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Apple continues to push iPhone OS 4 towards release with a new beta update. The update, available to iPhone developers only, adds a few new features which are worth a look.
First is a screen orientation lock. Unlike the iPad’s dedicated hardware button, the iPhone adds an extra on-screen button to the little dock that pops up when you double-tap the home button. This is the “multi-tasking” dock that also lets you switch between open applications. Right now, the new button lets you lock the screen in portrait mode only.
The iPod buttons have also moved to this control strip, and we presume that they replace the dialog panel which pops up when you double-tap the home button in the current iPhone OS. You also get a button to access the iPod app.
Finally, when the multi-tasking tray is open, you’ll see a button on each app that lets you quit it. This looks a lot like a task manager. I’d be constantly worrying that there were too many applications open, sucking my battery.
It looks a little ugly, but to be fair this is still beta, and Apple is likely still working through the best way to do things. These new buttons are accessed in the same way as the search screen on the current iPhone: Once you have accessed the dock, you swipe to the right to reveal this new panel. At least this part make sense, although the once-simple iPhone OS looks to be getting a lot more complicated.
iPhone OS 4 Beta 3 Available, First Details [Mac Stories via Mac Rumors and 9to5 Mac]

Source: Gadget Lab