iPhone to Finally Gain Multitasking This Summer

[dopey117]

Ssshhh dont give him any ideas!

 

[SlickyFats]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]I think you dopey117 and the droid are sad, plus verizon is a network for chicks and homos! The Droid really? LOL. I'll put my bigger brighter screen 32Gb 3GS against your garbage droid any day. How much storage does it have again, oh nevermind. I laugh at you apple haters so much, always feeling the need to bash something you know nothing about other than what other apple haters say. So what its not true multitasking, thats why I have a self built quad core desktop that I'm sure drives circles around whatever girly computer you have at home. So take your apple bashing elsewhere and type something productive moron.[/citation]
Wow that is a typical Apple Fanboy. "My phone is cooler because it just is" Well sorry but NO. WinMo, BB, Symbian and more recently Android and WebOS have had multi-tasking capabilities for a long time now. Apple just does a very good job of making out of date software look very appealing. Big buttons and bright colors attract all little kids to toys why not use the same when having people buy you "phone". I owned and iPhone and the lack of user control it simply ridiculous (non-jailbroken of course). It sad that because people feel like the iPhone is easier to use and that automatically means its a better phone. The iPhone is just now catching up with phones that you can get for free. Steve Jobs is a marketing wiz and sheep continue to flock to him.

 

[dopey117]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]...So what its not true multitasking, thats why I have a self built quad core desktop that I'm sure drives circles around whatever girly computer you have at home. So take your apple bashing elsewhere and type something productive moron.[/citation]

On a side note id like to add my i5-750 is anything but 'girly' and that i never leave home without my apple bashing. I pretty much take it everywhere

 

[eddieroolz]

One of the feature is the ability to navigate between menus.

Seriously, this is like when they announced Leopard with "300+" new features. Most of the 300 features were simply trivial things like "change font here", and this is no exception.

 

[dopey117]

[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]One of the feature is the ability to navigate between menus.Seriously, this is like when they announced Leopard with "300+" new features. Most of the 300 features were simply trivial things like "change font here", and this is no exception.[/citation]

Dont forget spellcheck and those new fangled things called "folders"

 

[megamanx00]

The limitation makes sense since the newer iphones are faster than the older ones.

 

[guzz46]

typical apple, the iphone has been out for how long now? and it's finally getting up to date with features it should have had since day one

And this whole multitasking debate about poor battery life? here's an idea, how about adding true multitasking and let the user decide if they will use it or not instead of deciding for them

you don't see car manufacturers limiting the RPM's of their cars to half of what it's capable of for fear of it using lots of petrol, they let the driver decide, if the driver want's to save petrol he won't put his foot down, if he doesn't care he will

 

[gmarsack]

Listening to Apple's press releases and announcements make me glad I'm a Android developer and happy Moto Droid owner. It's just ridicules what Apple customers have to wait for and get excited about.

On a side note, dopey117 comments are dead on about the feature list comparison. I think it interesting to point out that if my phones battery dies, I can just get a new battery, not a new phone. I'm sure Apple will eventually "invent" an interchangeable battery and memory slot too... and the will peasants rejoice, for a fee.

 

[tipoo]

Welcome to the 21'st century, Apple.

 

[dannyaa]

Apple's multi-tasking incorporation is VERY smart. I maintain that the multi-tasking needs on a mobile device are ABSOLUTELY different than on a desktop.

It is plain stupid to replicate desktop multi-tasking on lower powered, pocket size, battery powered devices.

There are VERY few limitations to this multi-tasking implementation. What are you hoping to do that a "true" multi tasker would allow? Switch away from a game that is running and come back to find your character dead? I always pause when I switch, and this multi-tasker does that automatically. All services that you would actually WANT running do so, and efficiently!

Do you even KNOW what it does or how it works? Have you read and looked through the SDK? Don't post back until you have. Apple's implementation allows audio streaming, local notifications (for IM), pauses apps where left off, fast app switching, VOIP functions, location functions, etc. It's very clever and efficient.

There are virtually no drawbacks, it doesn't tax the limited mobile processor, and puts no additional strain on the battery.

It is much more time consuming to construct an entire framework of APIs to support this than it is to just "turn on multitasking." If you really think Apple paid their software engineers millions of dollars to come up with this 'excuse' to appease the niche market of geeks on Tom's Hardware and Engadget that actually care, cool. But maybe, just maybe, there is something to it that they invested in for good reason.

