Apple To Buy Better Notification System For iOS?

 

Apple is planning on improving the notification system for iOS, and will do so by buying a small company “to build its technology into the operating system.”
Currently, the notification system in Apple’s iOS isn’t exactly great. In fact, it’s often cited as being the worst aspect of the operating system. Notifications

pounce onto the screen and take it over, blocking out whatever it was you were previously viewing.
Instead, many users – including myself – would appreciate a banner style notification that appears along the top of the screen (as in webOS), as opposed to the current “pop up” notifications. Last year, the developer of webOS’ banner notification system moved to Apple – and many of us expected to see a new notification system premiere soon.
However, this hasn’t happened yet. According to one of Cult of Mac‘s “sources,” Apple is instead planning on buying the developer of a third party iPhone app, and using its technology to improve the notification system:

Our source, who asked to remain anonymous, didn’t know the identity of the company, except it already has an iPhone app in the App Store.
One candidate is Boxcar, a free app from App Remix that enables push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, and email. Boxcar’s system has been highly praised, especially the new iPad version.

This is an interesting speculation. Indeed, if Cult of Mac‘s “source” is right, appremix (the developer of Boxcar) could really be the only company Apple might consider buying.
Since its release, Boxcar (which is currently available for free in the App Store), has revolutionized iOS notifications. Users can configure the app to work with a variety of different services – including Facebook, Twitter, Google Voice, and RSS feeds.
Personally, I’d really love to see a new notification system premiere with iOS 5. Would you?