14 DAY TRIAL // People who are allegedly familiar with the activity on Apple’s Cupertino campus are claiming to have learned that employees are already testing iPads and iPhones which bear no physical Home buttons, a move allegedly sought by CEO Steve Jobs even before the original iPhone came out.
The Boy Genius Report, a reputable source of such rumors with an impressive track record of accuracy, has gone on record to claim exclusive knowledge of the reason Apple added extra multitouch gestures for the iPad in the latest iOS 4.3 beta.
According to its sources - “the iPad will be losing the home button.”
Instead of tapping buttons, users will leverage new multitouch gestures not only to navigate to the home screen, but also to launch the app switcher, the report claims.
Not surprisingly, the source also told BGR that iPhones would be getting the redesigned, buttonless architecture as well.
Most importantly, the source reportedly added that “Apple employees are already testing iPads and iPhones with no home buttons on the Apple campus.”
The site believes it’s fairly possible to see the new change implemented in the batch of iPads expected to launch this year.
The tidbits obtained by BGR, however, don’t end here. Apparently, the site also learned of the existence of a Photo Booth app specifically designed for the next iPad.
Bringing its own speculation to the table, it adds that scaled-down iLife apps for iOS may not be so far fetched either.
In related news, code strings found in iOS 4.3 and SDK 4.3 betas have confirmed the upcoming availability of several new iPhones and iPads.
While the three new tablets referenced in the code are expected to arrive soon, new iPhone models are not to be released until Summer, should history be any indication.