Apple has never been big on features list, they have been big on nailing the features they do have and creating an impeccable end user experience. If you think their entire customer base are a bunch of lemmings, (1) you really don't know their demographics and have vastly underestimated their market appeal, and (2) you ought to check your pride, because it sounds a little arrogant to imply everyone who buys their product is too stupid to figure out 'real' computers.

It's becoming to the point where the "cult" is not in Apple product owners, the "cult" is the elitist techno-geeks who are blind Apple haters. It's immature and obnoxious.

As for multi-tasking/battery on the Droid. Really, it's just perfect huh? That's not what I've read and heard from owners. For 1-3 light apps, sure, it's great. Problem is, the iPhone has 185,000 apps that 85 million people use, and many of these are processor intensive apps that make use of the full processing power (and battery) of the device. Games, utilities, web, etc. You open up a huge can of worms when you say "go at it" and people start opening a handful of these at once. The way multi-tasking is incorporated, you could have TWELVE high performance apps running WITHOUT draining hardly ANY additional battery or losing hardly any performance. Beyond that, the user NEVER has to think about it or keep tabs on what to open close. It's brilliant, really, and there are virtually no drawbacks for the way they have implemented this. It is very, very smart.

Sorry, but this is one case where DROID "does not." No way you are going to launch that many apps, or even just a couple system-taxing apps, on the DROID and not see a major performance hit and toll on the battery.

Look, I am not an Apple fanboy. I don't even OWN a Mac! But I'm sick of blind Apple hate. For the record I have 4 home built PCs. But as programmer/developer, I am very impressed with the framework and Apple's solution to make multi-tasking better than on any other mobile device.

IMO - haters are just upset because they lost their main firing point against the iPhone. "Well crap, it does MMS, Copy/Paste, Multi-tasking"... hmmm... not much left to complain about anymore, other than that Apple logo.

 

[guzz46]

I can think of a couple just off the top of my head

No user replaceable battery (so i can't take a spare battery with me if I'll be away from a power point for a few days)

Old spec 2mp camera with no flash, come on it's 2010 (my old nokia 6275i had a 2mp camera with a flash)

There's probably still a lot more if i could be bothered doing some more research

 

[dopey117]

[citation][nom]dannyaa[/nom]Apple's multi-tasking incorporation is VERY smart. I maintain that the multi-tasking needs on a mobile device are ABSOLUTELY different than on a desktop.It is plain stupid to replicate desktop multi-tasking on lower powered, pocket size, battery powered devices.There are VERY few limitations to this multi-tasking implementation. What are you hoping to do that a "true" multi tasker would allow? Switch away from a game that is running and come back to find your character dead? I always pause when I switch, and this multi-tasker does that automatically. All services that you would actually WANT running do so, and efficiently![/citation]

A 'true' multitasker wont be limited to that small list of things appple has. VoiP, background music streaming, IM, running in the background is nothing new. My droid does do this as well as all other android phones. Auto-pause isnt new or innovative, its called 'common sense' and yes all android phones will auto pause games and such when you switch out of them. PC= more power, then more intensive applications, Phone= less power, so less intensive apps are designed for them. I doubt youll find many apps that are going to peg your cpu out at 100% and certainly not while their in the background. As for having desktop like multitasking it IS a plus because when im away from home my phone will usually be the closest thing i have to a computer.

[citation][nom]dannyaa[/nom]It's very clever and efficient.There are virtually no drawbacks, it doesn't tax the limited mobile processor, and puts no additional strain on the battery.[/citation]

Its not all that clever if its been done before... Android is built on top of Linux. The way linux works, apps almost zero resources while in the background. If you dont believe me ask someone to open a bunch of apps on their android phone and have them go into settings and look at their battery and cpu usage youll see most are about 0-3% depending on the phone with the display being the largest consumer of power at like 20%ish.

[citation][nom]dannyaa[/nom]If you think their entire customer base are a bunch of lemmings, (1) you really don't know their demographics and have vastly underestimated their market appeal, and (2) you ought to check your pride, because it sounds a little arrogant to imply everyone who buys their product is too stupid to figure out 'real' computers.It's becoming to the point where the "cult" is not in Apple product owners, the "cult" is the elitist techno-geeks who are blind Apple haters.[/citation]

1. Im not saying every single person that buys an apple product is retarded, a small percentage of them understand what they are buying into and may have specific reasons for doing so. But all of apple's products are 'shiny' if you will and just about everyone that isnt tech smart will oooohh and aaahhh over something that feature wise may be way behind everything else, yet they cant understand that because apple markets it as being the latest and greatest there is (a good example of this is the ipad). The 'blind' ones are the people who look at apple products and cant understand that what they are buying is overpriced and most of the time behind the features and spec of things in a similar price range. The tech smart "cult" as you call it notice that 'hey, apple is selling overpriced and underspec'd products to people who dont know any better' and me personally i dont like that. I believe our hate against apple is justified, although im sure there are some out there who hate them just because they hate fruit.

