You got what you asked for it. The new iPhone 3.0 OS unveiled yesterday comes with 
more than 100 new features alongside the new SDK with over 1000 new APIs ready to rockin the future iPhone app. Probably, some of the famous ‘iPhone is no Blackberry‘ is no longer relevant today.
First and foremost is, it fulfill iPhone users who dreaming of 3G phone with MMS capable, just like other 3G capable phone. On this region particularly Malaysia, MMS is quite popular among the younger generation which using it for exchanging virtual card or sending video greeting on live cast during festive season. Having this feature on the sales page could providing some fruitful result in returns.
And then there is copy and paste for text and photos, feature that really most user missed including m. It is extremely useful for internet browsing purpose , or drafting something on the notes.
3G tethering feature is coming too, that allow you to use your iPhone as modem that connecting to your notebook. This feature has been on long available on other smartphone such as as Nokia N82.
Wifi-auto-login introduced in the new OS, will automatically logged you into the network you have authorized to. A step improvement from the old WiFi that require manual enable/disable. Just curious if this feature consume more battery as it seems that the WiFi is stay on.
There are whole lots of features to cover in, but that’s it is the key features that I found relevant and the most exciting to me, personally. Here are more.
- In-App Purchases
- Peer-to-Peer connections
- An app interface for accessories
- Access to the iPod® music library
- New Maps API and Push Notifications
- Cut, copy and paste text and picture
- MMS to send and receive photos, contacts, audio files
- Landscape view for Mail
- Text and Notes
- Stereo Bluetooth
- Syncing Notes to the Mac and PC
- shake to shuffle
- parental controls for TV shows
- movies and apps from the App Store
- Automatic login at Wi-Fi hot spots
- New Voice Memo app
- Expanded search capability for all key iPhone apps
- Spotlight™ search across the iPhone or iPod touch
- The updated Stock app
More on the press release.
Apple Previews Developer Beta of iPhone OS 3.0
Beta Release Provides New SDK, Over 1,000 APIs & 100 New Features
CUPERTINO, California—March 17, 2009—Apple® today previewed its iPhone™ OS 3.0 software and announced the immediate availability of a beta software release to registered developers. The iPhone OS 3.0 beta release includes an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,000 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) including In-App Purchases; Peer-to-Peer connections; an app interface for accessories; access to the iPod® music library; a new Maps API and Push Notifications. Apple also announced over 100 new features that will be available to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer including cut, copy and paste; MMS;* landscape view for Mail, Text and Notes; stereo Bluetooth; syncing Notes to the Mac® and PC; shake to shuffle; parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and automatic login at Wi-Fi hot spots. The iPhone OS 3.0 beta release will also include a new Voice Memo app and expanded search capability for all key iPhone apps, as well as Spotlight™ search across the iPhone or iPod touch.
“The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software release packed with incredible new features and innovations for iPhone customers and developers alike. It will keep us years ahead of the competition,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software and SDK include over 1,000 new APIs and are available today for all iPhone Developer Program members to use for development and testing of their apps for iPhone and iPod touch. Included in these APIs is the ability to leverage the incredible purchase model of the App Store within apps. In-App Purchases will allow developers to offer subscription content and provide the ability to sell new content and features in a simple and secure process. Developers can also more easily create peer-to-peer games for iPhone and iPod touch by using Bluetooth.
Another key developer feature in the iPhone OS 3.0 beta software is the ability for apps to interface with hardware accessories, creating a whole new element of control for iPhone and iPod touch accessory developers as well as a new ecosystem of solutions for customers. Developers will also be able to use Apple’s new Maps API to integrate Google Mobile Maps services within their apps which will offer Google Map tiles, current location, custom annotations and geocoding. The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software includes the Apple Push Notification service which provides developers with a mechanism to alert users with sounds, text or a badge.
The new iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer with over 100 new features including cut, copy and paste which can be done within or across applications; MMS to send and receive photos, contacts, audio files and locations with the Messages app; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. Landscape view will be available for Mail, Text and Notes. Search capabilities will be expanded, allowing customers to search within Mail, iPod and Notes or search across all key apps by typing a key word or phrase into the new Spotlight search, conveniently accessed from the Home screen.
The updated Stock app will add the ability to display recent company news and current trading information like opening or average price, trading volume or Market Cap, and will offer a landscape view to see a full screen of any stock chart. Customers will also be able to view shared calendars right on their iPhone with CalDAV support and sync their calendars with iCal®, Yahoo, Google and Oracle.
Today, the groundbreaking App Store has more than 25,000 applications available to consumers, and 15 more countries have been added so the App Store is now available in 77 countries, allowing developers to reach more than 30 million iPhone and iPod touch users around the world. Developers set the price for their applications and retain 70 percent of all sales revenue. Apple covers all credit card, web hosting and infrastructure costs associated with offering applications on the App Store.
Pricing & Availability
The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software and SDK will be available for registered developers to download starting today from developer.apple.com. iPhone customers will be able to download the new iPhone OS 3.0 software for free this summer and iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US).**
*MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G; fees may apply. MMS may not be available in all areas.
**Some features may not be supported by older hardware.
