iPhone multitasking NOT!

11 Jul 2009

Well I never thought I would see me seriously considering moving from my iPhone, but this multitasking issue is a bit of a problem.

Having looked at the presentations of the Android driven Hero and the recently released in the US (soon to be released [late 2009] in the UK) Palm Pre, I have to admit their multitasking capabilities make a difference to the user experienced.

I can’t say I like the look of the Phone Hardware Design as much, but the OS implementation of multitasking makes a great deal of sense.

I am going to be traveling over the coming months, so intend to review the US

version of the Palm Pre, and will be able to look closer at the Hero at the same time.

How important is multitasking I hear you ask? Well, here’s a practical example, you want to use Googles map feature ‘latitude’, which is a dual opt in tracking service, allowing you to see where your contacts are and them to see you, on a map.

For this to work at it’s best, this service needs to be ‘always on’. So, latitude needs to be running, even when your looking at emails, browsing the web or your phone is locked and in your pocket.

Now, all is not lost. With iPhone 3.0 we have the push notification service, which allows services to interact with the iPhone, when you are in another application. This is great as a first step, but still limits what applications can do, not multitasking but a way for applications to notify you when information changes [beejive IM is a good example – more about that later].

Apple seem mixed on the importance of multitasking, maybe it’s just not possible with the current architecture, but for us users, with these new phones on the horizon, it may well be. At the least, multitasking is going to get some real publicity in the coming months.

Maybe Apple will have an announcement up it’s sleeve, who knows.

Last but not least, coupled with multitasking is the fact that both the Pre and Hero run Flash, so another pretty compelling reason to consider a move, even if it breaks my heart. Come on Apple news please :0)

Note : I probably should mention the phone to watch out for, the Sony Android Rachael-UI, which is set to look sexy and really functional.

Note 2 : it’s all going to boil down to 2 things, how many apps you like/want/need, and what Apple are intending to do next …. Watch this space.

Note 2 : it’s all going to boil down to 2 things, how many apps you like/want/need, and what Apple are intending to do next …. Watch this space.