Comments on: Background processing coming with iPhone 3.0?

Apple was supposed to have a quasi-background processing service for the iPhone ready by last September, but might be thinking about taking a step further.

[Boozer001]

I gotta have it! This iPhone 2.0 is so last year!

[jomolungma]

Question - perhaps this would allow for an easy implementation of cut-and-paste? just have it run as a background process?

[chabig83]

I'm sure cut and paste could run just fine on the current phone if Apple can figure a good UI for it. The current phone already allows background processing with its full multitasking OS. But Apple only allows their own apps to take advantage of it.

[jaxstephens]

I sure hope that Apple acts upon this now that the Palm Pre/Web OS has stolen some of the public's mindset from them.

[bonesbautista]

I'm with you. The iPhone's really just a web/email portal slapped onto an iPod touch and a not-so-great cell phone. I've had my iPhone 3G since early August, and it's just too much work to interact with the interface for business use - the iPhone OS is great for reading/browsing through data, actually interacting with the device is a PITA and the lack of background notifications and interacting with a decent calendar is making me look forward to checking out what Palm puts out with their WebOS.

[lil-yankee]

I would highly appreciate such an upgrade.
It seems to me that apple knows is ways so i always give them the reason of a doubt whenever they seem to opt out of something, always hope for the best. As for now i can definitively agree that, the longer battery reduces the compromise of not multitasking,

[sselliotts]

An upgrade? Holy crap! Apple has you people so screwed up it's unbelievable. background processing has been around on mobile devices since 1997 (think Windows Mobile) and Apple is just now getting around to thinking about putting background processing in thier crap? And somehow that is an upgrade? To finally give you what was available 12 years ago? Holy crap you people are so blind!

[catch23]

sselliotts
Now you are just making sense. Logic and reason have nothing to do with Apple, or its fans
There is little you can do with an iPhone that you couldn't do on a Windows Mobile device years ago. Or a Palm.
Not as pretty, not as quickly. But just as workable.
'Innovation' for Apple is being years behind in ability but having a shiny plastic finish.

[lil-yankee]

You guys are unbelievable.
If it wasn't because someone else might read this i would pay no mind to you guys.
All that it says in my comment is that we would appreciate such an upgrade (referring to iPhone owners).
I for one know that there's been background processing and all that having had winmo phones and also symbians but you guys just blow things out of proportion here and therefore end up looking like fools. If you dont have an iphone you should probably be re-routed to another link because this one (unless you are considering to buy one) is not for you. And just so you learn how to read and get the main idea out of thoughts my point was that (if i had to chose between battery performance and background processing i would stick with battery). And note that it is an opinion (my opinion) and never did i claim that to be an "innovation". FOOLs

[catch23]

lil-yankee
I've had an iPhone, although somewhat briefly(The companies for testing, a couple months)
I've had PDA's and smart phones (WinMobile, BlackBerry, Palm) for a long time (owned Palm and WinMobile, tested BB)

Your full of crap.
Plain and simple

[lil-yankee]

I dont understand how did you get from a to be catch23.
I understand you "had" all those phones and tested an iphone briefly but whats your point?
me being full of crap?
I thought we were starting to lose our time here chup.
How about you go and review the phones you had for real and not the one you tested ah!
Like I said, Ignorant fool...

[seven7dust]

I would like to see how they counter the cards interface of the pre
Apple is the king of UI afterall !

also I don't understand why they don't allow landscape keyboard for email !
another thing that bugs me is the SMS app it needs to be more powerful
the Iphone does many things amazingly but it's the basic things that need work

[BogusBasin]

I don't want to wait until June! I want picture messaging and copy paste yesterday!

[sselliotts]

Not having copy and paste, not allowing Adobe Flash, no background processing, only a 480 x 320 display!

Why do you people subject yourselves to this B.S.? and at $229 for the basic unit???

Forced NDAs to develop for iPhone, high rejection rate of third party software... who would want to develop for Apple when they are so anal? And no one will admit it but the real reason Apple rejects so many 3rd party apps is because they know some of them will cause their crappy OS to crash which would be a source of embarassment to the company that has to keep pretending to be the god of technology. It's the same reason they make developers sign NDAs. They don't want developers running off and telling everyone how crappy their OS is.

Apple doesn't know how to write software. They only know how to steal it (UNIX) and put pretty faces on it. They are the most pathetic company on this planet. You want copy and paste? Hang on, they need more time to steal Microsoft's secret to doing copy and paste with such limited resources with out bogging the whole system down. (aparently their spies haven't been succesful yet).

