Yesterdays beta launch of version 3.0 of the iPhone OS has been one of the most widely covered stories today. We read through the flood blogs to bring you the “best of” iPhone 3.0.
General consensus:
The majority of opinions range from “polite approval” to “wild enthusiasm”, with a healthy does of “this should have been included already” thrown in. Apple is boasting 100 new features and 1,000 new APIs for the iPhone. Here’s a brief description of the ones which have generated the most excitement:
Micropayments
Useful for both app and games developers, this new function allows developers to sell upgrades from within apps. This will allow users to upgrade their apps outside of the app store, and will allow for games to sell new/episodic content from within the game.
iPhone-to-iPhone communication
iPhone’s can now communicate P2P through bluetooth. This is immediately useful for gamers, but it might also allow some file-sharing, like music lovers could do with the Zune (to an extent…)
Copy/Cut/Paste
This one has been touted as the one most users will be excited about. New gestures allow users to copy, cut and paste text on their iPhones.
Landscape Typing
This is one that always annoyed me on my iPod Touch – that landscape typing didn’t work in every application. Well, now it does.
MMS
iPhone’s now support picture texts and the like. Only the 3G model, though.
Google Maps
One of the APIs allows developers to build Google Maps directly into their apps. I doubt we have long to wait before we see text-to-audio, turn-by-turn navigation apps.
Push notifications
This one is smart. Rather than having a bunch of apps running the background (something which Apple claims would be a serious battery drain), Apple now supports a “push notification” channel, which pushes updates out to apps when they become available. So rather than have an app running all the time, the iPhone can now simply activate briefly whenever an update comes down the line.
For more blogs, opinions and details, check out these links:
Apple’s iPhone 3.0 A Win For Consumers
iPhone 3.0: the seven things every gamer should know
Apple iPhone 3.0: A Grab Bag of Much-Needed Additions
Will iPhone OS 3 Bring Apple, Enterprise Closer Together?
Latest beta iPhone OS includes references to unknown device
What we think?
I remember telling my sister “watch out for the next proper OS that comes out for the iPhone… it’ll probably blow everything else out of the water.” And Apple hasn’t dissappointed. I reckon the most important thing they’ve done is the “1,000 API” launch for developers. If the Apple Store and the Android Marketplace have proved anything, it’s that developers are hungry to get content out on smartphones. Particularly games developers, a segment that Apple has really helped out with releases facilitating multiplayer gaming and episodic updates/payments.
