Apple’s Mail application in the forthcoming*iOS 4 update can automatically parse calendar appointments and track packages.

Say someone wrote in an email message they will meet you tomorrow at 2am. Mail in iOS 4 scans email messages for such appointment-related snippets and turns them into special links. Simply tap the “tomorrow at 2am” link to bring up a dialog offering to create an event in the Calendar app. Likewise, when a parcel service emails you a package tracking number, Mail will figure out this data and turn it into a hyperlink. Tap it to automatically track the package in Safari.



Those two cool new treats, discovered by 9to5Mac, arrive on top of the already strong list of new features in Mail. For example, you’ll be able to swipe a Gmail message to archive it. Apple-confirmed features include the ability to open attachments in third-party apps, a unified inbox that lets you see messages from all your accounts in one place, the ability to organize messages by threads, and more.



iOS 4 is due for release June 24, when iPhone 4 goes on sale in the US, UK, France, Japan, and Germany. However, it’s been suggested this morning that the software will appear on iTunes by noon Pacific for the existing iPhone and iPod touch owners. iOS 4*will finally enable multitasking on Apple’s mobile devices. Note that multitasking, custom wallpapers, and Bluetooth keyboard will only work on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third-generation iPod touch. In addition, iOS 4 won’t run at all on the original iPhone and first-generation iPod touch due to hardware constraints. For the first time ever, the firmware update will be provided free of charge to all iPod touch users.

Read more at 9to5Mac

Christian’s Opinion Those two new features in Mail have actually been borrowed from the Mail app in Mac OS X. That application supports the so-called data detectors. Basically system plug-ins that analyze the email database, data detectors are able to recognize the supported data types, such as data appointments, flight and package numbers, contacts, and more.

Although there’s some feature parity between desktop and mobile Mail app, there’s still lots of work to be done. For example, why can’t I send a message on my iPhone using my MobileMe mail aliases? Another example: message sorting rules created in desktop Mail don’t sync with server-side rules unveiled in the latest MobileMe service update.