iPhone 3.0 Event Makes Way for Cut and Paste. Finally!

ByMike Moffit

At today’s iPhone 3.0 event in Cupertino, CA, Apple announced changes to the iPhone software and a new version of the Apple Developer Kit. Here’s a rundown of what we can expect:

For End-Users

  • Cut and Paste capabilities. To copy and select, users will double-tap (or tap and drag to select longer parts of text) and then paste. It will work between applications.
  • Spotlight searching.* Big news! Now you can search your Mail: To, From, Subject and Entire Message, just like in Apple Mail. Calendar, Notes and even iPod will support the search feature as well.
  • Landscape Orientation. All main applications will be able to support landscape orientation. Safari already features this, as well as many other third-party apps. (My husband will definitely appreciate this since he hates the small typepad!)
  • MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) support. Users will be able to send and receive photos, audio files and contact info. Plus, the new Messages application will be able to forward and delete messages (either individually or multiples) in addition to its MMS support.
  • Shake-to-Shuffle. Now, shaking your iPhone or iPod touch will shuffle your music—a key feature in the iPod nano and iPod shuffle.

Other features include automatic updating, networking/sharing between iPhones/iPod touches (see below), Parental Controls, YouTube enhancements and more. It’s also been reported that the iPhone also will be able to support new accessories, such as FM transmitters.

See Apple’s iPhone OS page
here.
Read Apple’s press release here.

  • Available this summer (no further details at this time)
  • Free for iPhone users; $10 for iPod touch users

For Developers

  • More than 1,000 programming interfaces for the iPhone. That way, they’ll have more ways to create feature-rich applications for the App Store.
  • Peer to Peer Connectivity, This new framework allows any application to communicate between devices using Bluetooth. Gamers will be able to add a multi-player experience and others will be able to share data between devices.
  • Apple Push Notification service. Apple is now allowing third-party apps to utilize their “push” service—users will be alerted to new information even when the application isn’t running.
  • See the full list of features in the iPhone SDK here.

We’ll update with more info as soon as we hear it!

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