Well this is good news! Looks like Apple has started giving developers the tools needed to create applications that can receive information, even when they're not open and running. This will bring added functionality to programs like instant messengers.

The biggest problem so far has been that the iPhone doesn't allow you to run more than one app at a time. And with good reason. After all, having a ton of apps open at once would drain battery life even more and slow down processor speed.

But these tools could change that. Your apps won't stay open and run in the background. Instead, one single connection will remain open and push new information to your apps as needed. New data will be shown on the relevant app's icon or via a pop-up alert, much like a text message. 

Apps with background awareness should hit the App Store sometime this fall, if all goes well.

[via AppleInsider]