iPhone OS / iPod OS

We know, we know, you’re sick of future iPhone OS rumors… but one more couldn’t hurt right? The folks over at 9to5Mac have been exploring the new iPhone 3.2 beta 4 SDK, and have found a few files that could indicate more gestures are coming to the next iPhone OS. Something we reported on a pretty decent amount of time ago. The two files, “3Tap.plist” and “LongPress.plist, are located in the “gestures” library folder and, according to 9to5Mac, are not in previous versions of the SDK. Now, we know that “three taps” does not have a defined OS-wide function in the current iPhone OS, but we’re pretty sure that a “long press” will bring up a contextual menu to copy, cut, and paste among other things. For those iPhone haters out there, we’re pretty sure we know what one fingered gesture you want to give the iPhone… but unfortunately the “FlipBird.plist” file was not included in this build of the SDK. Check out the full report at 9to5Mac.

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…and we use the word refine very loosely. In the last 30 days, Apple has dropped the App Store ban-hammer on applications that display images of scantily clad women and Wi-Fi scanning/stumbling applications. The bare-naked ladies were removed because, as Apple VP Phil Schiller put it, “the needs of the kids and parents” had to come first. Wi-Fi scanning applications got the boot for making calls to a private API, which raises the obvious question… why were these applications approved in the first place? So, what is latest app genre to feel the sting of Apple’s proverbial backhand? So called “cookie-cutter” applications. Apple is beginning to reject apps that were created using application building services and do not add any specific functionality to the iPhone or iPod Touch. Or, as TechCrunch’s Jason Kincaid succinctly put it, “Apple doesn’t want people using native applications for things that a basic web app could accomplish.” Whatever the reasoning, Apple is sending a scary message to potential application developers… we can change our mind.

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There isn’t much else to say about this one. Apple has made the iPad release date official; that date is April 3rd for the Wi-Fi models. Pre-orders for the jumbo iPhone will begin on March 12th. If you’ve been living under a rock, and don’t know that much about the iPad, you can hit up our recap to get up to speed. Who has an extra $499 in their possession that they will be wiring to Apple, Inc. on March 12th? If you’re looking for the 3G-enabled models, Apple has said those will ship later in April.

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Shortly after the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta was released, users began spelunking around the code to see what, if anything, they could find. Earlier this month we reported on the discovery of several UI buttons to accept and reject video chat invitations, and today, MacRumors is reporting on the discovery of more evidence confirming a front-facing camera inclusion in the SDK. Several lines of code in the file PLCameraController.h indicate the presence of a camera with a flash, the ability to zoom, and the possibility that this camera is front-facing.

We have to be honest: a front-facing camera with the ability to make video calls would be great, and a camera with a flash and zoom anywhere on the iPhone or iPad would also be appreciated. The fact that this code is included in Apple’s SDK seems very promising, but unless Apple’s holding a lot back (which isn’t out of the question), we’ll just have to see how far this gets us.