Everything iPad

With a title like that, we’re sure you’re interested. Believe us, when we caught wind of this, we had to spread the word. If it turns out to be true, and we are destined to see features that Steve Jobs didn’t show off at his keynote, that’s a pretty bold move. Especially considering the amount of flack Apple and Jobs have taken since the announcement. While some out there continue to call the iPad just a big iPod Touch, hiding features as cool as the ones listed below is a pretty big step in differentiating the two platforms. It’s also pretty sneaky, if we do say so ourselves.

First, let’s explain where this is coming from. It’s from an individual that is familiar with the latest version of the iPhone OS simulator in the iPad’s SDK. So, you can take that for what it’s worth. Of course, you shouldn’t count out the information solely on the fact that we can’t tell you who is delivering the information, or tell you that Apple has gone ahead and officially announced all these features. That would ruin the surprise, right? So for right now, we’ll keep the rumor word out of the title, and go from there.

Now, what are these features? First up is a different kind of method to save your contacts. Internally, the iPhone’s Contact App is called MobileAddressBook. However, in the iPad SDK it has become something known as the LittleBrownBook. According to the Springboard (which runs the Home screen icons), there is an app tag called “stand-alone-contacts” in which this LittleBrownBook utilizes. Much in the same way that the Mac OS X provides a contact browser to access contacts outside of the contacts application, the belief is that the iPad will use this same methodology. If the iPad SDK is to be believed, than this new “widget” would be similar to a desk accessory style widget. This would in turn mean that Apple has found a way to activate multitasking, more or less, and in such a way that won’t slow down the system.

The second revelation comes in the form of URLs, and more specifically, opening a URL in a specified application. More to the point, it seems that web snippets will not open a web-based application anymore. According to the contact, it seems that Springboard will be utilizing a far more expansive URL system, which means that addresses would be directly opened by Maps, and numbers directly opened in the dialer. While this can already be done to a certain extent, what the SDK is telling us is that the expanded URL list means that developers can use that technology to open up specific links to open up in their applications. As of right now, opening a link to a Facebook-centric site would open up Mobile Safari. Now though, it looks like that link can be activated to open up in the dedicated Facebook application.

It seems that the iPad has been given an extra boost in simplicity for the system, as well as the user. By streamlining a lot of these issues, the user experience will be a lot more fun and worthwhile for the user. No more going from one app to another, just to get something done. At least, not for these applications. If they’re all connected in some way, then it becomes a lot more fluent to use. We’ll have to wait and see if any of these really happen, and if they’ll be available at the launch of the iPad. But, until then, let us know. Do you think widgets have a home on the iPad?

[via Apple Insider]