What iPhone OS 3.0 promises users and developers

Last year, Apple set itself apart from the mobile computing world with the release of the iPhone OS 2.0. This year, Apple won't make quite such a leap forward, but neither will it lose any ground to increased competition.

When it arrives this summer, Apple's third generation of the iPhone operating system will correct some of the most glaring omissions to date. These include the lack of background processing, any kind of system-wide search, and yes, copy and paste. In case you missed the live blog, check out some of the highlights of Apple's presentation Tuesday.

There were two audiences for the iPhone 3.0 preview presentation: developers and iPhone users. Users were more interested in the features, while developers were anxious to learn about the new software development kit.

Let's examine the users first: Apple's competitors will be quick to point out (Microsoft was particularly eager to comment Monday and Tuesday) that the most prominent features introduced with iPhone 3.0 are features that are found on many other smartphones.

It's a reminder that while most everyone in the mobile industry would give Apple credit for igniting a smartphone revolution with the original iPhone, Apple can't leave anything to the competition if it wants to keep the growth of its most profitable product on track. With iPhone 3.0, Apple is showing that, just like last year, it listens to complaints about the iPhone's capabilities and works to overcome those objections.

Photos: Apple iPhone OS 3.0, copy and paste included

For the most part, however, iPhone users seem satisfied with their devices without those features. Key additions such as copy and paste, a landscape keyboard, real search capabilities, and MMS (multimedia messaging system) will make the iPhone even easier to use.

Developers are the ones who will probably be most excited about the new iPhone OS. The ability to use background notifications, for example, will make for much more compelling iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as was immediately apparent from some of the demonstrations Tuesday.

In addition, developers will have 1,000 new APIs (application programming interfaces) to play with that will unlock parts of the iPhone previously off limits or unavailable to third-party applications. Apple didn't get into all of them, but talked about how developers can now stream audio and video, send e-mail from inside applications, and use the iPhone's proximity sensor, which means Google will once again be in compliance with the iPhone SDK.

News.com Poll

Hello, 3.0
What for you is the most notable change in iPhone OS 3.0?

Cut, copy, and paste
GPS/mapping tweaks
In-app purchases
Landscape mode tweaks
MMS send and receive
P2P networking
Push notifications
Systemwide search

View results

This is the kind of development that users won't immediately grasp until someone develops a game or other kind of application that does exactly what they've always wanted a mobile computer to do. An important consideration when evaluating these developments, however, will be whether or not Apple's push notification service works as advertised in the real world: the company admitted its first attempt at building such a service would have failed under the load generated by millions of iPhones, and Apple's single-point-of-failure architecture for this service opens it up to potential outages that Research in Motion's BlackBerry customers occasionally face.

Lost in all the discussion about the features themselves, however, were some of the steps Apple is taking to help developers work with the iPhone. For example, with the release of the new SDK (a beta version is available today, but developers flooded Apple's Web site Tuesday) Apple will host discussion boards for developers to exchange tips and get help with their work, six months after threatening them with legal ramifications for merely talking about their applications.

Apple also seemed sensitive to all the complaints over the "black box" approval process that many developers have found in trying to get their applications onto the App Store. Around 96 percent of all applications are approved, and around 98 percent of application submissions are approved within seven days, Apple said. Those may be recent numbers as opposed to a picture encompassing the whole year of iPhone development, but after months of silence on the topic, Apple's willingness to acknowledge those issues show it's aware how important that part of the iPhone development experience is to those trying to build businesses around the iPhone.

It's interesting to note that Apple is taking somewhat similar approaches in 2009 to both Mac and iPhone operating system development.

Just like Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which is expected to focus on stability and performance rather than the addition of new features, iPhone OS 3.0 is more about giving developers a more capable platform on which to base their applications rather than any single killer feature. And that's despite the fact that competitors plan to have major releases (Microsoft's Windows 7 and Palm's WebOS, for example) that could change the playing field.

Apple gave itself a lot of wiggle room in promising to ship iPhone 3.0 "this summer," which technically gives it until September 21st. With competitors fighting back, Apple needs to make sure it ships iPhone 3.0 on time and without incident to keep iPhone growth on track.

A new iPhone with souped-up hardware probably wouldn't hurt.

[saffroncapital]

So it looks like everyone got what they wanted in this announcement..... copy/paste, MMS, proximity etc etc etc... Push notifications!

Now what are you going to ***** about??

[mattumanu]

How about precision typing? You know, where the stupid iPhock isn't changing your text as you struggle to type on the POS.

