Facebook Connect and OS 3.0 are coming to Apple’s iPhone, and there are rumors of more additions.
Late last week, Apple issued invitations for a special event Tuesday in Cupertino, Calif., to discuss its new operating system and a new software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone. A variety of rumors have been populating the Web in anticipation of the OS 3.0 release.
Background Processing, Search, Copy and Paste
One rumor, in particular, supported by the SDK release, is that Apple will release “true” background processing. Currently, background processes aren’t permitted in third-party applications, which means those applications must quit completely when they are closed.
Push notification was a solution Apple said it would offer so apps could receive messages or updates when not active. But push notification was dropped from a recent firmware update, leading to speculation that user-selectable background processing could be coming.
Others have speculated that a universal search capability and a multimedia messaging service will be in 3.0. There has also been speculation from Digg founder Kevin Rose that the new operating system will enable copy and paste functions for text or photos. This functionality is available in the recently released Pre from Palm. Rose commented Monday at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.
There are also reports of more functions to tie the iPhone into enterprise networks, as well as a VoiceOver feature for reading text aloud. However, the long-awaited addition of Flash to the iPhone isn’t high on lists of anticipated additions.
Premium App Store?
Another rumor suggests Apple is planning a premium App Store to complement its current one, which primarily features free and very inexpensive downloads. The new, higher-end store would allegedly focus on games costing $20 or more, a level of development many developers have felt isn’t supported by the pricing structure in the current store,…