but some of them aren't so likely.
The not-really-very-appropriately-named iPhone User Guide posted a
graphic talking about what users expected would feature in the next
generation of the wildly popular iPhone. There were the weird ones
like a glowing Apple logo on the back and such things, but there were
also some notable absences.
I, for one, can almost guarantee that multitasking will probably
feature, but whether this is a firmware or hardware upgrade is
unknown. Jailbroken iPhones have had this capability for a little
while, but the main populous haven't seen it yet. And with the Palm
Pre and Motorola Droid as well as HTC's Android offerings showing some
real capability (the Droid was Engadget's gadget of the year if I'm
not mistaken) Apple will be looking for some big advances.
iBooks has a decent chance of making the jump to iPhone, but there are
still some problems on that front. For one thing, that's one of the
big points of differentiation between the iPad and the iPhone/iPod
Touch series. There is also the small matter of the Kindle app that
most agree Apple is getting paid a truckload of money to support and
leave alone.
There has also been a lot of speculation since CNET's Crave blog
posted supposed pictures of the next-gen devices and started
speculation of what exactly a small semi-reflective piece was at the
top of the phone, near the speaker. Some said it was the proximity
sensor, but there's no reason to move it from it's current, invisible
position. Could it be that Apple's finally bitten the bullet and
decided to mount a forward-facing video camera in the next iPhone.
This could lead to great potential with the idea of video calling
jumping to mind. It could also be a trigger for Apple to release an
iPhone port of iChat to the market, which would be interesting to see.
And finally, there is of course that little issue of the lawsuit. Yes,
Apple is actually suing HTC over patent violations, just as they did
with Nokia. Which makes you wonder why they're doing it? The Nokia
debacle is still not over and there on flimsy grounds. There is, of
course, also the issue of Google's (and Microsoft's) involvement. By
directly targeting Android and WM handsets, they're running a big
risk. Microsoft will stay out of it, but Google could just weigh in.
If that were to happen, Apple might just find themselves in a little
too deep...
NOTE: Sorry about the long hiatus, but now with term back in for the
final year, the timetable is getting a bit hectic...
