Boyd Timothy and Calvin Gainsford from Appigo show off Todo on the iPad, its features and how using the iPad is different from using the iPhone. And, of course, tell TiPb what they think of iOS 4 and iPhone 4.

(It’s possible they like it a lot.)

Video after the break!

YouTube link

Appigo talks Todo for iPad – TiPb at WWDC 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Multitasking was widely rumored to be coming to the iPhone with iOS 4, but instead of a traditional “leave full apps running in the background” approach, Apple instead chose to implement a more restricted but, they felt, better performing and power friendly solution involving 7 specific background API (application programming interfaces.) Is that, however, the best solution to the multitasking challenge as Apple claims? I spoke to several developers during WWDC 2010 and asked them that question.

First, we’ll review what Apple is doing in iOS 4, then we’ll see if developers think it works as well in reality as as Apple says it does on stage.

How does Apple say iOS 4 multitasking works?

In addition to the existing push notification service from Apple’s servers, which provide sound, badges, and alert popups for everything from IM to game challenges, iOS 4 adds local notifications so something like an alarm-clock app could register an alert that would sit in the iPhone in the background until the proper time, then activate. That takes the online server out of the equation which is good for tasks that don’t need additional information from the cloud, and so don’t have to activate the radios.

There’s another API for task completion so that, for example, if you’re uploading a picture to Twitter and leave the app, it can register a thread to keep uploading the picture in the background while you do something else. That means the entire app doesn’t have to keep running, freeing up memory and lightening battery load, and even the thread will terminate when the upload is done.

Fast task switching deals with the perceptive speed that multitasking offers. With previous versions of iOS, if you left an App Store app it would shut down completely and if you went back — regardless if it was a second or a week or later, it would usually restart not from where you left off but from essentially the beginning. (A few developers tried to add persistence on their own, so they’d save your place when you came back as best as previous OS versions allowed, but most didn’t — especially games which was aggravating when phone calls pulled you unexpectedly out of them). Likewise, if you closed one app and went to another, you could theoretically be stuck swiping back or forth between 11 home screen pages.

Saved state is now built into iOS 4 so all developers can more easily have their apps remember exactly where you were when you left and put you right back at that position when you return, Apple has also added a fast app switcher UI that, when you double tap the home button, lifts up to show you your apps “in the background” sorted in order of last usage. That means, if you’re moving between a set of commonly used apps, they’re most likely right next to each other and not screens and screens away. These two elements combine together to make launching apps perceptively much faster, even though the apps don’t have to be running in the background consuming resources just for that convenience.

Lastly, but perhaps most famously, Apple is allowing apps to register three specific types of the threads for persistent backgrounding (they can just keep running until you close them). Again, this isn’t the whole app running, just one thread from the app, so the idea is it won’t slow down performance, use up memory, or drain battery to the same degree. These API are for streaming music, location, and VoIP (voice over IP).

This means you can listen to Pandora, Slacker, etc. while surfing the web. Navigon, TeleNav,TomTom, etc. can keep using the GPS and alert you to directions while you’re on the phone, and to further save resources, non-critical location apps like FourSquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. can be alerted when you change cell towers. Fring, Skype, Line2, etc. can answer calls and receive messages when you’re not in the app, making the. More equal telephony citizens.

How do developers think iOS multitasking really works?

Of the developers I spoke to during WWDC — and I certainly didn’t speak to them all — they were remarkably pleased with how iOS multitasking was working out in practice. For those who made large, resource intesive apps, they actually preferred Apple solution since they didn’t want to be blamed for performance hits on other apps while they were in the background (especially performance hits for other intensive apps like games). So far, they were also excited by the relatively low impact on battery life compared to traditional, full-on app backgrounding.

In terms of implementation, the devs I spoke with were really happy about how quickly they could implement the background APIs in their apps — really quickly, much faster than they thought.

(if you’re a developer with a different opinion, send it our way so we can get as well-rounded a sampling as possible).

How will users think iOS 4 multitasking works for them?

Like with copy and paste, it’s possible Apple really did take their time to get multitasking right. It’s also possible that, like many other Apple solutions, it will be outstanding at what it does, but limited or non-functional for those who want to do more — like have an SSH session stay open in the background, or have their Twitter, IM, or RSS timelines be ready and waiting, just like mail, when they open an app.

