IOS 5 is expected to make its debut at Apple’s WWDC but many not appear alongside a new iPhone. Here are the rumored features of iOS 5.
iCloud Support
iCloud may be the biggest feature of iOS 5.
Apple has been rumored to be working on a massive revamp of MobileMe which may be rebranded as iCloud and include a cloud based music locker. ICloud and its accompanying music streaming capabilities are expected to be heavily integrated in to iOS 5. While news about what the MobileMe revamp will be has been scarce, more has leaked about its new music capabilities.
Apple supposedly has deals with all of the major record deals to get licenses to stream music from the iTunes store and will mirror a user’s iTunes library in the cloud without the need to upload.
Revamped Notifications
Notifications have been a sore spot in iOS since Apple began using them as a pseudo replacement for background processing. Many journalists and Bloggers have called for a revamp of push notifications in iOS.
According to TechCrunch, notifications may see a huge revamp in iOS 5. News about what the new notification system would look like have been scarce.
Widgets
Another interesting feature that may arrive in iOS 5, and one that has been rumored to make its debut on the iPhone for some time is Widgets.
Widgets on the Mac are mini versions of full scale Apps that to do simple tasks or display small amount of information such as your battery status, the weather or the top 5 headlines in your RSS feed. There’s no information on how Apple hopes to implements Widgets on the iPhone and whether or not it will mimic Dashboard on the Mac, but the above video shows a very nice concept on how Widgets could work on the iPhone.
Google Maps Will Stay
This is one of the more interesting iOS 5 rumors out there as Google and Apple supposedly had a falling out some time ago.
Google Maps will stay in iOS despite Apple’s purchases of competing map services:
Now, sources have told 9to5Google that although Apple is working to improve the iOS Maps application, iOS 5 will not bring an Apple developed maps service and Google Maps is still in.
Dropped Support For The iPhone 3GS
Apple is no stranger to dropping support for older hardware if newer features require more horsepower. The latest victim in Apple’s Software upgrade cycle may be the iPhone 3GS.
Currently iOS 4 supports the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 with limited support for the iPhone 3G. However, it’s rumored iOS 5 won’t be available for the iPhone 3GS which is only two years old. It may signal Apple’s move to support iOS on its A4 and A5 chipsets.
