Apple To Introduce iPhone OS 4.0 April 8Apple To Introduce iPhone OS 4.0 April 8

Today Apple sent out press invitations to an event it is holding Thursday, April 8. At the event it will showcase iPhone operating system 4.0, which promises to be a major update to the iPhone's OS.Apple has shared literally zero details about this event, but it's taking place Thursday. We know very little about iPhone OS 4.0, but the new operating system software for the iPhone is expected to be significant.

Multitasking is one of the features that iPhone users have clamored for since iPhone OS 2.0 and the first third-party apps emerged in 2008. Last week, AppleInsider claimed to have information from a trusted source on iPhone OS 4.0. It describes the coming multitasking feature as similar to OS X's Expose feature, which sorts out all the active windows in a single layer so that all are visible at once. It explained:

Sounds interesting, and even possible. HTC is already doing something similar with its SenseUI on the Android platform. I've seen it in action, and it works pretty well. Rather than bounce between open applications, however, HTC's Sense lets users quickly jump to any of the seven home screens.

Whether or not AppleInsider's information is accurate, the time is right. Palm's webOS, Nokia's S60, RIM's BlackBerry OS and Google's Android OS all offer multitasking to a certain degree. In order to remain competitive, not only does Apple need to bring multitasking to the iPhone, but it's implementation needs to be top notch. Something akin to what AppleInsider describes could do the trick. With the (growing) number of applications available to the iPhone -- many of which are begging for background processes -- Apple has to offer a solution in the not-too-distant future.

The iPad, especially, suffers for its lack of multitasking, as information noted it its full review of the table from Apple.

Hopefully that and more is on tap for Thursday, when Apple will reveal the new operating system for the iPhone.