[jwspg]

I don't often jump in on the comment section but sselliotts is misinformed. You ask the question who wants to develop for the iPhone? Any developer that has a desire to succeed. I am an Apple fan but I am more importantly a fan of good business and the numbers don't lie. 17 Million iPhone users have downloaded more software then the other 1.6 billion cell phone users of the other carriers combined. (those with applicable devices etc) By all means if you as a developer want to put your product in the market and not include the iPhone, you better hope your reach is 90 times larger. While you may complain about the development process, it is really rather simple compared to the hoops required for carrier agreements and negotiations that other phones require. In addition, the iPhone is currently listed as the number one social brand with CNN #2. While the product is not perfect to simply ignore the data proves that your business skills are rather lacking.

From a supporter of Apple I will challenge the notion that the OS is crap. The reason that Apple users are so loyal is largely due to the lack of down time with computer problems. In 3 years, not once have I had to rebuild my machine and I use it as a workhorse. In contrast the more open platform of Windows, required multiple rebuilds and unnecessary downtime. I can respect your view but would rather you come with some data and intelligence before making such a brash post of misinformed statements.

[sselliotts]

jwspg,

If you have to rebuild your windows machine even once to get it to work, you don't know what you are doing. If you have ANY down time on ANY machine it is because you don't know what you are doing. I have never had any down time on any of my windows or linux machines and I do things to them that most people can't even imagine.

If you have trouble using a real computer then you are better off using a machine designed for you. One with only 1 mouse button, because more than one would apparently be too confusing. One that is so locked down that you can't possibly screw it up. One that won't stretch you beyond your ability to do anything requiring more than 3 steps. You need a Mac.

And lest we deceive and confuse the already-to-easy-to-deceive-and-confuse Mac junkies, let us not spout B.S. statistics about numbers of downloads and pathetically meaningless "social brand" rankings. I should buy an Apple product because it will make me popular? Can there be a more pathetic argument than that?

Of course, we are talking about a group of people who are so shallow that they can be convinced to buy a product because a cool looking college student can make fun of an old man and they want to be as cool as he is.

Should I also buy another MacBook Pro if I just bought one 3 months ago just because the new one is made from a single piece of aluminum and has a non-removable battery? Cuz those are good things right? And that solid brick of aluminum definitely makes that MacBook Pro perform better than any DELL right?

This is all Apple has to do to get you people to buy something - appeal to your stupidity or your ego.

I should also drive a $60,000 BMW because it spends more time in the shop than my Honda Civic @ $14,000 right?

It is so sad that the educational system in America has gone down the toilet and we are producing more and more high school graduates that can't even read at a 3rd grade level or comprehend that they are getting ripped off.
Of course, that would have nothing to do with the fact that Apple products have been gaining in popularity in the past few years, right?

Developers who want to SUCCEED flock to the iPhone? I wouldn't be surprised if 9 out of 10 apps are rejected by the almighty steve jobs. Succeed? More like waste a lot of effort, time and money only to be told that your app "duplicates existing functionality on the iPhone"! Why would you want to subject yourself to that?

...I am also amused that you ignored more than half of what I said and focused on B.S. statistics instead. It doesn't matter that the iPhone only has a 480 x 320 max resolution when 640 x 480 has been available on PDAs since at least 2005? I don't know about you, but I don't like it when I can see the individual pixels when I am trying to watch a movie. It's distracting.

It shouldn't matter that the processor in the iPhone is less powerful than my 4 year old PDA's processor? Does that even need a supporting argument? It doesn't matter that Apple is using the cheapest, archaic parts they can find, covering them with glossy plastic and selling them at outrageous prices to people who are too stupid to know they are being ripped off? But developing for the iPhone is "good business sense" - taking advantage of morons is good business?

It doesn't matter that Apple stole UNIX, put a pretty face on it, and sold it as there own? It doesn't matter that Windows Mobile has been able to support multiple, multi-threaded apps since WinCE 1.0 released in 1997 and pathetic Apple can't manage to do that 12 years later on newer, faster hardware? And don't give me the "it's to save battery life" B.S. If they used real hardware such as the 1 Watt TDP Atom from Intel @ 1.6 GHz instead of the much slower power hog chip they chose that wouldn't be such a problem now would it? And they would STILL be making a killing at the price they are charging!

The battery in my 4 year old PDA, using a 624 MHz processor (faster than the iPhones) and running a 640 x 480 display using an extra video chip to do so, powering 802.11 wi-fi and bluetooth and running the ridiculously CPU hungry apps I write myself, lasts as long as the iPhone battery from what I hear from numerous people complaining that their stupid iPhone battery lasts less than a day! Tell me that's not pathetic! And if you say, well your battery is probably bigger, I will say, maybe Apple should hire engineers to do their designs instead of artists!

