iOS 4.2.1

Earlier in the week the most recent OS update to Apple's iPod & iPhone (& most importantly the 1st significant update for the iPad's operating system), iOS 4.2.1 was officially released & after a few days of playing around with the various new features, I'm pretty impressed with the direction in which the devices are heading. The iPad has essentially replaced my laptop as far as everyday use & each week it seems I find a new reason to use it even more.

I absolutely love the convenience that this device has given me since the spring of this year when the 1st shipments finally started rolling out. I carry it with me during my daily commute to/from work & at this point I'd be lost without it. Anyone who doesn't see the need for such a device clearly has no clue of all that it does. Between it's audio/video media playback & management, file storage, data & word processing, web browsing & advanced email capabilities, it does everything I need it to do as far as my day to day needs are concerned.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone considering the purchase of a conventional note or net book for similar uses. In conjunction with the use of any desktop or stationary computer in the home or office, most would be hard-pressed to find limitations to the overall functionality of this wonderfully designed tablet computer.

The following are the 3 are the upgrades to the OS I looked forward to the most (on the iPad specifically):

- Multitasking is now supported on the iPad & folders have finally been introduced as well (so no more swiping through page upon page of apps on the iPad).

- AirPrint is a pretty useful new feature to the iPad (allowing for printing to a wireless printer operating on the same network as the device).

- Far better mail & calendar support (including improved syncing between MobileMe & Google have also been implemented with the introduction of the update).

-Interestingly in a very uncommon move for apple, The OS update was used to make a slight change to the hardware itself. The page orientation lock swith now serves as the mute sound switch, the page orientation lock toggle is now found by swiping left within the multitasking dock (just like the on the iPhone after previous updates).

For the most part, all of the new iPad features unlocked by the new OS are available on the iPod & iPhone respectively, but most had already been implemented in previous updates to those devices a month or so back, so there aren't many brand new features that come to mind in that regard.

I did however notice that the iPhones now have the native ability to have newly added sms/mms alerts assigned to specific contact entries, so u know exactly who is texting you by the sound of the alert alone (17 new sounds I believe), but I won't get much mileage out of this feature myself since my iPhone is jailbroken & I have my own custom alerts sounds anyway, but many non-jailbroken iPhone users should find a practical use of the new capability.