Those waiting for the iPhone OS 3.0 to be available for download (so that they can then jailbreak it, wink wink), rejoice. The iPhone 3.0 OS is now available for download as is the OS 3.0 for iPod. The OS features many new apps and options however, there is likely to be no MMS till late September as AT&T still haven’t resolved the whole MMS package issue.
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! Shiny up your iPhones and iPods because the new OS 3.0 from apple is here. The update is now available for everyone out there to download for free to all you lucky iPhone users and for the little less lucky iPod owners, you have to pay $9.95 for your update. More info is at the Apple website. Get your updates then get cracking. The real juice kicks in when you synchronize it with iTunes.
All you iPhone developers out there will be pleased to know that Apple has held up its end of the bargain, the new beta version of OS 3.0 is out. If you’re a registered iPhone developer, get your grove onhttp://developer.apple.com/.
Some freshly leaked screenshots of the new Apple iPhone 3.0 OS have made their way to the wild. These images show some pretty nice detail work for a video recording application, more settings options, an accessibility entry, and even a possibility that Apple could be integrating voice dialing, too. Among other improvements are;
1. The final 3.0 firmware is said to support OpenGL ES v2.0.
2. There are various references to “ChinaBrick” in some of the 3.0 beta firmwares. It could be a reference to a Chinese-specific iPhone with no 3G and no Wi-Fi, and if it were, Apple has one corny sense of humor.
3. In other news, there seems a very, very strong possibility video recording will be specifically for the new hardware iPhone and not backwards compatible with the iPhone 3G. So current users won’t be getting any video love, real tough!
Ever since OS 3.0 came out, everyone has been wondering how the iPhone would handle MMS. For starters, it’s not easy enabling MMS on the iPhone. You need to know your way around the OS, know how and where to make changes in the settings, etc. but once that’s accomplished, according to some expert users of the new OS, MMS works just dandy. The iPhone receives and sends videos over MMS like a breeze. Screen shots will tell you the rest. Enjoy!
Needless to say that when it came to performance, the new iPhone OS 3.0 proved disappointing. Talk about static, calls dropping at will and jumbled up audio. So what Apple did, what it always does, is to dish out a new OS 3.0, Beta 2 to ‘qualifying developers’. And by qualify we all know this means the dudes who put down their credit cards right where Apple wanted them. So how is the new Beta rolling on? Word has yet to arrive, but if you know someone who has it, maybe you can get one rolling on your iPhone too.
A bit of leaked information from AT&T’s high halls seems to point to a very sizzling piece of technology in the upcoming iPhone. Here are the leaked details;
1. New iPhone announcement around mid-June (big surprise!)
2. New iPhone will be faster and have a more seamless experience unmatched by any device (they could just mean the 3.0, but it may well be a new iPhone)
3. U-Verse iPhone application; will allow control of your home DVR (play, pause, rewind, etc.)
4. The annual iPhone launch is “becoming a tradition.”
5. Not official, but they said that people should gear up for an exciting time this summer.
6. AT&T is said to be working with Apple to create a unified product with an unparalleled experience across all their products and services.
7. Apple’s 3.0 software will steer the path for future software direction.
8. They said customers shouldn’t need to choose from AT&T’s high-end devices because of features, they should choose based on preferences. The gap in capability should be filled with the new iPhone. So this means we’ll have our choice from slide-out QWERTY, autofocus camera, video sharing, etc, etc?
9. Looks like the higher speed HSDPA (7.2Mbps) is part of the package too, that would lend weight to rumors about a new Infineon chipset.
10. The $99 3G netbook will start selling this summer, and the first one won’t be a Windows OS.
Finally copy/paste and MMS have happened for the iPhone. This sure is a joyous day for all you fanboys out there…after all, Apple just invented copy/paste right? Ok, jokes aside, the new OS 3.0 does indeed bring copy/paste and MMS, along with some pretty nice and much needed improvements. All in all, you’re looking at;
1. Push notifications for apps. At least! Finally, the iPhone/iPod Touch to be notified (via a badge, text pop up and/or audio alert) in near real-time of a new server-side event associated with a specific app. This is what can be safely termed as the poor man’s answer to background processes, which by the way, are not an addition to version 3.0. Apple’s excuses: Battery performance and memory strain.
2. Updated media player adjusts streaming video quality according to current bandwidth.
3. Cut, copy and paste. (Apple’s greatest invention yet!) Double-tap to select text, drag start/end points and rock ‘n’ roll. You can even shake to undo/redo edits.
4. Send multiple images at once.
5. Wider landscape keyboard availability. Apple finally put the landscape keyboard into all native apps, including Mail. Thank you.
6. MMS. Yippee it’s like finally being in the 21st century! SMS and MMS are now lumped into a Messages app. But this won’t be available on 2G (1st gen) iPhones.
7. New calendar features. CalDAV allows for sharing across a bunch of services such as Google and Yahoo and .ics subscription support.
8. Flushed out Stocks app.
9. Extended search. Users can now search in all key apps including Calendar, iPod, Notes and Mail.
10. Spotlight for iPhone. A “search homescreen”. It’s like Spotlight for Mac and it only searches native Apple apps.
11. Bluetooth A2DP support (stereo Bluetooth). Again, this won’t be available on 2G (1st gen) iPhones.
12. Tethering.
As I said, much needed improvements.
Well Apple is finally coming out with an OS upgrade for the iPhone. OS 3.0 will be launched at an event scheduled for March 17th. iFans of course know and expect that Apple’s software upgrades are generally followed by hardware refreshes in June/July. So far what we know about OS 3.0 is that it will bring;
a. MMS, and
b. Tethering via Bluetooth and USB
Good to know the iPhone now gets what it needs most. No word on whether copy/paste is on the menu, but c’mon, with MMS there, how could Apple miss the fact that we direly need copy/paste? Now let’s hope for more leaked info before the official launch so we can nod our heads in an oh-I-knew-that manner.
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