During the WWDC event Apple introduced the new iPhone 3GS and new software that all iPhone users can download June 17th. Developers had the opportunity to download it straight away presumably to prepare their apps for the software kit. I have the software running on my iPhone and thought it would be a good idea to tell you just how good this new operating system software update is.
New features
3.0 is the name and like with every rounded update number it adds a lot of new features to the best phone in the world. The first and most notable change is MMS. A feature all phones had but the iphone surprisingly lacked. But Apple made up for it. While MMS is intended to send pictures with your text message, the iPhone lets you send all kind of cool stuff. You can send memos, great business feature and fun to joke around with. Videos can also be sent but only be made with the iPhone 3GS. We understand why Apple didn’t implement the video recording feature in the 3G. To sell more 3Gs units probably and because the 3G camera can’t record beyond 15 frames per second. Contacts can also be send and it’s a great time saver if your iPhone buddy can send you a couple of people without having to manually type their name, address and take a picture. Note the iPhone only accepts iPhone contacts.
Another great feature is tethering. This means that you can connect your iPhone with your laptop and share the internet connection. So if your laptop is not in a WiFi spot then you can let it communicate with the internet using the iphone. Your phone can be connected through Bluetooth or USB. The new features go on and on. Spotlight, Mac users like myself should be familiar with this, allows you to search your iPhone. It can be accessed by sweeping right when you’re on the first page or by pressing the home button while you’re on the main screen. The new memo app is very useful too. You can make voice recordings like a grocery list and send it or sync it with your Pc or Mac. Very nice app from the Cupertino boys, some may wonder why this app wasn’t released sooner.
The iPhone is a smartphone and it just got a lot smarter. Users can now copy and paste text. Really useful when you want to text a long address or quote an article like mine. It works by tapping and holding anywhere in the text you want to copy. A little pop-up menu appears with options like copy or cut. Hit the option you like and go to the place you want to copy. Repeat the little tap and hold trick to get the menu to appear again. Simply click paste and there you go. It couldn’t be any easier. One of the most noticeable improvements however is the improved speed. In the beta the 3.0 OS actually made your iPhone slower but this final build feels extremely snappy. Notes load a lot faster, so do maps and messages. Just one part of the phone has actually become slower and that’s the iTunes app. Apple now allows you to rent shows from your iPhone and the 400 mhz processor isn’t too happy with that. I wonder how fast this goes with the new 3Gs.
The above list of enhancements should be enough to get every iPhone user to get excited. But there are other great improvements that are very useful. The widescreen keyboard option in the message app, showing the iPod song title in the shortcut screen (double tap home), the spotlight search box in many of the apps and the list goes on and on. It’s snappier and offers an incredible amount of new features. Every iphone user has the right to get excited about this. All iPhones just got a lot better.
Read the forum if you want to get your hands on the software early. |
