Delving Deeper Into iOS4

Like most smartphone operating systems that are out today, iOS4 is feature and application rich and trying to explain all of these features in one post would be insane and illogical. So, in this post I'll cover the Application Store and the creation of folders to organize applications.

Maneuvering yourself to the application store is quite easy. Begin by going to the home screen, you can do this by pressing the home button located at the bottom center of your phone or by pressing the lock button on the top right corner of the phone. Once you do this, you will be brought to the home screen. On the home screen look for an icon called the Application Store and click on it. You're now in the application store for iOS4.

What can I do with the application store?

Well put simply, quite a few things. When you enter the Application Store, you are brought to the featured application page. On this page you will find different applications that are recommended by Apple. On the top of the page you can choose between new, what's hot, and genius. New and what's hot are self explanatory but some people might not know about genius. Genius is a service provided by Apple that helps match music or applications to you according to your interests. Along the bottom bar of the application are some more categories that you can choose from. Categories, Top 25, Search, and Updates are all available pages that you can visit. Update shows you the newer versions of what apps you already have installed on your phone. Top 25 shows the top 25 free or paid applications currently on the store.

Creating folders to organize applications

Creating folders in iOS4 is extremely simple. Place and hold your finger onto the application that you want to place in a folder. After a few seconds all of the applications on the phone will begin to wiggle. Drag the wiggling application onto another similar or not similar, the choice is up to you, application and it will automatically create and name the folder. To rename the folder, click and hold the folder you wish to rename, the name of the folder will be highlighted with a white box, click in the highlighted space and then type in the desired name.

RIM and Windows 7 Phone

Now that you know about iOS4, Symbian, and Android, you need to learn a little bit more about the final two contenders in the operating system space. The final two are Research in Motion or RIM and Windows 7 Phone. Windows Mobile is still being used but Microsoft is paving the way for its new Windows 7 Phone system.

RIM's Blackberry operating system is in it's 5th incarnation, at version 5.0. With version 5.0 comes synchronization of Exchange e-mail, calendar, notes, and contacts. While this operating system isn't as open as the Android platform, there is still an opportunity for third-party developers to create applications for the operating system.

Windows 7 Phone is a brand new, yet to be released operating system that will span AT&T and T-Mobile at launch and will potentially expand into Verizon and Sprint. The system is based on the Windows CE 6 kernel, like the Zune HD. Included within the operating system is what Microsoft calls hubs. These hubs are similar to sub menus and come in different categories. Some of the hubs are; the people hub, the pictures hub, the games hub, music and video hub, marketplace hub, and office hub. Those are just a few of the categories that utilize this hub system. Not much more is known about Windows Phone 7, but with a recent launch on the horizon a torrent of information should explode onto the internet.