iOS 4.2 for iPad coming in November, adds wireless printing and Air Play
Apple on Wednesday showed off iOS 4.2 for the iPad, including folders, multitasking, support for wireless printing, and streaming of audio, video and photos through the new Air Play feature.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs showed off the new printing capabilities in iOS 4.2. When printing, tasks will be included in the "Print Center" icon in the multitasking bar, accessed by double tapping the Home button.
Jobs showed off the ability to include multiple icons in folders, as can be done with iOS 4 on the iPhone and iPod touch. He also showed off the multitasking capabilities that will come with the new software.
Jobs also mentioned that Air Tunes has become Air Play, which will allow users to stream audio, video and photos over Wi-Fi.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs showed off the new printing capabilities in iOS 4.2. When printing, tasks will be included in the "Print Center" icon in the multitasking bar, accessed by double tapping the Home button.
Jobs showed off the ability to include multiple icons in folders, as can be done with iOS 4 on the iPhone and iPod touch. He also showed off the multitasking capabilities that will come with the new software.
Jobs also mentioned that Air Tunes has become Air Play, which will allow users to stream audio, video and photos over Wi-Fi.
Comments
Why is Apple fragmenting iOS? I thought they avoided that sort of foolishness.
Because they have to.
iPhone/iPad are somewhat different and merging the two OSs takes some time. Even more so, since the iPad was super secret, and even most members of the iPhone team didn't have access to it during development.
Yes, they could have taken their time to do the merging of the two featuresets in advance, but then, they would have delayed the iPad launch.
Oh, and it's not really fragmented from an end user perspective: apps made for iPhone can run on both, and iPhone/iPad hybrid apps are also possible.
Still, 4.2 will probably be the converging release. Who said otherwise?
Why is Apple fragmenting iOS? I thought they avoided that sort of foolishness.
Making releases monolithic increases risk of a blown schedule. My guess is that they had originally hoped that iOS 4.1 would go to the iPad but a few months ago realized it wasn't going to happen and branched it so they wouldn't risk the iPod release.
It's pretty clear the new Nano runs iOS, and I'd bet dollars to donuts the AppleTV runs iOS, but neither of them even have an app store (yet?). So Apple's just trying to minimize risk to the release schedule and product integrity.
Jobs also mentioned that Air Tunes has become Air Play, which will allow users to stream audio, video and photos over Wi-Fi.
Don't mean to sound anal butt
Because they have to.
iPhone/iPad are somewhat different and merging the two OSs takes some time. Even more so, since the iPad was super secret, and even most members of the iPhone team didn't have access to it during development.
They explicitly said the 4.2 November release is for all iOS devices.
What I'd really like out of iOS for iPad is a better way to sync files. I just find iTunes so utterly klunky. Apps that have their own wi-fi interface are great but this should be a system service, not something you have to pray a developer will include.
That plug it in and let it sync is so damn clunky.
Why is Apple fragmenting iOS? I thought they avoided that sort of foolishness.
They're not fragmenting the OS. They're trying to merge them, takes a little time. I believe he said iOS 4.2 will be available for all devices.
I want to know if the printing feature is system wide (Safari and Apps) or is it just for iWork apps only. We just got a iPad and sometimes my wife has to print out coupons from websites. Is it going to work for that or not?
Yes! No! Yes!
I want to know if the printing feature is system wide (Safari and Apps) or is it just for iWork apps only. We just got a iPad and sometimes my wife has to print out coupons from websites. Is it going to work for that or not?
I thought I saw an extra icon in safari near the bookmark button? Maybe printing is possible from Safari.
I was hoping for iPhone/iPad tethering
Why is Apple fragmenting iOS? I thought they avoided that sort of foolishness.