iPhone 4 LED used for BlackBerry-like alerts

Apple may be planning to get back into ringtone sales, yesterday's iOS 5 keynote presentation suggests. 9to5Mac notes that in one corner of a feature list, the "iTunes Tone Store" is cited as an upcoming feature. Apple once highlighted ringtone sales on iTunes, but essentially abandoned them because of the ease of creating custom M4R files using third-party tools.

Also noticed in the same keynote slide is "LED flash on incoming calls and alerts." This should allow iPhone 4 owners to tell if a call or other important notification is coming in simply by checking for the blinking light, much in the same way that an LED signals new email on a BlackBerry. As an alternative iOS 5 will allow for custom vibration patterns, though to what degree Apple has yet to explain.

Some other quietly-mentioned features include mass configuration, emoji emoticons, alternate routes in Maps and a new music app for the iPad. It is also known however that as with v4.x, some iOS 5 features won't work on older hardware. Testing with the iPhone 3GS, for instance, shows that photo editing is reserved for devices with A4 or A5 chips. Apple may consider the task too processor-intensive, much in the same way that iMovie omits support for handhelds prior to the iPhone 4.

by MacNN Staff