We’ve heard from Apple, we’ve heard from developers, and starting June 21 when iOS 4 goes live for end users, we’ll hear how it works for all of them in the real world.

That, of course, will be the true test.

Are iOS 4 background API really the best solution to multitasking? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Twitter recently purchased Tweetie, the widely popular iPhone and Mac Twitter client, and the iPhone version was renamed Twitter for iPhone. The big question on everyone’s minds has been if there will be a “Twitter for iPad” any time soon. The answer is Yes!

Loren Brichter, the designer of Tweetie and now employee of Twitter, has confirmed that Twitter for iPad is coming to the iPad, it’s coming soon, and he’s very excited about it. He claims that “the goal is to exceed the Twitter iPhone app in the iPad.”

Tweetie also has a Mac client that has been seemingly neglected for almost a year. Users have expected an update for quite a while now, but no such update has arrived. Loren has now spoken and promises to get back to working on Tweetie for Mac in the coming weeks. He had to put it on hold after accepting the position at Twitter to focus on the release of Twitter for iPhone.

TiPb is very excited for Twitter for iPad and an updated mac client. What about you? Are you looking forward to some Tweetie goodness on your iPad? Are you a MacHeist user who as been patiently (or impatiently) waiting for the promised Tweetie for Mac update?

Sound off in the comments below!

[ars technica]

Official Twitter for iPad will be the best Tweetie yet is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

According to the Washington Post, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual’s office is replete with iPad users:

Emanuel just got his, as did senior adviser David Axelrod and deputy press secretary Bill Burton. Both communications director Dan Pfeiffer and press wrangler Ben Finkenbinder have one on order. Economic adviser Larry Summers takes his to staff meetings.

They seem to have a penchant for financial and newspaper apps and the public domain iBooks at the moment, though Burton admits to Scrabble and the last season of Lost.

The legislative branch, not unexpectedly, is split over the iPad.

[Washington Post]

White House adopting iPads is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The US government is reportedly now investigating Apple for the terms in the iOS 4 GM license that restrict rival ad networks owned by competing platforms — i.e. Google’s AdMob. Independent ad networks are not effected, nor is Apple’s own iAd platform.

According to two people close to the situation, US regulators have already taken an interest in Apple's actions, though it is not yet clear whether it will be left to the Federal Trade Commission, which carried out the recent Google investigation, or the Department of Justice to take an investigation forward.

This follows other reported probes into Apple’s restriction on cross-compilers — i.e. Adobe’s Flash CS5 packager for iPhone, and its position in music — i.e. Apple’s decision to not promote tracks that gave rival Amazon MP3 a 24hr exclusive.

Google’s AdMob acquisition itself faced intense US government scrutiny due to its dominant position in the online advertising market. Both Apple and Google want to buy AdMob, with Google winning out and Apple purchasing Quatro Wireless to power their new iOS iAd platform instead.

If one thing is clear, it looks like PC-underdog Apple is a high profile investigative target in the mobile space.

[Financial Times]

US government investigating Apple’s AdMob exclusion is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Hackers found a way in to AT&T’s iPad 3G registry and, using a brute-force attack based on unique ICC-ID numbers, managed to pull down corresponding email addresses for those users — who include members of the US military, executive branch, and media companies.

AT&T has since closed the vulnerability and issued the following statement:

“AT&T was informed by a business customer on Monday of the potential exposure of their iPad ICC IDS. The only information that can be derived from the ICC IDS is the e-mail address attached to that device.

This issue was escalated to the highest levels of the company and was corrected by Tuesday; and we have essentially turned off the feature that provided the e-mail addresses.

The person or group who discovered this gap did not contact AT&T.

We are continuing to investigate and will inform all customers whose e-mail addresses and ICC IDS may have been obtained.

We take customer privacy very seriously and while we have fixed this problem, we apologize to our customers who were impacted.”

So once again it’s the convenience of the cloud vs. the security of customer information. Increasingly we’re trusting online accounts and services with our personal and financial information, and high-profile incidents like this, if nothing else, force everyone to re-examine what we trust and with whom.

How serious is this loss of data to you? Does it make you hesitant to signup online or on-device?

[Gawker, who curiously call it an Apple security breach in the headline.]

AT&T hacked, iPad 3G owners email addresses harvested is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog