iPhone OS 3.0 hysteria has hit MacApple !!!

It’s here ! Kinda. What the heck am I talking about you may be asking. Well as you apple-bods may have seen in the news, apple has just a few days ago given a sneek peek at the next release of the iPhone OS (or as some may call Mac OS X Mobile) called iPhone OS 3.0. It’s jammed with cool new features, some of which you’d find on a basic Blackberry, and some developer’s tools that will not only tap into some previously untappable areas, but give consumers’ iPhones more capabilities and muscles. Here’s a rundown of some the most important features :

1) Cut/Copy & Paste !!!!!!!!! Hallelujah ! Apple has finally given the iphone a much needed feature that’s available on, oh I don’t know, EVERY OTHER SMARTPHONE IN EXISTENCE !!! In fact, it’s quite a stylish copy & paste because in order to undo it, all you have to do, is shake the phone. Also it can be used in any app whever it’s a default app or an app store app. You can even use it on multiple photos.

2)MMS support !!!!! Meaning no more sending photos by email but over the cellular network. And you’re not just limited to photos, oh no, you can send contacts since they’re in a v-card format, audio files and even locations.

3)Stereo Bluetooth !!!! You’re no longer limited to bluetooth headsets.

4)Turn by turn GPS directions. Meaning that developers can build turn by turn direction apps using the iPhone’s Core Location (GPS in the iPhone 3G or Cellular/WiFi triangulation in all iPhones and iPod Touchs). However, due to licensing issues, there’s a catch : B.Y.O.M (Bring Your Own Maps) !

5)Peer 2 Peer connectivity !!! This means two iPhones that are near each other can connect to one another via bluetooth and do things like play multiplayer games or share files.

6) Spotlight ! You can now do a system-wide search of your phone including contacts, apps, music, movies, tv shows, e-mails, notes, appointments, etc.

7)Push notification. As Scott Forstall (SVP of iPhone software and secondary speaker of this keynote) said : “We’re late on this one.” This was meant to be released in September but, due to the overload of App Store apps at launch, they had to rebuild their entire server in order to cope with the current amount of downloads (around 800 million !!!). They say that it’s not good to have background processes as it apparently sucks up the battery’s juice 80% faster than push services plus it uses more CPU cycles.

For more info on all of these features and many more, go to www.apple.com/uk The update is currently available as a developer beta and will ship this summer for free for iPhone users though owners of the OG iPhone won’t have all the bells and whistles such as MMS or A2DP Stereo Bluetooth since it has different hardware to the 3G version. If you’re an iPod Touch owner, whether it’s a first gen or second gen, you’ll have to pay $9.95 (about £7) for the upgrade due to regulations in order to make it not look like they’re trying to scam people.

(Photos are property of Apple Inc. as they’re screenshots of the keynote.)

Advertisement