In addition, with iPhone OS 4.0 you can organize messages by thread to make e-mail conversations easier to follow, and Apple is opening up e-mail attachments to be able to open up in or interact with third-party apps.

• Data protection. Apple is improving the data protection capabilities of the iPhone--a critical consideration for businesses to consider in selecting a smartphone platform. With iPhone OS 4.0 all e-mail, and e-mail attachments can be encrypted and locked with PIN codes to prevent unauthorized access.

• Remote management. This will be the favorite of the IT administrators who have to wrangle and manage iPhones in their environments. Apple is adding new mobile device management features, including the ability to deploy and manage iPhones remotely. Apple is also cutting the cord, enabling IT admins to push custom business apps wirelessly over the air rather than requiring users to sync with iTunes.

It seems that I got : multitasking, unified inbox, and cut the cord. But, I missed on file management and universal search. C'est la vie! I guess you , and based on the implications of the new features demonstrated by Apple today it appears that RIM better gear up for a fight for smartphone dominance in the enterprise.

Don't get too excited just yet. It will be a while still before any of these features grace your iPhone or iPad. Apple released a beta of the iPhone OS 4.0 SDK for developers today, but the actual OS update isn't expected until this summer. Users who just purchased the Apple iPad tablet device will have to wait even longer--sometime this fall--to take advantage of the iPhone OS 4.0 features.