iPhone OS 3.0: What you need to know
(Credit:
Apple Inc.)
Apple on Tuesday unveiled the next version of the operating system that powers the iPhone, dubbed version 3.0, at an invite-only event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. It will be available for developers beginning today, and to everyone else "this summer." It's a free upgrade for iPhone users; those who own the iPod Touch will again have to pay for the upgrade (Apple is charging $9.95). Here's a quick recap of what was announced:
New features
Systemwide search
Apple has integrated its Spotlight search technology across the entire device. This will let users search for specific e-mail messages, applications, contacts, and any other data from within those applications in one place. Users get to it from a new menu that's to the left of their first home screen. Swiping to the left brings up an open search box that brings in results as you type, similar to Spotlight search on
Mac OS X.
Copy and paste for text, photos, and SMS
One of the most-wanted features, the ability to copy and paste text will be making its way to OS 3.0. Users will be able to select sections of text and take them to other applications. This is one of the new APIs that Apple is releasing to developers.
Users will now be able to copy and paste text from one app to another.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)To copy text, simply double-tap the screen, and it pulls up an option to cut, copy, and paste. Then simply drag a start point, and an end point, over the text you want, and then double-tap again. The phone will save the text in a clipboard, from which it can be taken elsewhere. You can also grab entire sections of text using a large rectangle that can be moved around to include paragraphs at a time.
Additionally, copy and paste will work with photos and SMS messages. For instance, if you feel like selecting multiple photos to send in an e-mail you can now select the ones you want, then send them together in one message. Previously you had to select them one at a time--through the Photos application, over to mail. The same goes for SMS messages too, so if you feel like relaying a text message to another contact you can simply forward it.
MMS
You can now send and receive multimedia messages (MMS). This means text messages can be sent with photos and voice recordings, all without using the built-in mail application to do it. Missing, however, is any kind of video support, which is an MMS feature found on many other phones with built-in cameras.
Push notifications
The feature that was supposed to appear in September of last year will finally be making its way to phones in version 3.0. Scott Forstall, the head of iPhone software development, noted that Apple had been late on this, and blamed the delay on scaling, saying that the original system was too taxing on both the handset's battery and its processing power.
The new system works just like old one, but has been optimized for over-the-air data transfer. It still relies on Apple's servers as a go-between to send audio alerts, text messages, and badge notifications. Users still have to fire up the application to get at the data though.
In-app micropayments
Apple has built in a new system for developers to charge users after they've purchased an application. Previously there was no way to do this, forcing developers to hike up the initial price, or use external payment systems, similar to what Amazon did with its Kindle application.
Apps will now be able to charge you for additional levels or in-game items like this screen from the upcoming Sims game from EA.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)Apple's new system, dubbed "In-App Purchase" lets developers create an application where extra content can be purchased from within it to expand what it can do. All the billing is handled by Apple, and goes through the user's iTunes store account.
This same system has been used in console games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero with extra music track purchases. On the iPhone this was demoed on the upcoming EA title The Sims 3, which will let users buy items for their virtual character using an in-game store interface.
This payment system is only for paid apps, meaning free applications cannot be upgraded to a paid premium version. Apple is also using the same revenue model for per-app purchases, meaning developers can charge whatever they want, and keep 70 percent.
Better GPS baked into apps
Apple announced that Core Location would now be available for developers to build into their applications, meaning they'll be able to include turn-by-turn directions into their apps. However, they won't be able to build it off the iPhone's Google Maps application. Apple says this is due to licensing issues. However, map providers may step up and start selling mapping data to iPhone developers.
P2P networking and hardware communication
No longer will handsets exist as single entities. A new system, built off Apple's Bonjour technology, will let devices talk to each other. This would let people play multiplayer games with one another, and potentially exchange data files--all without the need to be connected to a third-party server or a central Wi-Fi hub. To do this Apple is using the iPhone's built-in Bluetooth antenna.
Apple is also opening up how much control accessory makers can have over external hardware. Forstall showed how the iPhone would be able to hunt for FM radio signals using an attached dongle, and even read a patient's blood pressure--putting the controls on the iPhone instead of the attached device. This is very similar to the partnership that Apple has with Nike and its Nike+ running attachment, which could be controlled using an iPod. This new system works both from the dock connector and over Bluetooth.
To demo this new level of communication, Johnson and Johnson company LifeScan went onstage to show off a new blood sugar application that uses the phone to process what user's blood glucose level and keep track of it both on the device, and by sending the data to LifeScan's servers.
Other tidbits
News.com Poll
• Original iPhone users will not be getting all the new features. Apple has already said that MMS and stereo Bluetooth music playback will not be available.
• Apple has sold 13.7 million iPhones through 2008, and 17 million iPhones total. This figure includes first generation hardware.
• There have been 800,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK.
• 62 percent of developers never done an Apple application before.
• Landscape (sideways) mode across all Apple native applications.
• Notes made in the Notes.app can now be synced to your computer.
• Shake to shuffle is coming to the iPhone.
• Safari browser is getting antiphishing and auto-fill.
• Parental controls will work on the App Store. This could mean a new explicit-content rating for applications, similar to what's been done for music and films.
• No Adobe Flash for the iPhone, although the device will play HTML 5 video, and developers now have API access for streaming audio and video in their apps.
• Ngmoco, the maker of iPhone/iPod hit game Rolando, showed off two new games, Touch Pets and LiveFire. The first is a virtual pet simulator that lets you play with others using the new communication interface. LifeFire is a first-person shooter that lets you play death match-style over Wi-Fi.
• Smule, the maker of the the popular Orcarina application, announced a new app called Leaf Trombone. It emulates the controls of a trombone, letting users slide their finger across the screen to adjust the pitch while blowing into the microphone.
