Work is the curse of the drinking classes - Oscar Wilde
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Apple's IOS4 is now available for free download
SHINY EXPENSIVE gadgets maker Apple has released its IOS4 operating system for IPhones and Ipods.
It does not work on the Ipad yet, nor on the first versions of the Iphone or Ipod Touch sold in 2007, so don't even try it. Steve Jobs is clearly hoping that IOS4 will obsolete the early Iphones and Ipods, forcing fanbois to upgrade to the newer models.
The OS finally brings multi-tasking and some other natty application features to the latest models of the Iphone 3GS, Iphone 4 and Ipod Touch released in 2009 or later. The Iphone 3G and Ipod Touch devices sold in 2008 can run IOS4 but they don't support multi-tasking.
To get the update, users can connect their Iphone 3G, Iphone 3GS or Iphone 4, or their Ipod Touch second- or third-generation model, to the computer with which they sync Itunes data, select the device in the Itunes sidebar, then click Check for Updates in the Summary tab. Easy.
Of course it will kill any bandwidth quotas you have with your telco and take ages to download and install. IOS4 weighs in at 378MB.
Some Apple fanbois are getting timeout messages trying to download IOS4, however. It seems that Apple's servers can't cope with all the love they are getting. If only it had an operating system that could handle file transfers well.
The look and feel has changed. The icons have a 3D quality to them rather than sitting on a black screen.
Users are starting to find out that the multi-tasking function is not total yet. An IOS4 app can't start a download all on its own, for example, or receive notifications that aren't created while the device is online and the application is open.
This is a bit of a contrast to Android, where a user can receive a Twitter message as soon as it arrives or an RSS feed updates on a set schedule.
There are some improvements to the control of icons. In IOS4, it's now possible to group several apps together in a folder and have as many app folders as you like. Creating folders is not that difficult.
There are improvements to the unified inbox, which means you can now pool all your email accounts into a single inbox view. This saves going backwards and forwards into different accounts. You can also shrink the photos you attach to email if the original will take too long to transmit or strain your email server capacity.
There are better spell-check facilities in IOS4 and if more than one suggestion is available, IOS4 gives options above the word.
The Ibooks reader is now out, so that can be downloaded, if you can be bothered reading a book on your Iphone. We guess this will be used by the Ipad.
Still, IOS4 is an important update for Apple.
However, the fact is that most Apple gadget users will not see much benefit from it until the next generation Iphone and Ipad with extra memory hit the shops and they have to junk the older gear.
If you have an older model Iphone or Ipod Touch, it is probably better to just toss the thing in the bin and buy something that runs Android, which will last longer than a year. µ
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the inquirer is not anti-apple. they call microsoft as vole, they use deriding vocabulary to refer to corporate brits and americans.
You shouldn't even respond to jerks like this.... he is doing this purposely to rile all of you so that he gets more and more folks to this not-real-journalism site to pump his ad revenue...
Don't be his chump - don't comment!
Did someone hit you over the head with an apple computer when you were young? I thought journalists were supposed to be objective rather than just scathing with criticism of something they obviously have not tried or experienced themselves!
Took like 30 minutes to update, transfer and resync. No problems at all. And what is this sh*t about bandwith quotas? Since when is this Apples fault? Move to a modern country for gods sake Nick.
C'mon, Nick - what's this really about? You know, the whole Apple is evil and anyone who buys their products is a mug thing? Because, although I can't deny there's a certain fascination in watching just how far overboard you go, this has long since transcended journalism.
If you want to do a little rant, that's fine. Just don't do it under a headline that purports to be reporting. If you want to make utterly baseless and misleading allegations about stuff that can be proven wrong, fine - it's your reputation. But at the moment you're neither a journalist nor a satirical blogger - try reading the Macalope to see how it should be done - but rather coming across as a sad, bitter little man.
thanks for such an honest article. i own a iPhone 3G and after I did the iOS4 update the phone is pretty useless. Apps can take up to 2 minutes to open. I still got just under a year left on my contract before I can get an upgrade. But I will never get an Apple product again, thanks to them forcing me to upgrade or they will make the device unusable.
Nice accurate story Nick. Quality work as always. Do find it utterly amusing how the wonderfully shiny IOS4 only gives them some of the capabilities of Eclair, never know...sooner or later they might actually get a decent OS other than a cash sink and ego stoker they currently have.
I guess we can't look here for objective journalism...just sad really...
As the previous comment already made clear. Why is it that all the articles pertaining to Apple are so negative?
Is it because you can't stand the pictures of all the happy people in the advertising that you just have to be miserable? Did you have an awful childhood?
This article sounds like it was written by a very lonely troll in a very dark cave a long way below the ground.
Nick, have you even used an iPhone? Are you writing this article on your Gateway (Intel 486)?? Did you cry when the world left DOS? Your article is typical anti-Apple. I guess you're just not successful enough to use an iPhone. Maybe you need a better job, but based on this article, I can see why you haven't found one.
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