Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad devices will soon be able to run more than one program at a time, an ability that phones from
Apple's rivals already offer and that iPhone owners have long sought.
The changes, coming this summer to iPhones and this fall to iPads, mean that users might be able to listen to music through the Pandora program and check a bank account online simultaneously. Currently, users must return to Apple's home screen, effectively quitting the open program, before starting a new task.
Apple is making the updates available to all iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad models, some features will only work with newer versions. The multitasking function, for example, won't work with the original iPhone or the iPhone 3G -- only the 3GS versions that came out last summer. For the iPod Touch, you'd need the models that came out late last year.
The iPad models currently on sale connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi, at prices that start at $499.
Shares of Apple fell 65 cents to close on Thursday at $239.95.