-Hey guys!
Brian Tong here with cnet.com and Apple's iOS 4.2 Beta that specifics the iPad was recently released, so we wanted to show off some of the major improvements and some of the more subtle ones as well.
The biggest addition is multitasking and it works just like it has on an iPhone.
Double click the Home Button and you'll see apps that are currently running.
In Portrait Mode, you'll see 6 apps at a time, and in Landscape Mode, you'll see seven.
Now what's great about this is that I've been dying for Pandora to have multitasking on the iPad and it looks like Apple has built already with that in mind, so it works like a charm.
I can listen to my Pandora stream while checking out a recipe for dinner or surfing the web.
Now, just like an iOS 4.1 once you've accessed the multitasking feature, you can swipe to the right to reveal the music controls and more.
A new change is that the screen orientation lock is now accessible here, so you can lock the iPad to Portrait or Landscape Mode.
Now, this little button on the right hand side that used to be the screen lock is now a mute switch, but I'm not sure if I like that change yet.
And the biggest addition that I love is the ability to control the brightness of the screen with this slider without jumping into the preferences.
Thank you.
Now, Folders is here on the iPad and you can put up to 20 icons per folder compared to only 12 on the iPhone.
AirPrint makes its debut and the wireless printing option is integrated into the apps.
So if I'm in the mail app, it will show up here and I'll be able to select a printer it sees and choose how many copies I want.
You'll also find printing in the photo app and Safari.
AirPlay is Apple's wireless streaming feature that streams the new Apple TV or other compatible devices.
You'll be able to access it in the iPad app, movie app, and YouTube app.
Now let's show you a few other features in 4.2, Game Center is here on the iPad and it's pretty much what we've seen on iOS 4.1.
Mail now has a unified mailbox for your multiple accounts and you can also organize your e-mails by threads which I love.
Safari has an updated icon that now shows you how many Safari pages you have opened on the background and closing them feels snappier than before.
Now all of you fans of the notes app will now be getting a few other fonts that you can change in the settings instead of just Marker Felt, so you guys can rejoice.
And if you're using the iPad 3G with the cellular data option turned on, you now have the ability to toggle between 3G and Edge if you wanna reduce the drain on your battery even if it means slower download speeds.
I'm Brian Tong for cnet.com and remember this is the beta and there are sure to be more improvements on the way before its November release.
We wanna give you a sneak peek at iOS 4.2 in action.