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and services. E-mail Josh, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Josh. 
Adobe themselves have admitted that flash on the iphone is a challenge. If you've ever coded actionscript you can understand the problem... for example certain things like tracking the _x, _y coordinates of the cursor would be useless since there is no cursor to track... so if certain actions are triggered by the location of the cursor (like telling a movieclip which way to move or scroll) then they would be unusable. This is a single example.... I can think of many more problems that could come into play... but you get the idea.
One things for sure... adobe wants in on the iphone and thats the good news. You know they are working feverishly to create something that apple will approve. And apple wont approve it at all if it isn't as usable on the phone as it is on a computer.... and thats what I want... I would be pissed if I had to use some Bs stripped down version of the plugin.
I was being a bit glib,I don't hate Flash, just some web sites that have Flash.
Sad how fast apple products get outdated
No A2DP or MMS on the original iPhone?! This has to be bogus, as there are MMS apps today for the original iPhone! A2DP is just a software upgrade AFAIK, and the original iPhone also has the SAME Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR as iPhone 3G -- so why is not supported?! I assume there will be a jailbroken hack to enable BOTH of these features on the 1st Gen. iPhone!
And hey, has Palm come out with a date or pricepoint for the Pre yet? I can see a Pre-iPhone war coming, but its too early to say the Pre will win when none are in the wild yet......Everyone thought the Storm would be a killer too, but was bogged down by a flaky DRM OS by Verizon
Even Google's OS has to be pushed to fit a certain models. It's going to take awhile.
Palm's OS was designed from the ground up to be a mobile OS system. Palm designed it and the hardware too which is why it will succeed. Palm mainly lacks apps but has a system that is very easy to design for right now. It will catch up in important apps. Most of apple's are throwaway fart apps to be honest. Apple's real advantage is itunes and the itunes experience it offers people.
The iphone is an ipod/phone. The Pre is a smartphone capable of playing media. Each has their strengths and the Pre will always offer more advanced features and be more well rounded. The iphone will offer simplicity, media, and draw from the vast dumbphone user pool.
Has a date been announced for the Pre to start shipping in either limited quantities or in full production? No. It may not ship in full production until September or later. No one knows. I'd wager a hefty sum that not even Palm knows at this point in time.
Has anyone listed a price point for the Pre? No. Not the carrier; not Palm. Palm may make the mistake of pricing it *above* the iPhone. They may try to give it away with an obnoxious multi year contract. I'd also wager that no one knows what the pricing will be because Palm and the carriers are still negotiating this issue.
Do you know what the next version of the iPhone will have in terms of capabilities? No one outside of Apple (and a few very closely tied vendors) know. So far Apple has done a great job of keeping the lid on this. It is very possible Apple will use a variant of the chips in it that have been specifically tweaked by the team that created the Powerficient line (the team Apple got last year). What will be the hardware capabilities of that phone? When will it ship? How much will it cost? No one outside of Apple knows.
With all these unknowns it is truly impossible to say with any accuracy, "The iphone is an ipod/phone. The Pre is a smartphone capable of playing media. Each has their strengths and the Pre will always offer more advanced features and be more well rounded. The iphone will offer simplicity, media, and draw from the vast dumbphone user pool." You (and everyone else) have no idea what functionalities truly will be available in August/September of this year.
As said elsewhere here. The second half of this year will be very interesting in the smartphone world.
"In-app micropayments"
Imagine a game using that.
You try to jump away from monster.... sorry that will cost you an aditional 50 cents.
Try to fire a weapon - sorry that is an upgrade offer for an aditional $2
Now Apple will nickel and dime us to death.
nickel and dimed by the game/program developer.... the nerve of them asking for money after they work to enhance the game/program..(sarcasm)
Obviously, if a dev chooses to nickel and dime consumers, then consumers simply won't buy thier crappy app. It's a risk devs will have to take, and after a few months into the new game, they will have figured out what consumers will or will not buy.
lovin' the Oceanic flight 185 reference.
and is tethering an option on 3.0?
im still confused as to if i can tether w/o having to put my sim in another phone, even w/o at&t's approval or jailbreaking?
name one pre-iPhone era phone with a decent web browser ?
all phones have had their catching up to do not just the iPhone
some had a few features while others had something else
thats what choice and competition is about !
no phone is perfect ! at least not yet
but I see Apple moving in the right direction by focusing more on software
but the hardware ,the touch interface and ease of use
which people seem to forget makes more difference to the user !
So your saying that all Wm phones made before the iPhone were perfect ?
Wonder why the iPhone has 66% of the Mobile web share and Winmo has something like 3%
Even though it was perfection according to you !
- by pme31561 March 17, 2009 2:13 PM PDT
- So with better GPS access for developers, can someone (i.e. Garmin) with their own maps make an app with turn by turn directions like on some sprint phones?
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- by timber2005 March 17, 2009 4:02 PM PDT
- There is a free option If you have Windows Mobile, Windows Live Search (wls.live.com, download the app) has turn by turn directions, and voice based search. Works with Sprint.
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- by abcd9009 March 17, 2009 6:15 PM PDT
- Unlike Microsoft (WinMo, Live Search), Garmin is in the business for GPS. Don't expect them to give away maps for free.
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- by cardfan1212 March 18, 2009 4:39 AM PDT
- With no multitasking, it makes for a lousy gps.
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- by shadowself March 18, 2009 10:07 AM PDT
- cardfan1212, you *really* don't know what you are talking about. With Core Location any application can take advantage of the GPS capabilities built into the iPhone 3G. Any company building an App can create a turn by turn system or whatever they want.
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (82 Comments)Though would be nice to see big companies like Garmin drooling to work with ANY carrier.