[jag0]

Typing on the iPhone isn't actually *that* bad...it just takes some getting used to. Granted I still encounter the few occasions where it keeps putting the wrong character but that is rare considering how much I type up text messages and long emails (which I am pretty fast at doing btw.)

[djames42]

@mattumanu - typing oh the iPhone took me about two weeks to get down. I now type faster (and more accurately) on my iPhone than I do with my BlackBerry.

[themadp3nguin]

How about bluetooth?? I live in CA where you cannot phone and drive. This beautiful piece of technology will not connect to my car radio whereas my ******* old cellphone works just fine... perhaps it is all my fault, I need a driver like Steve.

[random truth]

Their is much stronger bluetooth support in iPhone 3.0. A2DP, Bluetooth stereo, etc.

[Earthlin]

@mattumanu

You obviously don't know iPhock about the iPhone. That feature can be disabled.

[zvonkman]

to mattumanu

People had similar problems when Nokia introduced predictive text. It just took a little getting used to. I got the hang of using the iPhone keyboard after only a couple of days. Unlike some phones I've used, it even recognises all the names from my contacts list. I can easily type an email very quickly, and don't have any kind of problem. Not really a valid complaint I'm afraid.

[jag0]

It promises users that they have to wait almost 2 years for features that other phones have been able to do for a *LONG* time.

Unless something bad a** comes around when my contract is up, I doubt I'll be sticking with my iPhone.

[codynews]

You're going to switch phones when your contract is up because Apple didn't have these features for your first two years? If they're available when your contract is up, what's your beef?

Sure I think it's a bit weak cheese that we're just NOW getting this stuff (well, not even now, but in a few months) but meh, you take the good with the bad I guess...

[jag0]

What I meant was that if it really is going to take Apple that long to add in features that should have been there from the beginning...who knows what else they will drag their feet on in the future.

I haven't given up entirely but I am not going to ignore other phones that would save me the headaches that Apple does with its draconian rules.

[FreddieT]

I'm having a hard time understanding your logic. You knew upfront that the iPhone lacked those features that you say took them two years to implement. Why did you buy an iPhone and then complain about it, then, instead of choosing one of those "other phones"?

[setgo]

I keep reading these same comments about it not having features that other phones have had for a while. What about all the third party apps that you may never have on another phone? Are you guys kidding me? There are a lot of fun, functional and practical apps that extend the iPhones ability far beyond anything that you will find on Windows Mobile.

I guess the grass is always greener.. You'll see when you switch.

i think i'm one of 80% of people who use mobile phones as a "communication" device, you know - sharing exchanging information, data easily - so am i excited for the 3.0 - bottom line - barely.
- copy & paste (c'mon man)
- forward sms (r u kidding me ?)
- mms (please...)
- bluetooh for data transfer (negative, or maybe need to download an app?)
- iphone as a modem device (negative, or again need to download an app?)

seems been making a big deal out of nothing, ie. previously couldn't send sms to multiple recipients, unconvenient way of grouping your contact or send sms to a group...

oh yeah, there's more - how about multimedia features that iphone - that self-proclaims as a multimedia device - lacks :
- others have at least 3MP autofocus on them while iphone is only 2mp non-autofocus?
- how about LG or Samsung coming with a dolby audio system and High-definition tecnology, perfect for movie viewing on the go.

blackberry - which isn't much of a stylish phone physically or even on-screen display/user-interface wise - is gaining fast because ...... ? you got it.....powerful communication engineer.... hardly because of its extras ie. camera. even its web browser is not that good.

arguably, others are following / copyig iphone, hey that's just fine people are copying from other people, the key is they're not only copying but improving , adding something more for the customers.

like i said, if you're one of the 20% of people, then iphone should do fine for you all.

[rollcage]

I really would have liked a unified email inbox, and something like the Pre's synergy to keep my contacts synced with Facebook and Gmail. But I'm not going to complain too much because this update looks pretty awesome! Landscape SMS and system-wide search look great!

My only concern is copy/paste in Safari...before double tapping was used to intelligently smart zoom the web page. What do you do now, or isn't this an issue?

[setgo]

Watch the video. It's not an issue. You don't double-tap in Safari.

[twitter_1963]

I wish they would work with AT&T to get better service. Since that's not going to happen, I am out of iphone due to dropped calls and lack of 3G and lack of ability for Iphone to switch from 3G to 3E quickly... I was with Verizon for 7 years - how I miss the always on, always connect and no dropped calls.

I pray 3.0 fixes this else I'm done. I have a business to run.

