Details continue to leak with latest iPhone OS 4 seeds

Apple seeded the iPhone OS 4.0 beta 3 to developers this week and reports have begun trickling in over what features have been added. Although many of these discoveries were originally unveiled during Apple’s special media event last month, the beta gives us more insight into how some of the new features will work.

First, there’s new information about the API that gives developers more control over video capture. According AppleInsider, the iPhone 4 SDK contains references to capturing video at 720p, or 1280×720. Current iPhone models are only capable of capturing video at 640×480, leading some to believe that the next-generation iPhone will indeed be called the iPhone HD.

Further details about the beta come via Boy Genius Report, which points out that users will soon be able to transfer files to the iPhone through iTunes. However, the feature appears to use the same iTunes file sharing feature that is used on the iPad; the iPhone doesn’t just mount on your desktop like old iPods once did. Technically, this would be a new feature for the iPhone and iPod touch, though the purpose seems to be feature parity between the iPhone and iPad.

The latest beta also sports a “widget” to control the iPod application. Apparently reached by swiping the screen to the left, the widget appears at the bottom of the screen and has buttons to launch the iPod application, to skip forward and backward, and to pause or play. This seems to serve the function that a double-click of the home button currently serves.

Apple has also added the ability to lock the orientation of the device. This is similar to the iPad, but instead of a hardware switch, the iPhone will use a software icon in the aforementioned widget to trigger the lock. The feature will be welcomed by many iPhone users, though we wonder why Apple couldn’t find a more appropriate place for the icon.

Last, but certainly not least, Apple has added what can be best described as a task manager for quitting applications that are running in the background. Some may remember that Steve Jobs indicated at the iPhone 4 media event that task managers are evil and should be reviled, but apparently things have changed. To close an app in the latest beta, users just have to press and hold on the multi-tasking screen until a minus badge appears on active applications.

The world has yet to learn the exact release date for iPhone OS 4, but Apple has told us “summer” for the iPhone and iPod touch version and “fall” for the iPad version. In the meantime, it’s likely that we will continue to see changes buried within the betas. One thing is for sure: we’re starting to get a little excited.