Year: 2011?
If the latest build of Apple's mobile OS, iOS 4.3 is a good indication of things to come, the next version of the iPad and iPhone 5, due out later this year, will drop the one physical button on the chassis' front that brings users back to the home screen. Moving forward, users will have access to four and five finger-multitouch gestures: a five-finger pinch brings them back to the home screen, a four-finger swipe up or down shows or hides the multitasking bar, and four-finger swipes to the left or right lets users switch among apps.
Though swiping and pinching your way to the home screen and multi-tasking bar may initially sound off-putting, the same could have been said of the iPod's on-off button omission. In fact, in a year's time, we'll probably wonder how we ever lived without a "button-less" iPad, and ultimately, Jobs' endless quest for perfect design.
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