Written by:
Paul Shin

Apple's New Operating System

Apple launched a new Operating System called iPhone OS 4.0 on April 8th. OS 4.0 includes tools for multitasking and folder organization that were identified the iPhone’s main drawbacks. Apple also added iPad’s popular function, iBooks and developed a more sophisticated email system. OS 4.0 concentrates on business management tools to target the enterprise market as well. The ‘Game Center’ tool for social game network has been created to compete with Window Phone 7’s breakthrough development of ‘Game Hub’ that had integrated Xbox Live into a mobile system.

However, a tool that grabbed people’s attentions the most was Apple’s advertisement platform, iAd. It compensates application developers who include ads in their apps with 60% of profit from the ads. Steven Jobs, a CEO of Apple, claimed that Apple has sold 85 million iPhones and iPod touches and that there are more than a billion opportunities for ads. He further asserted that Apple has added 1,500 new APIs to iPhone OS 4.0 and that users would enjoy more than hundred newly added tools.

Apple also partially solved the number one problem on the customers’ request list, multitasking, by selectively allowing it. Apple has refused to allow multitasking due to slower speed and shorter duration. The firm enlarged the range of target consumers as well. As iPhone has become increasingly popular, marketers in firms had to consider the connection between iPhones and its own IT system. Apple targeted enterprise market to prevent Blackberry from dominating the market too.

Despite the intense competition with other IT dinosaurs, such as Google or Microsoft, Apple has maintained an advantageous position in the market based on creativity. Even though there were some critiques toward the iPad about its target consumers of people who do not have a laptop or a smart phone, sales are continually growing up to this point.