Apple Releases iPhone SDK 4 Beta to Developers

Written by Eric Slivka

Alongside Apple's media event today to introduce some of the features for its upcoming iPhone OS 4, Apple has posted iPhone SDK 4 Beta to its developer siteto offer developers the tools necessary to implement the new features. Apple has also posted a number of developer pages highlighting changes in the new version of the operating system.

Apple notes that there are over 1,500 new APIs available in iPhone OS 4, including access to the Calendar application, in-app SMS, access to photos and videos in users' Photos libraries, full control over video playback and capture, mapping improvements, and incorporation of Quick Look functionality for previewing documents. Also included is Apple's "Accelerate" functionality, which provides access to a iPhone-optimized complex mathematical functions such as vector and matrix factorization, array multiplication, and computation of simultaneous linear equations.

Other major features we've covered are summarized below:

- Apple Announces Multitasking in iPhone 4.0
- Apple Introduces iAds Mobile Advertising Platform
- Apple Introduces Game Center for Leaderboards and Achievements
- iPhone OS 4 to Bring iBooks to iPhone and iPod Touch
- Apple Enhances Email and Enterprise Features in iPhone OS 4