The future of iPhone will be revealed on 8 April

With its renewed popularity after the launch of the iPad, Apple might be seeking to monopolise the technology magazines for the whole week. The company has announced it is going to hold a meeting, on Thursday 8 April, for the developers of iPhone, during which the new software functions of its mobile phone (the current model, not the next one, for which the traditional discretion is being kept) will be revealed.

 The new iPhone operating system, iPhone OS 4, is also going to be installed on iPad, and so, it is likely that there will be greater expectations of the iPad, which, only one week since its launch, is already going to have new functions and characteristics.

 It is unusual to see an announcement by Apple so soon after such important launches, especially when it comes to a software update that is so long-awaited. The iPhone is the leader in the new generation of mobile phones, but over the last few months, its position has been undermined by strong competition from Microsoft, with the operating system Windows Phone 7, and from Google, with Android. The update, which is going to be presented on Thursday, will probably be available free of charge for all iPhone users in a few weeks, which is the time the developers need to test the new features.

During the same period (according to rumours, on 12 April), the first mobile phone designed by Microsoft, code-named “Pink”, might see the light. This will mark a change in strategy; first, Microsoft only wrote the software for mobile phones, they did not touch the hardware. In contrast, Apple have always done both, thereby guaranteeing more homogeneous experience. Success has been a good teacher.