I highly doubt that if there is multi-tasking, it will be true multi-tasking. (Then again, one could argue there is multi-tasking in the current iPhone OS, able to play music in the background, receive notifications in the background, etc... even that most coveted "Talk and Surf" feature. :P)
Anyhow, my guess is that they will suspend programs that are not on the screen, except for any notifications or messages. There may be the possibility of having a small interactive part with the notification system, but that would be the extent of it. Essentially, they would suspend a program so you can use something else, then come back to it when you want and pick up where you left off. We all know the iPhone OS won't have multiple windows open on the screen at once (I doubt it ever would since any handheld device's screen is so small) so something like this would be perfect and give the sense that we are multi-tasking. Even if this were the case, that would still be a HUGE step forward for so many people! (Some programs currently remember the last state you were in and when launched, go back to that state.)
Yup, I think this is mostly what it will be. They might also figure out some solutions to very specific problems, like playing Pandora in the background. But I very much doubt we will see full blown 3rd party app multitasking. I just can't see, for example, putting Monopoly in the background as a running task. It just makes no sense from a performance/battery perspective to allow that, especially since that would provide zero benefit to the user (assuming rapid task switching becomes possible).
(stop poking the bee's nest and it will stop bothering you)
To pull this off well, Apple will need to address several obstacles that led them to limit multitasking in the first place. I think to really pull it off elegantly new hardware will need to be part of the solution:
- UI: I like the idea of a touch initiated Expose-like feature. The user will need to have an easy way to not only switch between running apps but also to kill unneeded ones. An 854x480 screen (or 1024x768 on the iPad) will also make it much easier to add some room for some new main screen UI element as another option. Maybe a mini dock? The push notification UI will need to be rethought as well.
- Battery life: Multiple background apps will obviously impact battery life. A new more efficient CPU/GPU will help with this. Also I would expect that background apps will have some specific guidelines about sleeping until/unless certain limited callback functions are called.
- Processing power - a bigger better faster CPU will easily solve this hurdle.
I can think of so many useful ideas for this - location updating is just one.
Once again, the article paints jailbreakers as Malware victims and pirates. Jailbreaking for me has provided functionality that is significant and blatantly missing from the stock OS. Ad blocking, time based silent mode, a lock screen that is useful, better navigation tools and app backgrounding (freeze drying, not really multi-tasking). It's all good stuff and is sorely overdue.
I also have a unique SMS notification sound. How many of you in a crowded place think you've got an SMS only to find out someone near you did, and you are still so very alone?
The way you tend to word things are laughable. Since graphs seem so much more visually impressive than text, lets put some perspective on this;
There are no "huge mistakes" here. The iPhone has always been second best,
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
Great... Guess this means, as a developer, I can only count on -say- 1MB ram available for my app on the iPhone 3G... Or get mu process killed right away.
Multi-tasking would be nice, as long as I can control it/turn it off.
Because of my experience with 'Push' notification on a few iPhone apps, I don't really know if this is a good thing. Push cuts my battery life by about 1/3.
I hope that apps have to be 'certified' to use background services, that is meet certain performance and impact benchmarks to be able to be sold on the App Store.
You should turn off your push notifications then. I'd assume your concerns are one reason for the late release of multitasking on the iphone OS and it's got me thinking that it's a feature more for the Ipad than the Iphone. MT isn't really benefit on a phone, but would be almost essential on a device like an ipad. Apple will surely get it right and make it easy to control.
Apple likes fixing things other designers screw up and managing multi tasking is one place where others have screwed up, with their short term thinking, but it's where Apple will shine. Applications are more essential to the Iphone OS and devices than they ever will be for droid or blackberry. There's little disputing that they are not app-centric devices.Multitasking is a very important feature for Apple to get right and it's not so important for RIM or Google because they can't so easily back themselves into a wall with users that want 50-100 Apps on their device. Apple customers will.
The lack of progress in market share is a fact. If you don't like "stagnation", would you prefer "loss of momentum"?
What description do you prefer if neither of these are to your liking? I would hesitate to say that iPhone popularity has peaked, because it is hard to draw reliable trends from snapshots. However, if they don't do something about the iOS problem prior to the third quarter, a trend may be identifiable.
So how would you characterize the lack of market growth shown by the graph?
