Future iPhone OS Devices Suggested in Apple Job Posting
Posted 02/23/2010 at 7:06am
| by J.R. Bookwalter

It may be called “iPhone OS,” but that doesn’t mean that Apple plans to stop with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- a new report suggests more devices with the questionably named operating system may be yet to come.
Computerworld is reporting on a new Apple job posting last week for an “Engineering Manager (Platform Bring-Up),” which appears to be aimed at reworking the iPhone OS and putting it on new platforms yet to come.
“The Core Platform team within Apple's Core OS organization is looking for a talented and inspired manager to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms,” the job posting reads. “The team is responsible for low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms. The team consists of talented engineers with experience in hardware, firmware, IOKit drivers, security and platform architecture.”
So what might we expect from such a move?
TiPb.com suggests that the Apple TV is a likely candidate for iPhone OS, particularly if the hardware has a complete overhaul using Apple’s own processors. It’s common knowledge that the device, which even Apple CEO Steve Jobs has acknowledged is a “hobby,” has yet to gain much traction in the living room.
Computerworld also theorizes that the MacBook Air is another candidate for conversion to iPhone OS. Since its main use is for light word processing or spreadsheet number-crunching, e-mail and web browsing, the MacBook Air might be a perfect companion for iPhone OS for people who want an iPad but still enjoy the traditional laptop-with-keyboard frame. And in just a few short years, you might just find iPhone OS extended to other low-hanging fruit in the Apple canon, such as the Mac mini or even the MacBook.
Our vote for iPhone OS is to extend the software onto televisions themselves. There’s a huge push these days to add Internet connectivity to TVs, and the user interface would be ideal for such a task -- although a remote of some kind would still be required, since no one wants to have to get off the couch and walk up to their 50-inch HDTV just to change channels.
So where would you like to see iPhone OS go next?