Apple iPhone OS 4.0 to be announced later today

Apple is set to unveil version 4.0 of its iPhone OS later today. But just what will this new version have in store?

As usual, Apple has kept all information about the new OS strictly secret, announcing just that it would be revealed today, Thursday 8 April. Riding high on the media frenzy created by the US release of the iPad on Saturday 3 April (with 300,000 iPads sold in just 24 hours, by the way), Apple is now poised to announce its updated operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Plus, with rumours that a new iPhone is set to be announced sometime before the summer, Apple’s timing is, as ever, perfect.

The previous OS update was presented last June, and notably brought support for MMS and copy and paste actions.

Many users would be keen to see the version 4.0 update allow for multitasking with several applications, including those you’ve downloaded from the AppStore. But with the whole event shrouded in secrecy, it’s impossible to say what the new OS will bring. No-one can even be sure whether the update will apply to every iPhone and iPod touch.

With speculation heating up, some are suggesting a corrected and reworked version of the welcome screen, which could use the accelerometer to display applications in landscape format. Others, however, think that Apple will use the occasion to announce its intentions to launch into the mobile advertising sector with its much-rumoured iAd service.

We’ll all have to wait until 19:00 GMT to find out for sure.

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