iPhone OS 4.0 event summary – largely underwhelming

Whilst it’s not directly related to Android, it is, the iPhone is, at the end of the day, the benchmark for success for Android devices. Even the most ardent Android fanboy must grudgingly admit that the design team at Cupertino really know their stuff. Apple continue to churn out highly desirable, well designed and simple to use devices, that’s the formula that’s made them so successful. Because of this, I watched the OS 4.0 event yesterday, waiting for Steve Jobs’ killer “one more thing” closer, but there was no big game changer, there were no “wow” moments and I found myself puzzled after Steve’s enthusiastic eulogising had ended: I genuinely expected something big, something unexpected and attention grabbing from Apple. Instead, we got limited multi-tasking, unified folders and personalised wallpapers. But, wait, doesn’t that mean that Apple have just tried to make the iPhone more Android-like?

I now wonder what we can expect from the iPhone 4G? Apple are good at keeping things quiet on the development front, but they do have a habit of leaking bits here and there in order to gauge potential customer reaction, but we’ve not seen or heard anything really with regards the 4G. Is Apple keeping it’s cards close to it’s chest to stop the competition stealing their ideas? Or have they had to go back to the drawing board in the face of increased competition from Android and the undeniably impressive Windows Mobile 7 when it comes? Given Apple’s track record, I suspect the former.

At the end of the day, the increased competition in the mobile market space can only be a good thing for consumers. Competition leads to innovation after all, but I can’t help but feel that iPhone OS 4.0 has been a bit of a disappointment in that respect: there was nothing really innovative, or even market leading there, which is unusual for Apple. Not only that, but the multitasking functionality won’t be available to the millions of iPhone users who run a 3G, rather than the newer 3GS. Certainly, the majority of 3G users out there probably half expected this, but I know of a couple of people who told me they would be moving to Android instead if the majority of the new features required a 3GS. I’m certain they won’t have been the only ones who felt that way.