AT&T’s iPhone customers have been waiting for tethering to be enabled on the iPhone ever since Apple introduced the feature in iPhone OS 3.0.

If you have been patiently waiting for AT&T to officially enable iPhone tethering then we have some news for you.

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Folks at AppleInsider are reporting that iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be released in June will finally allow third party iPhone apps to run in the background. Multi-tasking is one of the most requested features by iPhone users.

AppleInsider claims that “people with a proven track record in predicting Apple’s technological advances” have told them that Apple has developed a “full-on solution” to multitasking on the iPhone OS.

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Developers have found further evidence of multitasking support for 3rd party iPhone apps in the latest beta (3.2 beta 4) of the iPhone SDK, and suggest that it will become a reality this summer.

9to5 Mac reports on a new line found deep within the latest iPhone SDK. Specifically, SpringBoard.js has a reference to a “multitasking dialog box” that did not appear in version 3.1.3 of the SDK; it seems that it’s new to version 3.2. Of course, there’s no assurance that this refers to 3rd party support for multitasking, but it is new.

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According to the reliable sources at AppleInsider, folks in Cupertino are preparing to finally bring multitasking support in the next version 4.0 of iPhone OS.

If this rumor holds up to be true, then Apple can finally silence all the iPhone critiques who have been praising the rival Google’s Android for its superiority in multitasking support; something which iPhone has lacked since day 1 with the original iPhone (EDGE) launch back in 2007.

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9to5Mac is reporting that a couple of new gestures have been uncovered in the the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 4. There seems to be a triple tap gesture and a long press gesture revealed. In the gestures folder, a couple of new plist files have been discovered: “3Tap.plist” and “LongPress.plist”.

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Though the iPhone and iPad run on a common operating system, the version of OS installed on iPad will not be compatible with an iPhone. The reasons are evident: With a different screen size and variant features that the iPad will come with, the OS on iPhone will require a significant overhaul to match the capabilities presently available on the iPad. 

While there is no doubt that future versions of the iPhone OS will be compatible on both the iPhone and iPad, the question is if this will happen with the upcoming launch of iPhone 4G later this summer. According to John Gruber from Daring Fireball, this is most likely. In his blog post yesterday, Gruber says apps like Stocks and Weather, which have been removed from the iPad could be relaunched with iPhone OS 4.0 when both the devices will see a unified operating system.

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Carrying a bunch of keys in your trouser pockets could soon be a thing of the past if a fresh patent filed by Apple is anything to go by.

In the patent application, Apple has described a technology that can replace conventional locks with electronic alternatives that can be opened via your iPhone.

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Apple is reportedly in talks with several leading handset manufacturers over their alleged infringement of the company’s proprietary inventions.

In a recently published report, Oppenheimer & Co’s Yair Reiner writes that Apple’s lawsuit against HTC has been a fallout of the discussions that the company has had with handset makers since January of this year.

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Apple has seeded developers of its iPhone Developer Program with the fourth beta version of iPhone OS 3.2 SDK (build 10M2144).

Based on initial reports it looks like the latest beta version of iPhone OS 3.2 SDK includes many bug fixes, including a fix for Safari’s bookmark feature within the simulator.

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Google Voice on the iPhone has been something of a sore subject for me. If you need a full-recap of the whole sordid iPhone/Google Voice story see this story from December or more of our coverage. I even started a little site devoted to waiting for Google Voice on the iPhone called IsGoogleVoiceAvailableForTheiPhone.com.

It has been 6 months and 19 days since Apple claimed it had not “rejected” Google Voice but was “studying” it. During the course of Apple’s “study” the company moved to purge all existing Google Voice apps from the App Store.

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The Loop is reporting that it is possible the iPhone and iPad firmware will not unify until fall of this year. iPad will be released with OS 3.2, but the folks over at The Loop are suggesting the iPhone OS will not be updated until the summer, with the release of new hardware.

The iPad OS, firmware 3.2, has been designed specifically for the iPad, with many new UI changes, and the addition of “pop-overs”. It doesn’t really make sense for Apple to release this firmware for the iPhone and iPod touch. Instead, we will most likely not see an update for the iPhone until the summer, when the next iPhone, and probably iPhone OS 4.0 are released.

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Another batch of iPhone apps are, apparently, about to get the axe. Reports are popping up around the net, that “cookie cutter” type apps are starting to be pulled from the App Store. This would include RSS apps, and photo gallery type apps. Any app that just packages an online service, and doesn’t offer any other functionality.

It was just a while ago the Apple was bragging about 100K apps in the App Store, but the past few weeks seem to contradict that, with all the cuts. First we heard about the so called “explicit” apps being pulled, then WiFi stumbling apps were purged, and now the “cookie cutter” apps are starting to go.

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Wired noticed that there are some notable exceptions among the announced iPad apps, including Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos.

These apps could be available for download through the App Store. However, blogger Kevin Fox suggested last month that could hint toward a possible Dashboard implementation on the iPad. He argues that these apps, with the exception of Voice Memos, were originally Dashboard widgets to begin with.

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At long last, Apple and China Unicom Ltd. are working to introduce Wi-Fi-enabled iPhones to China.

The iPhone has failed to thrive in China, due in part to an active black market and the Golden Shield Project (GSP), which censors certain Internet content. To comply with the GSP, devices that include wireless Internet have been required to use China’s own WAPI standard. Meeting that requirement forced Apple to re-design the iPhone for China.

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