iPhone OS and SDK 3.2 beta released for Apple iPad

Unfortunately for iPhone owners, it appears that features included in the new Apple iPad OS won’t be compatible with Apple’s phone.

According to Engadget, Apple’s updated human interface guidelines describe new User Interface(UI) elements, split view and popovers as “iPad-only” features. Though this shouldn’t come as a surprise since those UI elements were built for larger displays, it may mean that developers are going to have a tough time making some apps work on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Even more interesting is the fact that the new SDK shows support for an iPad camera. According to developer sources, the simulator contains two applications for Contacts and Settings. The latter is self-explanatory, but Contacts supports the option applying a new or existing image to one of your contacts. It isn’t clear if this is some holdover from the iPhone SDK framework or if we will see a camera in a future version of the iPad.

A few other things to note about iPhone OS and SDK 3.2:

  • The OS does not support the iPhone or iPod Touch and will only run on the iPad.
  • The SDK will allow video output to an external display using the dock connector.
  • The OS has new rich text support in UITextInput that allows different fonts, sizes and more.
  • The OS does not support multitasking.
  • The OS will support file sharing in a shared directory that can be mounted on your PC or Mac. The assumption is that it is there to support working with iWork documents.
  • The SDK will support the creation of a new category of “Universal” apps that support the iPad or iPhone and iPod Touch.

Will issues about the UI elements create a situation where developers are forced to ship two different versions of their apps to the iTunes App Store? Will the iPad support a camera (or two) in the future? Why didn’t Apple include a camera, which is a popular feature in their other mobile devices, in the first version of the iPad?

Let us know what you think about all this by leaving a comment.

iPad Contacts app – take a photo
Engadget

Updated 01/28/2010 1:30 PM PST by adding information about multitasking, file sharing, and Universal apps.

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