iPhone 3.0 Wishes Granted

It will be a long wait, but sometime this summer Apple intends to roll out a huge update to the iPhone software.  For developers, the fun starts now, with over 1,000 new API’s in the updated developers kit.   But it is the 100 new features announced at the Apple developers conference, which created the most buzz and applause.  And most of that excitement reserved for a basic, but missing, feature.

Drum roll please!  The iPhone is getting . . . . Cut and paste!  Users have been crying for this feature since the launch of the very first iPhone nearly two years ago.  While elegant in many ways, the iPhone was missing some critical features, many of which have been preventing the iPhone from gaining a strong foothold among business users.  Cut and paste was one of the biggies and should have arguably been included in the very first version of the iPhone.  Still we are thrilled to hear that it will finally be available, and users Will easily be able to cut and paste information between applications.

The other big gripe that most heavy iPhone users (myself included) have been screaming about is the lack of MMS (the ability to send pictures via the SMS app).  With texting and photo swapping becoming as common place as phone calls (or more so for some age groups), the lack of MMS on the iPhone was really inexcusable.  That will all be resolved this summer.

There were many other big announcements.  Full support for Bluetooth (including stereo), push updates (but still no multitasking), voice memos, Google maps for apps, and search within apps.

The new “Spotlight” search feature will allow a user to search for information contained in any app on your iPhone, from mail and apps to music.

For developers and content producers, the big news is iTunes support for subscriptions and micro payments.  Newspapers, magazines, serial content providers, will all be able to charge recurring fees for content.  Developers will also be able to charge fees for upgrades within the app itself.  With 800 million apps already downloaded, the iTunes App store is a phenomenon and a cash cow.  These changes will allow developers to create even more apps and generate revenue in new ways.  Some even see this as a way that some newspapers may save themselves.  That remains to be seen, but is an interesting thought none the less.

But there are still two main features which are still missing from the iPhone lineup.  Although many simple phones now offer the ability to take video (low resolution or otherwise) the iPhone still doesn’t support this.  The phone also doesn’t support Flash.  The lack of Flash support does impact the ability to view many web pages and it remains a sore spot for many iPhone fans.

For the most part, this is the iPhone update that many of us have been waiting for.   The iPhone keeps its lead, but still needs a few critical features, and perhaps a few hardware upgrades, before we jump for joy.