[jag0]

That's pretty much entirely an AT&T issue and less to do with Apple (although Apple is at fault for making it seem like it is faster everywhere.) I know that 3G (from what I hear) is dreadful in the SF Bay Area but here where I live in Southern California, I have had a pretty solid 3G experience (after the 2.0 update was released.)

[codynews]

Totally. Verizon has way better service. But I have to say that my iphone almost never drops calls now but did ALL THE TIME when I first got it (near the launch of 3g version)

Cody

[mrcockrell]

this is my only complaint as well i didnt mind waiting for the features that much, but the service has been a huge issue, i hade Verizon for 10 yrs and can't remember ever losing a call or having a problem with coverage and my verizon 3G was amazing with coverage on my laptop but even since i have switched to AT&T i can't even comprehend how they are the second largest cellular company in the US with service this bad, verizon is far superior in coverage atleast in and around all of Houston, TX wich is a major metro area so i can't imagine it is any different anywhere else

I cant help but sometimes feel it is the phone that is the problem, but most seem to believe it is AT&T's problem, im not entirely convinced, but i do get pretty reasonable service in other countries on my iPhone

[djames42]

I love how so many people complain about the new-to-iPhone features that have been lacking. How about all the features it has that other phones /don't/ have (like a great interface, powerful API's and the SDK that allows for such great third-party applications, a complete web browser rather than a crippled pocket browser, iTunes integration, the application store).

If the iPhone is lacking so many features that other phones aren't, then why-oh-why is the competition so desperately trying to catch up to Apple?

I don't argue that the lack of copy and paste was painful, and that the MMS workaround was virtually unusable - but the iPhone has still given me (by far) the best experience of any other phone I've owned, and it's so nice not having to reboot my phone twice a day just to make calls as I did with my previous Windows Mobile device.

[jag0]

I wouldn't go too far and "praise" the iTunes integration b/c it is a pain in the butt that you can only use *one* computer to add new music to the phone.

I agree that my experience on the iPhone (more or less) has been great but the features that were *just now* added would have made the experience even better had they been there in 2007 when the original iPhone released.

[codynews]

I think people complain about those lacking features BECAUSE the iphone is such a nice phone and can do so much. To have a phone that has all the features you mention but no MMS? Why would they leave that out? I assume it could have been added by one of their programmers in 5 minutes. And no cut and paste? I realize they wanted to nail the interface down on how it would work but geeze it took a while.

So yeah, the iphone is bad ass but the (software) items it lacked were silly to have been missing.

[jro719]

Amen.

[loydlink]

I'd rather Apple take their time and create something extraordinary than to rush out something that's "merely" functional.
As an artist myself, I can truly appreciate that type of process. For instance, it can take years to complete an oil painting and have it thoroughly dry, but with enough skill and patience you can end up with a masterpiece!

Having a true "Spotlight" search engine on the device makes it well worth the wait!

[jag0]

@ loydlink:

Uh...MMS and copy/paste are *not* difficult features to implement nor are they complex requests either. Using the "artist" excuse is the same thing as Apple fanboy saying "Oh well they don't want you to have it and that's a good enough reason."

[Trane Francks]

"I love how so many people complain about the new-to-iPhone features that have been lacking."

And so you should. While I LOVE my MacBook, the idea of Apple taking till 3.0 to get functional copy/paste happening in the iPhone is frankly absurd. I've been carrying various Panasonic and Toshiba cell phones around for the last 8 years and ALL of them have had copy/paste. It's probably the most basic of functions you could want for e-mail and web browsing. When a friend of mine told me of the iPhone not having copy/paste, I told him he was full of it. Nobody would have the 'nads to release a phone without such basic functionality, right?

My bad. LOL

[scatlizard]

This is what Apple plans on doing. Apple is going to combine the iPhone and the Apple TV to play games or do whatever with your iPhone as the game controller. Apps are going to sync to the Apple TV so you'll be able to update and do all sorts of cool things. This is just my prediction.

[jag0]

Uh yea...I highly doubt that will happen. Plus there are better set top devices for your home theater then the Apple TV (the NMT Popcorn Hour being the big one.)

[AppleSuxLeo]

The whole UI is just terrible and old looking compared to the Pre.

[edgedesign]

You're still here?!?

All you do is troll Apple articles and post any comment you can against Apple design and technology. You can cry all you want about how horrible Apple is, but they're clobbering the competition and extending their lead.

[McAdams]

AppleSuxLeo, if you hate Apple so much, why don't you go elsewhere to spew your trash talk? I have never heard you say anything positive about Apple. Constructive criticism is good; your garbage doesn't help anything (and no, I am not an Apple "fanboy").

