Does iPhone Get OS 3.2 On April 3, Too?Does iPhone Get OS 3.2 On April 3, Too?

The iPhone has not seen a significant operating system update in six months. Does Apple intend to offer iPhone OS 3.2 -- which is shipping on the iPad starting April 3 -- to the iPhone at the same time?Apple has been completely mum on iPhone system updates for quite some time. Many expected Apple to announce iPhone OS 4.0 along with the iPad at the launch event back in January. It didn't. Right now, the iPhone's most current system is 3.1.3. The iPhone hasn't received anything but incremental bug fixes in what feels like an eternity. The last update to offer any new features was 3.1, which brought in the ability to sync Facebook photos with the iPhone's contacts application.

Given the pending arrival of the iPad, which runs on a modified version of iPhone OS 3.2, I posed the following questions to Apple today:

Will the iPhone be able to update to OS 3.2 starting April 3?

Will the iPhone be able to update to OS 3.2 at a later date?

Or will the iPhone skip the 3.2 update in favor or a much bigger system overhaul, such as a jump to OS 4.0?

If the iPhone *is* going to receive the 3.2 update on April 3 or at some point thereafter, can you please detail what new features will be included?

Apple hasn't responded, but I think these are all valid questions. iPhone OS, as good as it is, is beginning to get a little long in the tooth. Other mobile operating systems, such as Android, webOS and Windows Phone 7 Series, have integrated forward-thinking features that Apple has yet to adopt. iPhone OS, as it is today, is becoming outdated and outmatched by some of the innovations of others.

Perhaps OS 3.2 will be offered as a stop-gap for several months while Apple finalizes preparations for the next-generation iPhone hardware. Perhaps Apple will surprise everyone and announce that iPhone owners can download iPhone OS 3.2 starting April 3 (or soon thereafter). Perhaps Apple will say nothing until it reveals the next-generation iPhone, probably some time in June.

Well, Apple? Which is it?