Since you seem to be looking for some sort of definitive answer, I'll give it a shot; the unwillingness of many to switch carriers/market saturation of iPhones, in conjunction with the lock-in RIM has with the business world, has lead to a "plateau" in the sales of the iPhone, until there is a product refresh. Then, there might be a slight surge in iPhone marketshare, in relation to RIM. The Android has "surged" ahead, because it's not hard to "surge" ahead from 0 to 7, especially when Android is gobbling up the scraps of Palm and WinMo. I predict palm to be effectively dead in a year, Android and the iPhone battling for second place, and Windows Phone 7 Ultimate Extreme Plus! Edition SP12 to be the somewhat unknown variable at the end of the year.
Complete shot in the dark on my part, don't really know what the hell I'm talking about, but it all seems plausible enough to me.
With the market share they have and their capitalization value approaching MS, I'd say Apple's "huge mistakes" have paid off pretty well. I don't find their iOS technically inferior. I find it a pleasure to write for, as I expect the iPad will, sharing a common IDE and OS.
In that case, to what do you attribute the stagnation in iOS market share? Others here predict that Apple might regain its lost momentum in the third quarter, when they release a new OS. But you don't think that will do it for them?
In that case, to what do you attribute the stagnation in iOS market share? Others here predict that Apple might regain its lost momentum in the third quarter, when they release a new OS. But you don't think that will do it for them?
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
What "others"? Do you have a multiple personality disorder? How many people need to tell you the same thing before you and your "others" begin to grasp this concept?
Apple will also need to rethink the interface/usability of switching between multiple running apps. Hitting the home button each time, will get old very quickly (as it does now...).
I couldn't agree more. Its hard to believe but one of the best things about giving up my iPhone for a work BB, was no more app switching up and down via the home down. It used to really grate me as I used so many apps that my phone felt like a yo-yo.
But clearly Apple is losing badly to RIM, and that surprises me.
I don't expect Apple to ever catch RIM.
Blackberrys are widely used by businesses as company phones for their employees.
I work for a global chemical company. If you need a company phone, it is a Blackberry...there are no exceptions. Many of my colleagues in the industry are in the same situation.
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
How about because it's the winter and nobody in their right mind would by a new iphone and lock themselves in for 2 years when it'll be out of date in 3 or 4 months?
Do you really think that folks currently buying iPhones are not in their right minds? I would disagree. The hardware is great, and the software will be better soon.
So you think that the loss of momentum is due primarily to Apple's slow progress made in catching up with the competition? That may be correct; I don't know.
Blackberrys are widely used by businesses as company phones for their employees.
I work for a global chemical company. If you need a company phone, it is a Blackberry...there are no exceptions. Many of my colleagues in the industry are in the same situation.
Exactly. I work on a military installation. New officers arriving on station, depending on rank, are issued a Blackberry when they in-process. Certain environments simply aren't as adaptable or willing to accept a device like the iPhone. And with the majority of those that I know with a Blackberry, they'd part with it when it was pried from their cold, dead hands.
To pull this off well, Apple will need to address several obstacles that led them to limit multitasking in the first place. I think to really pull it off elegantly new hardware will need to be part of the solution:
- UI: I like the idea of a touch initiated Expose-like feature. The user will need to have an easy way to not only switch between running apps but also to kill unneeded ones. An 854x480 screen (or 1024x768 on the iPad) will also make it much easier to add some room for some new main screen UI element as another option. Maybe a mini dock? The push notification UI will need to be rethought as well.
- Battery life: Multiple background apps will obviously impact battery life. A new more efficient CPU/GPU will help with this. Also I would expect that background apps will have some specific guidelines about sleeping until/unless certain limited callback functions are called.
- Processing power - a bigger better faster CPU will easily solve this hurdle.
I can think of so many useful ideas for this - location updating is just one.
Wow. You seem to think that they will have to scrap the current hardware just to multitask? I disagree. The current hardware does just fine multitaking. It is a software issue; the iPhone hardware is great.