[citation][nom]dannyaa[/nom]IMO - haters are just upset because they lost their main firing point against the iPhone. "Well crap, it *FINALLY* does MMS, Copy/Paste, Multi-tasking"... hmmm... not much left to complain about anymore, other than that Apple logo.[/citation]

*Sorry that bit needed editing. To quote a previous commenter "Welcome to the 21st century Apple". We have been doing this for quite some time now, good to see they are catching up

 

[dannyaa]

dopey -

Sorry, but I still think you are missing it. You claim the multi-tasking is limited to "such a small number of things", yet do you fully understand how it works? Name 3 semi-common use case scenarios where these APIs won't hold up. I can't think of anything I or the vast majority of users need that this doesn't handle brilliantly.

Everything it does is "true" multi-tasking... it is just controlled multi-tasking. It locks off apps from tying up resources on useless processes. Local Notifications + fast app switching handles IM. Audio handles VOIP, Pandora, Sound, GPS sound, etc. Location Services handles GPS, Social Networking. Task Completion allows programs to upload/download in the background. Literally, there is nothing I can think of that I have any use for that it doesn't handle, and better than "true" multi-tasking.

In fact, I would go as far as to call Apple's solution "smart" multi-tasking and other methods as just simple, brute force, multi-tasking. Apple gives all the functionality, and does it with finesse. There is no discernible difference to the end user, and this handles everything I can think of ever needing/wanting.

But I am open to hearing a few even semi-common use case scenarios where this just won't cut it. Again, read the APIs and SDK info and make sure what you suggest can't be handled... it handles A LOT. It is just very smart about it.

Regarding "it's been done before" via Linux. No, it has not. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here that you just don't understand or haven't research what they have done. Linux, Windows, not even OSX (built on top of Unix) handle tasks in this way. There are similarities, but the framework is completely different.

And of course, 3% on a desktop system isn't much. 20-30mb of RAM isn't much. But keep in mind on a mobile device that can easily look more like 20% system draw, and 20-30mb eats up a good portion of power (and battery). And many of these apps are maximining the phones capability. Look, if I want to multi-task with a game and pandora and my email, what I really mean is I want pandora to play my radio station while I shoot aliens and can check my email if hear a beep without quitting the game. This does that, and with no penalty - NO PENALTY - to performance or battery. There is NO drawback.

I think your understanding of the customer base and the appeal of Apple products is misunderstand. As a tech guy, you are looking at it from one angle: "under specced, over priced" - it's liking being a race mechanic and sizing up the value of a Luxury car based on it's engine and suspension, calling it under specced and overpriced. Yeah, that's true. If all I cared about was performance.

People knowing pay for things like the Snow Leopard operating system. It is a very good operating system from a technical perspective, and it is a VERY, VERY good OS from a UI perspective. It is also pretty and flashy - absolutely. Like that's bad? The hardware design from Apple is impressive not only aesthetically, but functionally. The Unibody design, 8 hour batteries (which costs only slightly more to replace as buying a battery that isn't built in... while lasting twice as long). The mag safe power adapters. Don't forget top-notch IPS panels on EVERY monitor + LED back lighting (no TN panels or CCFLs here!).

There is a tremendous amount of very good design, functionally and aesthetically, that goes into the hardware, and the software intuitiveness is unmatched. Further, NONE of the systems are 'underspeced' - maybe under-specced from a PURE performance/dollar perspective, but there's a lot more to the systems than that. When I think of underspecced, I think of the laptops and desktops most consumers end up with that don't have enough RAM or CPU speed or graphics to handle half the things people expect to do. Even entry level MBP's come loaded with the hardware to give users a great experience. And 2GB of RAM goes much further in Snow Leopard than Windows - even Windows 7 (though Windows 7 is a massive improvement over Vista).

Sure, add *FINALLY* - knock yourself out. At the end of the day, I can't fault Apple for taking their time to implement something. A good example is wireless HDMI that is coming out this year. AWESOME! I get all excited. Until I realize in its current form, it's half baked. It's got too much of a delay to stream movies and keep the audio in sync accurately. WHAT? How many people do you think will buy this and it's going to do a half way job of working? lame. Oh sure, the tech nerds will eat up because they have "options." Meanwhile, the mainstream will be pissed it doesn't handle their video right.

