iPhone 3.0, a 3G users take

After a few weeks of anticipation, Apple released 3.0 of it's iPhone software today. This is in advance of the new iPhone 3GS that is being released on July 19th. Now that this release has been out a few hours, I'll give you my take on it. Time for the good, the bad and the missing.

To start, lets go over some of the features that will impact the iPhone3G. I will not cover all the new features, but will point out some of the ones I think will get the use in day in and day out activities. Since I do not yet have my hands on a 3GS, I can only cover those that I can see and test. Now that all the talk is out of the way, lets get to it.

The Features

• Cut and Paste - This was one of the most requested features. Why it took so long to roll out, only Apple can answer that. One highlight is the ability to go from App to App with a copy. The cut and paste does have issues in some of the apps that have not been updated to 3.0. With the Copy and Paste, is the shake to undo option. This is one of those features that Apple throws out there because it's cool. I'm sure they could have done it with a button, but shake is so much better. So how does it work and look :
  
  • To Copy, just double tap or hold until the magnifying glass pops up (then tap select to get the prompts)iPhone Copy
  • To paste, double tab or hold, then select PasteiPhone Paste
  • To undo a paste, just shake your phone and a dialog box opens with the Undo Paste optioniPhone Undo Paste
  • Also with the Copy and Paste, we now have the ability to email multiple pictures. Multiple Picture Selection
    
• Redeem Gift Cards - This is one of those features that you don't know you need or want until you have it. When I found this option, I thought, "wow, why wasn't this is place before." This feature can be found in both the iTunes and App Store.Redeem Gift Cards
• YouTube - From the beginning, the YouTube application has been a stable of the platform. But the one missing feature was the ability to use your own account. Now, you have access to your subscriptions, your videos and the regular YouTube functions. Of note in the 3GS, you will have the options to upload video from the built in camera. This will either be within the YouTube app or the Photos app or both). iPhone YouTube
• Search - Many people may not end up using this feature, but I can already see how valuable it will be. Many users that come from the PC side may not recognize this as the Spotlight from the Mac side of things. It performs just like the OSX Leopard. Search will covers apps, mail, podcasts and so on. This is also a very fast feature when it does the search. To access search, from the home screen, just swipe to the left. You can also set the home button to take you right into search.

• Find my iPhone - This is a MobileMe option that looks to be very useful. Once you have set your MobileMe account on the iPhone to use the Find my iPhone function, it then syncs to the on-line MobileMe web page. When you access your MobileMe account via the web, you will find this feature under your account settings. Once enable, you can send a message, activate an alert and wipe the data from your phone. As a side, when the message you send is answered, an email is sent to your account. What's missing is the option to lock the phone remotely. Find my iPhone
• Push Notifications - This is as close as Apple will come to background apps for the time being. In short, Apple runs a central server and then sends the alerts to your phone. Since there are a limited number of apps that use this, a complete review will have to wait.
• MMS and Tethering - This will have to wait as well. AT&T has said it will be coming later this summer. Why later, it's not like they didn't know this was coming. They can talk about capcity of the network, but that is just an excuse that they need to stop hiding behind.
• Voice Memos - As the title says, it records your voice. I believe this is just a subset of the entire voice dial function, that is only available on the 3GS. So us 3G users just get to record our thoughts. But we do have the option of emailing this thought.
• TV, Movies and Music videos - Within iTunes, you can download purchased video content. Some reports are that you can download via 3G, but I think it will be limited to WiFi. 
• Landscape Mode - Landscape mode has now been activated across the board. I find it easier to read in landscape than it is to type in this mode.

That covers most of the functions that I use, but I'm sure there will be others that will pop up as I have more time to use the new software. I also found there are a few things still missing. I'm hoping these show up sooner rather than later.

• WiFi sync for iTunes.
• Voice Dial for 3G phones
• Remote lock of the iPhones using "Find my iPhone"

So until we meet again, May your daily joys continue to bring happiness.

Comments

[IQ-Gott]

I cannot believe this will work!

[Alan Ashley]

@IQ-Gott, Cannot believe what will work?