Comments
I highly doubt that if there is multi-tasking, it will be true multi-tasking. (Then again, one could argue there is multi-tasking in the current iPhone OS, able to play music in the background, receive notifications in the background, etc... even that most coveted "Talk and Surf" feature. :P)
Anyhow, my guess is that they will suspend programs that are not on the screen, except for any notifications or messages. There may be the possibility of having a small interactive part with the notification system, but that would be the extent of it. Essentially, they would suspend a program so you can use something else, then come back to it when you want and pick up where you left off. We all know the iPhone OS won't have multiple windows open on the screen at once (I doubt it ever would since any handheld device's screen is so small) so something like this would be perfect and give the sense that we are multi-tasking. Even if this were the case, that would still be a HUGE step forward for so many people! (Some programs currently remember the last state you were in and when launched, go back to that state.)
Yup, I think this is mostly what it will be. They might also figure out some solutions to very specific problems, like playing Pandora in the background. But I very much doubt we will see full blown 3rd party app multitasking. I just can't see, for example, putting Monopoly in the background as a running task. It just makes no sense from a performance/battery perspective to allow that, especially since that would provide zero benefit to the user (assuming rapid task switching becomes possible).
Cool. That means the iPad (how I hate that name!) will get it too via a software fix.
That was my one source of buyer's regret with the device.
Now, there's none!
That's PRE-buyers regret.. we are already in PRE-buyers exit polling 2..
To pull this off well, Apple will need to address several obstacles that led them to limit multitasking in the first place. I think to really pull it off elegantly new hardware will need to be part of the solution:
- UI: I like the idea of a touch initiated Expose-like feature. The user will need to have an easy way to not only switch between running apps but also to kill unneeded ones. An 854x480 screen (or 1024x768 on the iPad) will also make it much easier to add some room for some new main screen UI element as another option. Maybe a mini dock? The push notification UI will need to be rethought as well.
- Battery life: Multiple background apps will obviously impact battery life. A new more efficient CPU/GPU will help with this. Also I would expect that background apps will have some specific guidelines about sleeping until/unless certain limited callback functions are called.
- Processing power - a bigger better faster CPU will easily solve this hurdle.
I can think of so many useful ideas for this - location updating is just one.
I also have a unique SMS notification sound. How many of you in a crowded place think you've got an SMS only to find out someone near you did, and you are still so very alone?
Sheldon
The way you tend to word things are laughable. Since graphs seem so much more visually impressive than text, lets put some perspective on this;
There are no "huge mistakes" here. The iPhone has always been second best,
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
Facts are your friend??!!
"eating their lunch" "lost out big time"
It seems that you are more comfortable with hyperbole than facts.
... and you say you're not trolling.
But I guess that no matter what we say you won't go away.... so the ignore list is my friend.
I'm glad that you killfiled me, given the lack of contribution to the discussion at hand.
Multi-tasking would be nice, as long as I can control it/turn it off.
Because of my experience with 'Push' notification on a few iPhone apps, I don't really know if this is a good thing. Push cuts my battery life by about 1/3.
I hope that apps have to be 'certified' to use background services, that is meet certain performance and impact benchmarks to be able to be sold on the App Store.
You should turn off your push notifications then. I'd assume your concerns are one reason for the late release of multitasking on the iphone OS and it's got me thinking that it's a feature more for the Ipad than the Iphone. MT isn't really benefit on a phone, but would be almost essential on a device like an ipad. Apple will surely get it right and make it easy to control.
Apple likes fixing things other designers screw up and managing multi tasking is one place where others have screwed up, with their short term thinking, but it's where Apple will shine. Applications are more essential to the Iphone OS and devices than they ever will be for droid or blackberry. There's little disputing that they are not app-centric devices.Multitasking is a very important feature for Apple to get right and it's not so important for RIM or Google because they can't so easily back themselves into a wall with users that want 50-100 Apps on their device. Apple customers will.
The lack of progress in market share is a fact. If you don't like "stagnation", would you prefer "loss of momentum"?
What description do you prefer if neither of these are to your liking? I would hesitate to say that iPhone popularity has peaked, because it is hard to draw reliable trends from snapshots. However, if they don't do something about the iOS problem prior to the third quarter, a trend may be identifiable.
So how would you characterize the lack of market growth shown by the graph?
Since you seem to be looking for some sort of definitive answer, I'll give it a shot; the unwillingness of many to switch carriers/market saturation of iPhones, in conjunction with the lock-in RIM has with the business world, has lead to a "plateau" in the sales of the iPhone, until there is a product refresh. Then, there might be a slight surge in iPhone marketshare, in relation to RIM. The Android has "surged" ahead, because it's not hard to "surge" ahead from 0 to 7, especially when Android is gobbling up the scraps of Palm and WinMo. I predict palm to be effectively dead in a year, Android and the iPhone battling for second place, and Windows Phone 7 Ultimate Extreme Plus! Edition SP12 to be the somewhat unknown variable at the end of the year.
