Apple may remove Home button in next iPad and iPhone

Apple is preparing to remove the “home” button from the upcoming iPad and iPhone models, according to BGR. The move means that Apple has evidently added new multitouch gestures in the latest version of its iOS operating system.

Apple is rumored to be launching an iPad 2 in February and an iPhone 5 later this year. Instead of pressing the button to return the device’s screen to its main page, users will now use multitouch gestures to do that. On top of that, BGR reported that Photo Booth, an Apple app for taking photos and videos, will make an appearance on the next iPad. That makes sense since the iPad 2 is expected to have both front and rear-facing cameras.

Meanwhile, MacRumors said that the iOS 4.3 developer version of the new operating system has a new feature called “Find My Friends.” The new setting is related to MobileMe, suggesting that Apple may have its own location-based friend-finding service like Loopt and Google Latitude. Those services help you find nearby friends at any moment by tracking them via a phone’s mobile signal or its position relative to cell phone towers.