As with most any beta iOS release, enterprising developers and other tinkerers have been poking around inside the software since its release on Wednesday, discovering potential new models of iPad and iPhone as well as new features yet to come.
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple’s new iOS 4.3 beta released to developers this week may foretell some future features beyond those that Apple has documented for developers. Among them are something called “Find My Friends,” new iOS devices and the ability for the iPad 2 to take pictures and even shoot videos.
First up is “Find My Friends,” a new feature found hidden inside the Settings app of iOS 4.3 which appears to tap into your MobileMe address book. “This suggests Apple may seek to offer location-based friend-finding facilities in future products,” 9to5Mac reports. “So, for example, you could easily keep up with your mates when wandering in the center of town. So long as you opt-in to the system.”
Other files of interest in the new SDK all seem to point to a camera being part of the next iPad, thanks to four “interesting files” discovered in iOS 4.3. “You will notice the same shutter screen as found on the iPhone and iPod touch in addition to camera roll icons for videos and pictures,” 9to5Mac muses. “We opened up the camera shutter images and the size is 1024 x 768, which is the same resolution as the current iPad.”
Last but not least, Engadget discovered a flurry of new iOS hardware strings buried inside iOS 4.3 -- not really that much of a surprise, since we all know that Apple is hard at work developing the next iPad and iPhone for release this year.
Among the findings were mention of “iPhone 3,3” which seems to indicate a third type of iPhone 4 might be still waiting in the wings -- the current AT&T iPhone 4 is “iPhone 3,1” while the new Verizon model is “iPhone 3,2”. 9to5Mac speculates that “iPhone 3,3” could be a CDMA model aimed for China, perhaps.
Three new models of iPad also show up in the iOS 4.3 configuration strings -- most likely a new GSM model aimed at AT&T, a CDMA model aimed at Verizon and a Wi-Fi only version for everyone else.
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(Image courtesy of 9to5Mac)