Complete shot in the dark on my part, don't really know what the hell I'm talking about, but it all seems plausible enough to me.
With the market share they have and their capitalization value approaching MS, I'd say Apple's "huge mistakes" have paid off pretty well. I don't find their iOS technically inferior. I find it a pleasure to write for, as I expect the iPad will, sharing a common IDE and OS.
In that case, to what do you attribute the stagnation in iOS market share? Others here predict that Apple might regain its lost momentum in the third quarter, when they release a new OS. But you don't think that will do it for them?
Go on, what else did you conclude? Go on, don't be shy. You were very verbose before. Suddenly you are to cautious... So far so good.
I dunno - those conclusions leapt out at me. I am no statistician. What additional conclusions do you draw?
In that case, to what do you attribute the stagnation in iOS market share? Others here predict that Apple might regain its lost momentum in the third quarter, when they release a new OS. But you don't think that will do it for them?
Do you know what stagnation means?
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
What "others"? Do you have a multiple personality disorder? How many people need to tell you the same thing before you and your "others" begin to grasp this concept?
Apple will also need to rethink the interface/usability of switching between multiple running apps. Hitting the home button each time, will get old very quickly (as it does now...).
I couldn't agree more. Its hard to believe but one of the best things about giving up my iPhone for a work BB, was no more app switching up and down via the home down. It used to really grate me as I used so many apps that my phone felt like a yo-yo.
But clearly Apple is losing badly to RIM, and that surprises me.
I don't expect Apple to ever catch RIM.
Blackberrys are widely used by businesses as company phones for their employees.
I work for a global chemical company. If you need a company phone, it is a Blackberry...there are no exceptions. Many of my colleagues in the industry are in the same situation.
That is true, and that is known. But the question remains as to why the iPhone market is stagnant while RIM is increasing its lead and Android is surging.
You dispute the reasons that others have given here. What do you think explains the iPhone growth stalling out?
It is not stagnating. The iPhone achieved 50% growth in world wide market share (Q308 to Q309) based on the latest smartphone worldwide sales data we have.
EDIT: Actually here is the latest report still shows more than 70% iPhones world wide market share growth from 2008 to 2009.
I guess was about time
How about because it's the winter and nobody in their right mind would by a new iphone and lock themselves in for 2 years when it'll be out of date in 3 or 4 months?
Do you really think that folks currently buying iPhones are not in their right minds? I would disagree. The hardware is great, and the software will be better soon.
So you think that the loss of momentum is due primarily to Apple's slow progress made in catching up with the competition? That may be correct; I don't know.
I don't expect Apple to ever catch RIM.
Blackberrys are widely used by businesses as company phones for their employees.
I work for a global chemical company. If you need a company phone, it is a Blackberry...there are no exceptions. Many of my colleagues in the industry are in the same situation.
Exactly. I work on a military installation. New officers arriving on station, depending on rank, are issued a Blackberry when they in-process. Certain environments simply aren't as adaptable or willing to accept a device like the iPhone. And with the majority of those that I know with a Blackberry, they'd part with it when it was pried from their cold, dead hands.
To pull this off well, Apple will need to address several obstacles that led them to limit multitasking in the first place. I think to really pull it off elegantly new hardware will need to be part of the solution:
- UI: I like the idea of a touch initiated Expose-like feature. The user will need to have an easy way to not only switch between running apps but also to kill unneeded ones. An 854x480 screen (or 1024x768 on the iPad) will also make it much easier to add some room for some new main screen UI element as another option. Maybe a mini dock? The push notification UI will need to be rethought as well.
- Battery life: Multiple background apps will obviously impact battery life. A new more efficient CPU/GPU will help with this. Also I would expect that background apps will have some specific guidelines about sleeping until/unless certain limited callback functions are called.
- Processing power - a bigger better faster CPU will easily solve this hurdle.
I can think of so many useful ideas for this - location updating is just one.
Wow. You seem to think that they will have to scrap the current hardware just to multitask? I disagree. The current hardware does just fine multitaking. It is a software issue; the iPhone hardware is great.