Shall I continue?

[jwspg]

sselliotts,

Your comments are amusing as I have and am involved in the development process of SAAS products, therefore I can speak intelligently about the statistics and numbers as it relates to iPhone development and web 1.0 and 2.0 products. So now that we have dispelled the notion that I don't know how to use a computer perhaps you would like to re-examine your thought process and education commentary which in reality has nothing to do with what I discussed earlier.

If you will re-read what I wrote, you will see that my comments about social branding had nothing to do with you buying the product and everything to do with developers pursuing the product. In a world of business it isn't about what you want but rather what the consumers are drawn to whether you approve or disapprove of the product.

To your comments on screen resolution etc etc. Sure you are correct on screen resolution, and personally I have had much better success watching movies on an ipod or iphone then on any other windows mobile device. I wasn't ignoring what you said and only contending with the points I disagreed with. Apparently, what you desire is a war of words in which you get to bash what you don't like and ignore the statistics that speak for themselves.

Just because Apple releases a new product doesn't mean you should buy it, no more then you should buy that new BMW or the next honda Civic that comes out. It is all about options. If I recall Dell, continues to release a line of new laptops with customizable skins etc. Do you have the same beef with them and their marketing department?

Congratulations on having a PDA that still works four to five years later. That is an accomplishment that most of us who use them like work horses are unable to claim, and before you say some derogatory remark about the product in discussion, I feel that I must tell you that I have had all platforms at one time or the other (Windows Mobile, Palm Treos, Blackberry World Edition etc) However, in our line of business of SAAS and Event management the web features of the iphone and the multiple functionality make it hard to beat and we have tried them all.

I appreciate your response but would encourage you to carefully read the threads so you can address the points that apply without going on a tirade of random babble.

[lil-yankee]

This sselliotts guy is ridiculous.
I wonder if he was one of the programers that got rejected for making crappy content on the app store; on another thought, i take that back. It seems to me that with his level of gramar he'd fit more in the laundry of the company, you know what, more to the corner actually. Yes! right there, in the grabage. I wonder, if there are over a 4 billion pda's sold in 2004 alone and there are roughly 14 mill iphones, how come iphones still sell more software?
I wonder what you do with your pda then. im JUST GOING TO SAY THAT. Please sselliotts , tell me whats going on with this, or shut your mouth.

[whizkid454]

The Pre already does this, and seems to do it well. A little late there, Apple...

[Perry_Clease]

Seems or does, do you know? Do you have a Pre?

[seven7dust]

the PRE isn't even out yet
so who's late to the game ?
BTW the pre as of now has 0 apps so
having the feature doesn't necessarily help it n e way
they need a good app store in order to compete with the Iphone

[Mark_Anderson]

Every other smartphone does this. All of them.

You would have to be a complete moron to fall for the "longer battery life" ********.

[weeman17]

I would like it to not cost anything. i don't think that going to happen. The multiple apps will probably work like spaces does on a mac. Better late then never as it is said.

[irondog1970]

My Nokia 6682, which I loved, had multitasking as well as copy & paste. And while it can take a little while to figure out how the Symbian OS worked, overall I was very pleased with how it worked. Only thing about the Symbian OS phones is that US cell phone carriers were always afraid of WiFi enabled phones. I hope the iPhone shows that a cell phone company doesn't have to fear WiFi.

I for one would love to have a white list/black list app. I would use this to filter out who can call me when. I loved this on my Nokia, and it's about the only app I miss on my iPhone.

The next thing iPhone 3.0 could do is have sound profiles. I'd like to have a ring-and-vibrate mode, ring mode, vibrate mode, and a no-ring-or-vibrate mode. All all apps (alarm clock, games, etc.) would have to follow the sound profiles.

[codynews]

Please fix:

1) Battery life. Seroiusly, I get 1/2 a day -- maybe. I know this may not be possible unlike the next few issues...

2) Cut and paste. This can be done NOW. I still scratch my head about this one..

3) Landscape e-mail. Why don't they allow this? There is no challenge to it, they just don't allow it for some reason.

4) Pictures via SMS (MMS). Come on, allow for this! Just because I have someone's cell number doesn't mean I have their e-mail. Also, if you're going to insist that AT&T send me a stupid txt with a login to get my picture, MAKE THE LINK GO TO THE PICTURE! Since there is no cut and past, I have to WRITE DOWN the user/pass in order to get my picture. So stupid.