[AppleSuxLeo]

The whole UI is just terrible and old looking compared to the Pre.

[random truth]

Apparently someone does not understand about tripple posting...
Also, where can I buy a Pre again? An iPhone running v1.1.2 beats the Pre in the existence factor.

[jag0]

Yea b/c you've used the Palm Pre before right? /rolls eyes

The Palm Pre may or may not be better but next to no one really knows and I *highly* doubt you are one of those people.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Resizeable , moveable cards(programs) as many as RAM will allow you to multitask and to close a program you just flick it off the screen !
Genius ! Thank you Palm ;)

[random truth]

Thats great, now just remember that these are webapps. And if you use the tabs in safari iPhone, you can see how much palms implementation is an utter copy of it. It also will be funny to see how all your pre "apps" will run on the iphone.

[Draxon]

TO bad there are less than 100 apps for the pre and over 25,000 on the ipjhone\touch. To bad any background apps on that pre which you don't have, and have never seen in real life will drain its battery when they do come out.

Althought I doubt you will be able to afford one.

[cardfan1212]

The iphone is such a joke. I never thought people were this stupid til today when they're patting themselves on the back for getting dumbphone features.

The Pre blows it away just from demos..

[darkpoet25]

You have to remember that those were the demos. Remember the demos for the Storm? When it actually came out it had a ton of problems. I find it funny how you and applesuxleo take potshots at those who own an iphone, yet you continually talk about a phone that still has no concrete release date or price point set. Ok so you don't like the iphone, and you certainly have your right to your opinion. Just rememeber what you yourself said: it blows it away just from the DMEOS. People kept raving about the Storm as well, but upon actual release wasn't as expected.

[anilsudh]

The Pre is just that, a DEMO!!

[AppleSuxLeo]

Yes...and that was quite a demo Jimmy Fallon gave of the Pre on Late Night !

[kelmon]

I'm sorry but what is so good about the Pre? In what respect does it "blow away" the iPhone or anything else for that matter? It certainly looks nice but I've yet to see anything that makes me think that it is going to be a more compelling purchase.

[baerjammin]

For all of you complaining about the iPhone's lack of features compared to Nokia, Sony-Ericsson or others remember that Apple started making phones three years ago. The other companies have had many iterations to collect their feature set. I've been very happy with my iPhone (first gen) ever since I bought it.

The most important thing for all the Pre fans out there to really think about is what happens after the Pre?? Palm is barely solvent and heaven forbid they follow the same path they took with the PalmOS. I absolutely loved my Palm phone until the upgrade path disappeared and the software applications were abandoned. The Pre may be a sweet phone but if you buy it you may be stuck with it FOREVER...

[jag0]

Umm...it originally came out just shy of 2 years ago. The first iPhone came out on June 29, 2007.

[mandelbomb]

People seem to also avoid the fact that Apple has now completely updated the software twice and gave it away free and didn't abandon 1st gen phones. A lot of phone makers you'd be stuck with the version you bought, or they make you upgrade your phone.

[rapier1]

The update will cost $10. So, not free.

[Synthmeister]

Sorry, you are wrong.

Update will cost $0 for iPhone users and $9.95 for iPod touch users.

[firefoxluva95]

$10 isn't that much for the iPod Touch OS Update. Think about how much it costs to upgrade a Operating system on a computer (provided that you aren't using linux).

[Maccess]

"Let's examine the users first: Apple's competitors will be quick to point out (Microsoft was particularly eager to comment Monday and Tuesday) that the most prominent features introduced with iPhone 3.0 are features that are found on many other smartphones."

Microsoft has had a Smartphone OS since early 2000. It's been trumpetted as the "Palm Killer," "The Symbian Killer," "The iPhone Killer," the "Blackberry Killer," and "The Android Killer."

Yet, I don't actually know anyone who has a phone that uses Windows Mobile. I know some that have tried it, but ditched it after 3 months, with comments like "the most unintuive thing I've ever used."

[loydlink]

>>by mattumanu March 17, 2009 4:10 PM PDT
How about precision typing? You know, where the stupid iPhock isn't changing your text as you struggle to type on the POS.<<

The Typing Genius App really brought me up to speed.
I love to type on the phone now!

O

[yay_4_me]

I don't own an iPhone....yet. But I am planning on getting one this summer. Still waiting to see if they come out with a new phone to go with the new OS.