When Apple *FINALLY* releases a feature, they do it right. Say what you will about their multi-tasking implementation and whether they "did it right", but from all my reading and looking through the SDK I am thrilled with what they have done.

Bottom line: Apple's the fastest growing tech company and a leader in innovation not because they lie and trick their way with shiny toys. They get it right and they "give the people what they want."

Let's be fair. I am a geek at heart. I buy PC because I can tinker, build, etc. I love it. But my mom and my friends don't get it and don't give a rip. They just want something that works. Most Americans do.

I am not saying anyone here should personally adopt Apple. All I am saying is people should respect and appreciate Apple for what they are doing. They are giving people what they want and making complex technological things easily accessible to the masses, and they do it beautifully.

While I don't own Apple because for me, I get more FPS and OCing ability on my PC for cheaper... the vast majority of people have no idea what they heck that means and don't care to know, and if they did, wouldn't want it anyway! They want to write Christmas letters easier, share their photos better, play flash games, use facebook, and they want the technology to be EASY.

Apple charges a premium, but NO ONE does it better for the mass market consumer who wants technology to support their life, not BE their life. Value is relative, and for what they offer to many people, I do not believe they are overcharging. The design, intuitiveness, and quality of their products warrants the premium price tag - but value is relative, and that's an opinion.

Even so, I prefer PC. But I just realize Apple isn't after and never will be after our niche market. SO WHAT? Why all the hate? I'm GLAD my parents and friends and grandparents are enjoying technology more! So should you!

Anyway, tangent. Point is they always have the end user in mind. And the implementation of this multi-tasking will create what I believe will be a fantastic user experience.

 

[dannyaa]

rocky - good theory, except it takes more than a month to develop what they came up. Steve Jobs may have an ego but if you think its any less than Ballmer or any other CEO, well.. ha.

Oh, and fact check - Jobs DID leave the company on medical leave for 6 months and Schiller (and company) did a very good job handling things. Apple's stock continued to climb. It's no secret Jobs is the main man, but he is surrounded by some very bright and like minded people. The corporate culture is such that Apple would have to go out of its way not to succeed, even after Jobs is gone.

 

[gmarsack]

To add to that point by rocky, I've worked directly with both crApple and MicroShaft and between the two; MS is a far easier company on the developer coming from a developer's perspective. Dealing with moral character alone, the person who leads the company has a lot to do with the actions of it. Apple is all about focus the general consumer demographic, MS is all about the developer demographic – and it shows.
My choices are based purely on my own selfish reasons, that is, what makes my life easier at accomplishing my personal development goals with the least resistance and prejudice. Granted, I own an Android phone because Win mobile 6 blows and I've done my share of iPhone development and at the end of the day, I choose to stay away from the company that stands to give me the most resistance - and that would be Apple.
As a developer I shouldn't live in fear of a big companies rules regarding policy and whether or not I'm going to be sued for gray area policies because lowly me can't afford the fleet of lawyers apple employs. They've done a good job of building distrust and skepticism with me, and I've worked with them! As a result, I own and use the device I feel is superior! Currently, that would be Android. I'm sure as I begin doing more XNA and Silverlight, I'll choose Mobile 7 (because working with MS is a pleasure)... but only time will tell.

 

[anamaniac]

Well, that's cool and all, and Droid is awesome too, but I'm more interested in Symbian, which has included multitasking for a day or two.

 

[kingnoobe]

LOL dannyaa. You say you're not a fanboi I must disagree. For somebody to right so much there has to be some apple fanboy in you. And sorry your page speaks more then "I have a pc".

You're are right apple is given the masses what they want. And unlike what some of what TOM's reader thinks it has nothing to do with the tech. side of the tech. It has to do with the look, and feel, because to the masses that's all that matters. They don't care what's inside, whats pushing it, how it works. Only that for what it does it does, and that it looks good while doing it. It's really no different then why people buy Nikes or other well known brands.

 

[viper_11]

WooooW copy paste AND multitasking, this is what i call inovation lol

 

[jamac666]

About time!

 

[jamie_macdonald]

Oh great another 20 year old develpoment re-released by apple to make it look like they are not archaic, nazisistic fashion monopolizers ...Spose some people will think it's cool (then again there are allways idiots on the planet xD)