By now, you’ve probably heard that Apple has released a new iPhone called the 3G S. The new smartphone adds video recording, turn-by-turn GPS, better camera and other goodies. But that doesn’t mean you should start making plans to get rid of your first or second-gen phone. The new 3.0 operating system released this week, has lots of new features (Apple says 100) worth taking a look at and then deciding whether you want to upgrade, assuming your contract allows you to do that without a major hit to the wallet.
Here are some of the cool new features of OS 3.0:
Push notification – You can be inside an app and be alerted when you receive a text message, a special announcement or a similar notification that requires your attention. Proximity markerers should definitely see the potential in push notification.
Hardware APIs – The new OS now allows the iPhone to communicate with other hardware so you can, for example, adjust the volume, select channels and activate other functions on an A/V receiver from anywhere in your home using Bluetooth. Several companies in the home automation and home theatre business have already lined up to release apps to complement their hardware.
Cut, copy and paste – Having the ability to cut, copy and paste has been a long-awaited feature. It’s not high on my list of personal priorities but I’m sure I’ll find it handy.
Landscape mode – Now, nearly all your apps will display landscape mode. No more tiny texting in portrait mode. I can finally dump some of my apps that provide landscape mode for email and notes.
Spotlight – Search for just about anything on your iPhone, whether it’s the title of a game or the subject line in an email. The new OS display 160 apps on 10 screens (up from 148 apps on 8 screens) and if you’ve got a lot of apps stored, Spotlight will be really useful.
Improved game play: The new phone has more brute computer power, but the last gen-handhelds are still capable of holding their own. You can play music from your iTunes catalog while you play games. Play against other gamers — peer-to-peer — using Bluetooth. Play games with gamers anywhere in the world over Wi-Fi. In game voice chat.
In-App purchases — If you’re a gamer, you can now buy more levels, weapons, armor and other mojo from within the games. You can read a book and pay for it a chapter at a time. One company already has deals to put 50 magazines, 70 newspapers and 1 million books in your palm. Pay for what you eat.
Parental control — Parents now have the ability to limit what their children see and hear on their devices. They’ll also start seeing some apps come with ratings.
Better security — Apple created a Find My iPhone service for MobileMe account holders to find, recover or erase its content. Using any Web browser you can search and pinpoint your Phone on a map. If you’re unable to retrieve your iPhone, you can send it a remote wipe to erase its contents. If you lose the phone at home, you can send a message and it will audibly alert you to let you know where it’s hiding. IT managers worried about iPhone users forgetting their devices containing corporate secrets at Starbucks won’t need to worry as much.
More enterprise features – Look for more apps aimed at the enterprise to debut in the coming weeks. Push notification, peer-to-peer connectivity by Bluetooth and remote wipe will be some of the important features for industrial-strength use. Create meetings via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and subscribe to calendars with new CalDAV support. You also get automatic log ins to Wi-Fi hotspots and iPhone automatically logs you in when you connect again.
Faster, I think — One of the things I noticed with my iPhone is that all my apps load and run faster. That’s not something I recall Apple or App Store developers talking about, so I wonder if it’s not my imagination. It just looks faster to me but don’t have a way to benchmark the differences.
Two things you won’t see for a while or maybe never
Multimedia messaging — MMS won’t be available until later summer, according to AT&T. Send MMS messages and include video, photos, audio, and contact info. Even tap to snap a picture or shoot a video right inside Messages.
Tethering — AT&T is opposed to your iPhone as a modem, no doubt because it believes its network can’t handle the traffic. You can share your Internet connection with your laptop with Internet tethering via Bluetooth or USB in some countries, however. Feasible for the US., yes, but not likely any time soon..
