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We’re not quite at the height of Apple frenzy, but looking at the bell curve, we’re only a standard deviation or two from its zenith (we imagine the fever pitch will be in tandem with Saturday’s iPad launch, if history and human nature tells us anything). Of course, that doesn’t stop the rumor mill from amping up production, and so on with the show! First on the docket, remember last month’s discovery of multitasking comments in the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta? Well, Apple Insider’s apparently got it on word from its network of sources that OS 4.0 will in fact include multitasking, with app switching purportedly done by double-tapping the home button and selecting the appropriate active app icon. If you ask us, that sounds similar in function to command / tab switching, but the people claiming to be in the know liken it more to Expose for OS X.

Taking a step back to focus on the actual hardware for a moment, iPad in Canada is hearing that local Apple store employees have been told April 24th is a “black out period,” meaning no one is allowed to take that day off. That usually coincides with major product launch, and we did hear the international iPad debut would be late April, but Apple’s yet to make its non-US plans concrete. It is the last Saturday of the month, however, and perhaps it’ll coincide with the other countries as well. As always, none of this is confirmed and shouldn’t be taken as gospel in any way, shape, or form. We can’t stop you from getting your hopes up, but don’t blame us if those dreams get shattered by a sucker punch of reality.

Apple rumor twofer: Expose-like multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, international iPad launch on April 24th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether or not you think the iPad is in and of itself a worthy purchase, let’s not forget the investment doesn’t end at the retail counter or online shopping cart. Two little newsbits have popped up to serve as a helpful reminder to just that effect. The first comes way of verbiage from the iPad end-user licensing agreement dug up by MacRumors; in a nutshell, it suggests that while iPad OS 4.x updates will be provided gratis, subsequent releases (5.x, 6.x, and so on) could be offered at a premium, à la how iPod touch handles firmware. This is far from a confirmation, but it’s well within Apple’s right to do so. The second bit is derived by The Consumerist by way a supposed leaked app store video. Comparing the prices of iPad-optimized software with the iPhone equivalents showed quite a hefty uptick in consumer cost — e.g., $4.99 Flight Control HD vs. $0.99 Flight Control. The pool of eight apps seen in the video would cost $53 in all to purchase, while the same set for the iPhone is $27. That screen real estate don’t come cheap, y’know — that is, should the prices seen prove legit. At this point we can’t confirm, and more than likely, we won’t know for sure until the eleventh hour.

Update: The BBC has word direct from developers that iPad apps will indeed be costlier than their iPhone / iPod touch brethren. Multiple devs are cited in the Beeb’s article saying that their 99 cent apps will grow in price to $1.99 and $2.99 price points for the slate device [thanks, Ben].

iPad’s trailing costs: like the iPod touch, only bigger (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  MacRumors, The Consumerist  | Email this | Comments