lens, an image sensor vibration cleaning system, 9-point auto focus, and a mid-range price point, it’s easy to see why the Canon camera has been so popular with the photography enthusiasts on Yahoo’s photo-sharing website.

But while Canon has dominated, there’s another camera that’s been zipping up the Flickr charts. Actually, camera phone would be more precise, because we’re talking about the iPhone.

That smartphone, with its weak 2 MP camera and its lack of zoom, is now set to overtake Canon Rebel XTi as the #1 camera on Flickr (). This is according to Flickr’s Camera Finder graphs. Actually, as the LA Times has already caught, the iPhone has already passed the Rebel XTi on a few occasions as the two duke it out for the top spot.

So what does this development mean? First, it’s a reflection of the intense popularity of mobile smartphones and specifically the rise of the iPhone. You always have a camera in your pocket (and with the 3GS, a camcorder too). Just as important is that it’s easy to upload your pictures directly from your mobile phone to your Flickr account. That’s something most digital cameras can’t do, since they aren’t connected to 3G or Wifi connections.

This doesn’t mean people prefer lower quality images over the higher resolution photos that can be captured with cameras of the Rbel XTi’s quality. Instead, it’s a sign that the world is becoming a more mobile place. Being able to get your photos to all of your friends while on-the-go is part of that mobile revolution.

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Apple Rejects Dictionary App for Containing Swear Words

Apple’s App Store is quickly getting a reputation for bizarre rejections: famous examples include the Nine Inch Nails application and an eBook reader that allowed users to search for the Kama Sutra. (Both situations were later resolved.)

Today comes news of what might be the strangest App Store rejection yet: a dictionary was rejected twice because it contained swear words. The iPhone App for online dictionary Ninjawords was rejected, claims DaringFireball, for containing the words “sh*t” and “f**k” – you could only find those entries by searching for the exact words though, meaning it’s no more likely to cause offence than the dictionaries available in bookstores. The app’s developer explains:

We were rejected for objectionable content. They provided screenshots of the words ‘sh*t’ and ‘f**k’ showing up in our dictionary’s search results. What’s interesting is that we spent a good deal of time making it so that you must type vulgar words in their entirety, and only then will we show you suggestions in the search results. For instance, if you type ‘fuc’, you will not see ‘f**k’ as a suggestion. This is in contrast to all other dictionaries we’re aware of on the App Store (including Dictionary.com’s application), which will show you ‘f**k’ in the search results for ‘fuc’, ‘motherf**ker’ for ‘mother’, etc.

After app developer Matchstick Software added filters to remove these words, Apple rejected it a second time for containing the word “c*nt”. Ninjawords is now in the App Store [iTunes link], but carries a 17+ rating despite the fact that its swear words have been removed. Other dictionaries in the App Store do allow you to search for and find swear words, the developers point out.

The incident will further incense those who question the consistency of Apple’s App Store rejection policies. Even the FCC is weighing into the controversy, with letters sent last week to Apple, AT&T and Google over the rejection of the Google Voice app.

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Found this post out on the web after getting to my in-laws and finding out that they had no WiFi! Ouch! Luckily, had just upgraded to the new 3GS and it turned out to be a lifesaver! This method is simple and straightforward and gets you up and running in less than 5 minutes guaranteed! Here is the link. Enjoy just one of the many benefit this beautiful device has to offer!

http://help.benm.at/help.php

Basically, here are the instructions:

To use a Mobileconfig you need at least Firmware 3.0!

MMS/VVM Problem:
If you want to use tethering you have to install a Mobileconfig. If MMS or VVM stops working on your official iPhone Provider Device, go to:

Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
Settings > General > Reset > Network > Internet Tethering is where you will go to turn Internet Tethering on and off. It seems to me that the battery life is used up more quickly when Internet Tethering is enabled, regardless of whether or not you are actually using the feature, so I recommend turning it off when you aren’t.

After the short reset you can MMS, use the Voicemail AND you have Tethering enabled.

Attention:
Please check your contract, prices for data usage and the APN settings for your mobile network before using these configs! Otherwise high costs may arise! I have personally found that with my current plan with AT&T, data is unlimited and when checking the account online, nothing seems to be awry or amiss with extra charges for using my tethered phone.

You can also change the carrier settings later after the installation of a mobileconfig under Settings > Nework > Cellular Data Network!

You use this service and config files on your own risk. At this point, birdbathBUZZ only offers the pure configurations that BenM. posted in the link above, please note and respect your phone contracts.

Tethering & Internet Settings
Mobileconfigsdownload – Here you can find and install the right settings for your provider! With these files you can enable mobile web and tethering!

Just tap on your provider to install the mobileconfig! After installing a config YOU HAVE TO REBOOT to add MMS settings etc.!

THE GENERATOR IS NOW ACTIVE!

With the Mobileconfig Generator you can create your own Mobileconfigs!
MMS Provider Settings & MMS Settings
Here you can find the correct MMS settings for your provider!

And, there you have it. The basic steps to setting up Internet Tethering on your iPhone 3GS.