My only complaint that I have is about the calculator. Dude it sucks! Where is the percent sign? I'm not looking for a scientific calculator or anything, just a basic calculator like the solar powered POS I've had for 10 years. Even it has more BASIC functions than the one built into the iPhone OS. They really missed the boat on that one. But, it's not going to stop me from getting an iPhone.

Yes, I'm complaining about an insignificant application, and I don't even own an iPhone. So....

[yay_4_me]

If they do launch a new phone...here's hoping it will have a better battery, and a removeable one at that. From what I hear, the battery life is not so good. That's another reason why I'm holding off purchasing one.

[seven7dust]

thats wat the app store is for !
they have more calculators there than you can count
graph calculators ,scientific calculators, expression calculators
convertors, tip calculators,physics problem solutions
there's even a math homework app/ many more educational apps which could help kids out a lot !
I'm thinking that the iPod touch could become a great Device for education too !

[mikecoleman1_dotmac]

Try turning the iPhone on its side while in Calculator......Lots of extra functions

[alanesmith]

copy notes from microsoft outlook is much need application on the iphone

[AppleSuxLeo]

Wireless inductive charging and a user-replaceable battery ! Thank you Palm !

[random truth]

So, can I buy a Palm Pre?
Also the wireless inductive charging is not well thought out. I have to buy an accessory and a special battery... Also It has to be on a stand. What is the benefit to it? Also, you can get wireless charging for the iphone...
http://gizmodo.com/354544/wildcharge-releases-iphone-ipod-blackberry-pearl8800-wireless-charging-adapters

[AppleSuxLeo]

This guy really is mentally deficient. Must be put on a stand ??? The charger IS a stand fool. And it holds the phone at an angle so you can watch videos and such while it is charging. The wireless inductive charger and the phone was developed by Jon Rubinstein.
Jonathan J Rubinstein (born 1956) is an American computer scientist and electrical engineer who was instrumental in the creation of the iPod, the portable music and video device first sold by Apple Computer Inc. in 2001. He has been elected to serve as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Rubinstein left his position as senior vice president of Apple's iPod division on April 14, 2006. He became executive chairman of the board at Palm, Inc. after private equity firm Elevation Partners completed a significant investment in the handheld manufacturer in October 2007.[1]

At Palm, where Rubinstein leads the company's research, development, and engineering, his first tasks included winnowing the company's product lines and restructuring R&D teams.[2] Rubinstein debuted the Palm Pre at CES 2009.

Rubinstein is married to Karen Richardson,[3] chairman of the board of directors of hi5 - the world's third-largest social networking site.[4]

[zvonkman]

The Palm Pre doesn't come with Wireless inductive charging as standard. It has to be purchased separately. You get the stand which like you say is also the charger (and random truth is right it has to be put on the stand to charge), a new battery, and a new matt black battery cover so it doesn't slip off the stand (the new matt black cover incidentally doesn't match the rest of the phone and effects the aesthetics of the phone). Of course all of this will render the battery that comes with the phone useless.

I understand that Palm are going to make the Wireless inductive charging system available for sale at the same time as the Pre is released. Unfortunately, so far there is no release date for either the phone, or the charging system.

[mikehill33]

iPhone is still a toy for kids.

[Synthmeister]

Toy or not 30 million (mostly adult) people have bought them, developers have made 25,000 apps for them, its App store alone is headed towards $1 billion in revenue by 2010, peripheral manufacturers are churning out gobs gear for it and Apple is racking in over $1 billion per quarter from this toy.

Microsoft, Palm, Google, Sony Erriccson, Motorola and Nokia would love to have this toy.

[awilbourn]

So what is this I read that Apple is using its servers to send out notifications? Does this mean for direct push it is really not going from my company's server to my phone, but goes to an Apple server first, then to me? If that is the case, what are they doing with the data and not telling people? This would also mean they may be storing my credentials on their server, what if they get hacked?

Just some things I would be concerned about as an iPhone user.

[zincmann]

Let me get this straight, they are going to charge, one faction of apple users for the SAME update which is free for the other faction?? How silly is that? I don't own an Iphone or a Touch nor do I ever anticipate doing so but I cannot believe they are charging for some small updates which are readily available in competing smart devices? Its crazy talk!

[seven7dust]

could you name some ?
BTW the iPhone is getting a free update
and as far as other phones go like Nokia's etc
most people don't even download updates even after they come out because it's a royal pain in the rear !

[johnqh]

First, iPhones get free upgrade.

Second, I would love to have an upgrade path for my Windows Mobile and Blackberry phone. Actually, which other phone let you get official upgrades easily?