iPhone OS 3.0 Preview: Not-So-Smartphone Get a Long Overdue Feature Boost
<
With Palm taking up a lot of the mindshare in the tech press of late, it’s no doubt that at least some of the announcements coming from the Apple iPhone OS 3.0 preview are calculated pre-PRE launch moves.
The rumours flying around have been running the gamut from hopeful to just plain stupid. In a nutshell, here’s what Apple’s saying:
• They’ve sold a helluva lot of iPhones; 17 million.
• Subscription-based app store apps are coming.
• In-App Purchases are a reality
• iPhones can now connect to one another via bluetooth and Bonjour
• Turn-by-turn GPS is a reality, but devs have to create their own maps; apparenly Apple’s licensing won’t allow devs to use the built-in ones.
• After a long delay, Push e-mail notification is a reality
• EA, Meebo, Oracle, ESPN and a few other heavy hitters have all added apps to the App store
• New games are making use of the graphics power of the device, as well as the potential for online play
• CUT, COPY, AND PASTE!!!!
• Multi-photo selection for e-mail
• Landscape keyboard in all apps
• The SMS client is renamed to “Messages” and features MMS support
• Global search using Spotlight. Not even a jailbroken iPhone can boast such a feature.
• Stereo Bluetooth is a reality.
• Tethering is supported, but networks are causing a ruckus about it.
Obviously, copy and paste is the most welcome and most overdue addition to the OS; we here at rgbFilter have been saying since day 1 that its exclusion is ridiculous at best. The fact that it works across all applications is a no-brainer, but the fact that it retains links and formatting is certainly quite cool. The “Shake to Undo” function is also interesting. Also of top note to most will be the MMS support, Global Search feature, Push notification, and Stereo Bluetooth.
Overall the new feature set in 3.0 puts the iPhone back in the running as a viable smartphone option, especially with the new ability to search email and MMS/SMS. It doesn’t come close to WinMo’s customizability, nor does it match the Pre’s ubiquitousness as pertaining to “Synergy”, and the email apps of any of the above can’t come close to Blackberry’s, but its feature set, combined with the Apple name, makes it once again a very strong contender in the ever-growing smartphone market. This might be considered a loaded statement, considering the still-missing announcement of Flash support and an apparent lack of change in App Store lockdown practices, but the feature set of the phone itself is about as current as one could want in the current form factor.
(Ed Note: One of the cutest bits of spin from the 3.0 preview is that Apple allowed a whopping 96% of all submitted apps into their App Store. That’s pretty good, until you look at the history of what WAS denied, and why. Lord knows we’ve chronicled them enough.)
The Dev Beta of 3.0 is available today, with the consumer release coming this summer. iPhone 3G owners will be able to upgrade for free, while iPod Touch users will have to pay $9.95 US.
(with notes from Doug)
still no flash though 🙁
In the end, Flash is a fairly minor thing. I mean, I can view it in a browser on my phone, but I rarely NEED to.
Copy/paste was the big hold out, and I think Apple knew that they’d take a lot of heat if they didn’t get it in there soon.
oh if it wasnt included i would have been very unhappy
i like the updates
i cant complain
lets just see what rogers/fido does about tethering…
somehow i feel were gonna get the hucklebuck on this one…
no comment on tethering. 😉
yeah but BELL dude 🙁
Seriously? For every reason Bell blows, Rogers sucks, and vice versa. 😀
I’ll take the unlimited $10 internet with USB2PC for tethering over anything any other Cdn carrier has right now. 😀
dude i dont even PAY for my own bell account and i feel like im getting ripped off lol
seriously though
all phone companies are equally douchey
its just… the 1800 HELL that is bell customer service is INSANE
im speaking more about what i went through with their internet/expressvue horseshit… a taste ill NEVER get out of my mouth
they STILL dont have my adress right, they even sent collections to the wrong address LOL
i still have a bell HD box… which doesnt even belong to me… sitting in my closet… they tried sending me return packaging for it… to the wrong adress… STILL
after all of that they called me last month to find out if id be interested in switching my services over to them…
telling me about how i was a valued customer???
I’ve had equally crappy ‘service’ from Rogers when I had them for internet, and it took forever to straighten out the modem return.
That’s why they both suck, and like every good Cdn, we swap back and forth between the duopoly. 😉
not i, me have videotron… which has AMAZING customer service (seriously… its actually bizarre… they all speak english too… which i cant quite wrap my head around…)
plus fastest cable internet on the continent…
i point out the language issue being a factor because if you were to think of a quebecor owned media company, that is a monopaly with a beefy union, you dont have to be from quebec to expect them not to value bilingualism, whats next a black american president?
the only truly truly shit aspect of videotron is its WEAK on demand offerings
none of the good movies are offered in HD (thats slowly changing now) and because i guess they dont want to get into a language fubar the on demand tv offerings arent even worth mentioning
~One of the cutest bits of spin from the 3.0 preview is that Apple allowed a whopping 96% of all submitted apps into their App Store. That’s pretty good, until you look at the history of what WAS denied, and why. Lord knows we’ve chronicled them enough~
there is only ONE app i care about
it wasnt approved by the app store
but for other reasons
starplayer did not get approval (sirius/xm/sirius canada streaming software) because… (imagine the frustration as i even process this)
sirius xm is comming out with their own app, for free too
why does this annoy me to no end?
sirius and xm did not merge in canada, because they are structured differently
so this completely leaves me out in the cold
blah
Yeah flash support would be nice. Apparently Adobe’s been working on it for months but Apple’s trying to keep it on the QT. IF I were a big-city marketing guy, I’d say they were holding out for the next big hardware release.
i wouldnt be surprised if that was the case
nor would i be surprised if flash becomes supported for 3.0 at launchtime
Apps being approved/not approved by the App Store is still a shady gray area for me. I want the freedom to install whatever the fuck I want on my device.
Still, I will definitely be un-jailbreaking my phone for this (and re-breaking as soon as the Dev Team has a working hack for 3.0 :D). This upgrade means I no longer have to rely on many 3rd-party apps I have on my jailbroken phone.
jailbreaking made me feel like i lent my favorite sweater to a fat friend…
when you get it back its still the same sweater it just doesnt fit well and is uncomfortable 😀
(i first heard this analogy in regards to banging a chick who once had sex with a 11″ schlong, still applies here though)
Coffee on my keyboard now. Thanks for that.
“Its like ringing the dinner bell!” <— another good one
My frakking iPhone is finally due to finally be finally delivered tomorrow, and *my gods* am I ever already sick of owning it and I *don’t even have it yet*!
didnt you decide to get one months ago?
About a month ago. Still waiting.