iPhone 3.0 Recap
By Brad Molen on 18 Mar 09We have complained, and Apple has (finally) listened. The iPhone OS 3.0 update contains several new features which frankly should have been included much earlier than now. But it’s better late than never with many of these new features.
As can be expected the new update has been a major topic of conversation for every iPhone owner this past week, and we all waited with eager anticipation. It is now our privilege to share the details of the new OS 3.0, due out this summer, with you now.
Apple promised 100 new updates in all to the 3.0 firmware, and 1000 API additions to the SDK for developers. We didn’t hear all 100 updates, but got quite a few goodies. (The following picture will be an obvious peek into two of the important updates.)
This list is comprehensive and has been compiled from this morning’s live keynote address as well as reports from developers who have downloaded the 3.0 beta. We will certainly be expanding this list as we learn more over the upcoming weeks.
Major Updates
- Copy and paste
- MMS (on iPhone 3G, not on 2G)
- Stereo Bluetooth
- Push Notifications
- Extended search (spotlight)
- Tether capability
- Landscape (sideways) keyboard for email and SMS/MMS
- Turn-by-turn navigation: apps must provide their own maps
Other Updates
- Parental controls on the app store
- New shake-to-shuffle feature on iPod
- Notes can now be synced to your computer
- Antiphishing and form autofill on Safari
- Peer-to-peer networking and communications via local WiFi
- HTML5 video and dev support for streaming audio/video in apps
- Manage/send multiple images at once
- In-app payments: Purchases within apps (subscriptions, upgrades, etc)
- Forward meeting invites and contacts
- Expanded native stock app
- Voice memo native app to be added
- New calendar formats are supported: CalDAV and .ics
- Media player can adjust bitrates according to available bandwidth
- YouTube account support
- Camera will display last picture taken in lower left corner
Changes to Applications
- Developers can now add Google maps to their apps without need to exit out.
- Applications and third-party accessories can now interact
- Peer-to-peer will enable users to play against each other wirelessly and communicate with voice within that app
- In-app purchasing will allow for subscription renewals and adding extra levels in games or other downloadable content within the app itself
- No background app processing due to battery life concerns, but apps will now have push notifications allowed
- With the push notifications, devs can customize their own alert sounds for each app
- Ability to play music from iPod library directly in the app
- The parental controls in the App Store may allow previously-rejected apps to now be accepted
That’s all we have for now. Stay tuned for more information regarding all the new features being added into 3.0. In the meantime, here are a few pictures to wet your whistle, and let us know how you feel about the updates in our comments. We want to know if this is a sufficient update or if something crucial was left out.
Photos courtesy Engadget and Gizmodo
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