In today’s App Industry Roundup, we look at some leaked images of the iPhone 4G, anticipate Facebook’s official presence on the iPad, and explain why the fat lady is far from singing about the Opera Mini app for the iPhone.
iPhone 4G images released, iPad coming May 7
Photo courtesy of Gizmodo
Months before Apple’s anticipated June debut of the iPhone 4G, Gizmodo today revealed leaked images of what appears to be a prototype of the new device. As you can see, the next iPhone will have a sleek, industrial design as well as a slew of new features including a chat-friendly video camera and better resolution across the board.
For app enthusiasts, the most exciting thing about the new device will be an operating system that accommodates using more than one app at once. To that end, check out our list of best apps for multi-tasking on the iPhone.
While images of the new iPhone were not exactly part of Apple’s formal marketing roll-out, the company did confirm May 7 as the day new iPad 3GS devices will be shipped to consumers for the first time. The iPad 3G will start at $629. To date, more than 500,000 iPads have been sold since April 3, its first day of commercial availability.
When will an official Facebook app emerge on the iPad
With Facebook’s F8 Developer’s Conference this week, many observers – including the New York Times – are watching the company roll it key services outside of Facebook.com. So where is the iPad app? Earlier this month, we detailed the story of Facebook Ultimate, the buggy third-party Facebook app for the iPad that was booted out of the app store for looking too much like the real thing.
While an April 13 update has Facebook Ultimate back in the App Store, the bigger question remains what is holding Facebook back from releasing its own iPad-specific application? Sure, you can access Facebook from Safari on the iPad and download a iPhone-sized version on the device. But when your company’s overarching goal is to be available to as many people in as many forms on as many devices, wouldn’t you think Apple’s latest pop culture phenomenon is a good place to start?
It’s a safe bet that Twitter, which is committed to owning and operating their own apps on the iPhone as well the BlackBerry and Android-powered devices, will beat Facebook to the iPad. Something like this was unthinkable only a month ago.
Opera Mini for iPhone already one for the ages
Proving that there is a large appetite for alternative browsers other than Safari on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the free Opera Mini app generated more than one million downloads within 24 hours of its April 12 launch. To learn more about Opera Mini, check out our written review and video commentary.