BUT! Other than that, I love my iphone :)

Cody

[jabberwolf]

What?!?!
The only reason that the iphone is quick and has few freezes is because it has no background processing, its a 1 or 2 trick pony ( at the same time) at best.

So are iphone users ready for reality?!

[Perry_Clease]

"So are iphone users ready for reality?!"

Specious

[mistersoft]

...if any of the problem implementing cut n paste for Apple is with the UI
(which i would highly doubt). stroke across to select the text or tap to insert cursor, tap again to bring up a menu (probably just two/3 options, of which one would be copy, one would be paste! easy!! )

PS - having SUCH a closed ecosystem as the appstore (might be 'sufferable' for now - for easy and consistency of experience and implementation of quality assurance)

BUT ...i so hope that as Android, (other)linux mobile offerings, palm, open-symbian etc allow users more freedoms to install more of 'what the hell they want' (on their device!!) that Apple either follow suit or allow more 'off the shelf'/Non-App-store installs alongside a replete App-store catalog.

[sselliotts]

keep dreamin' dude! This is Apple you are talking about, the most communistic dictatorial company in the world to whom you have apparently sworn fielty. They will never come out of their little world of make-believe where they are the god of technology because there are a lot of morons who enable them to stay in it by paying homage to them. If there weren't any stupid people in this world, companies like Apple wouldn't last a day with their control freak issues.

[seven7dust]

@sselliots you're obviously a blind misinformed anti-Apple troll

it's a good thing more people aren't like you or world would
be stuck with Innovationless MS and windows style products and all their problems

if you really that obsessed with a open system it's called linux and it's free
unfortunately for you your the one stuck in a world of make believe
where you consider Windows to be a open platform ? wat a troll !

[msanto]

One thing: Apple generally announces products early, and its iPhone MONTHS in advance. If there's something in June, is it a release, OR an announcement?

[Perry_Clease]

At this point in time it is a just a rumor, go to this URL and sign up for the RSS http://www.apple.com/pr/

[mistersoft]

come on, do i sound like i've sworn fielty sselliotts, I like the mac os x in comparison with MS (generally), but would prefer something more open like linux if it had the support of some of the top proprietory music softwares(and hardware driver support) logic, reason, cubase, novation synths, yamaha drums etc. but it doesn't.
The iPhone OS (X) itself is different, I'm avoiding it for the time being because of its closedness. an Android phone will probably be my next phone upgrade

[macSci]

Thanks for this article, I was beginning to wonder about this one.... and while the idea of a Push Notification System on the internet makes sense, I imagine Apple may have had problems with the mass transactions that would be required to push notify 10 Million iPhones.

Personally, I think it is a good idea to think about background processes and resource consumption because I think there must be at least 10 bad developers out there for every one good one. And, don't forget the malicious coders, that just want to see how many people they can suck in to their vortex of twisted logic. If only I could come up with an example of an insecure operating system that allows whatever it wants to run whenever it wants to, indiscriminately disrupting the very person trying to use to computer for a useful purpose.... wait a sec.. that's Windows 9.x, 2000, Milenium, XP, Vista (or should I say Windows 7) Still Microsoft has failed to implement a proper, easy to use security model in Windows due to flaws at the core of the Windows Kernel...

Now there are a lot of Apple haters posting blogs on this site and others, and I'm also not happy that they have backed out and pretended their original solution never existed. However, Apple has always pushed the envelop by providing elegant computer solutions to its consumers. This is why people pay more for an Apple: the end-user experience and presentation is paramount. This philosophy has reshaped the way we think and use computers today, with the wide-spread use of iPod and iPhone products that people love because they are really easy to use. One of the reasons they are easy to use is because dismal programmer X can't run a background app for his badly designed IM client that requires you to reset your phone because it ate up all the system resources....

[awaybbl]

Not sure if I understand... is this a new device?

If so, let's hope they bump up processor speed(graphics are kinda slow now), and device memory (maybe add a microSD slot too).

Bluetooth 2.0 (stereo, file transfer, tethering, printing)

Background is a must (if Apple is concerned about bad apps, make the devprog certify to a higher level any apps that require background)

cut/copy/paste is a must. (a simple interface would be... click and hold to bring up magnifying glass, then slide another finger across the text to be highlighted, then release second finger and pop-up a menu (or gesture x, c, v) to do the action)

[NoBackground]

I hope that they continue to disallow the background processing for 3rd party apps. While it may be nice occasionally to perform another task with an application running, I would much rather know that nothing is permitted to run on my phone without my knowledge. I actually hold down the home key to force-quit the iPod instead of just pausing it to sit dormant in the background. Apple made the right decision not letting apps this feature; I hope they stand behind their decision.