iPhone OS 3.0 brings new features to your current iPhone, while iPhone 3GS brings you video
The long awaited announcement of the new iPhone happened today, and boy was it worth the wait.
The World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2009 kicked off today with a keynote address from Apple that covered their new laptops, the next iteration of Mac OS X, and, of course the iPhone OS 3.0 release, as well as a brand new iPhone. Both the OS and the actual phone got some exciting new features. Seeing as OS 3.0 has over 100 new features, there is no way we can cover them all, so lets get right to it.
iPhone OS 3.0 Features
Cut, Copy & Paste
Although this was announced a while back, it is now official. You will finally be able to copy & paste just as you do on any normal computer with your iPhone.
Find My iPhone
Ever lost your iPhone? Of course you have. With the Find My iPhone feature in MobileMe you’ll be able to locate your phone no matter where it is, including in the cushions of your couch. Even if the phone is in silent mode, the Find My iPhone feature will cause the phone to make an audible pinging sound so that you can locate it by just going to the MobileMe website from any computer with an Internet connection.
If you aren’t sure of the location of the phone, or think it may have fallen in to the wrong hands, you can now use a remote kill switch to wipe all of your data including emails and contacts. If you do eventually get the phone back in to your possession, you simple connect the iPhone to your iTunes and all of the data will be re-synced to it.
In-App Purchases
As what could be seen as a blessing or a curse, applications will now be able to allow in-app purchases. Say you are playing a game that sells upgraded armor for your character, well, now you can make that purchase right there inside of the application and upgrade your game. Great new feature, but also potentially very expensive.
Search
Thanks to Spotlight, you can now search your entire phone for information, including inside of emails.
iPhone 3GS Features
iPhone 3GS Camera
3 Megapixel, auto-focus camera that will also have a tap-to-focus that will allow you to tap on the part of the photo you want to focus, and it will automatically do so. It will also be adding the ability to automatically handle exposure, white balance and better low-light sensitivity. If you want to get close to a photo subject, say up to 10cm away, the new camera will also have an auto-macro.
iPhone 3GS Compass
Always be able to find north, and if you double-tap the screen, it will show you your current orientation, even in the Maps app.
iPhone 3GS Video
At long last, the iPhone camera is also going to be able to shoot video! The new feature will allow you to shoot at 30 frames per second (fps) at VGA resolution with audio, auto-focus, auto-white balance and auto-exposure. You will then be able to clean up the videos on your phone, send them out via MMS, upload them to YouTube and more.
More functionality will be a given as there will be an API available to developers so that they can integrate video into their applications.
iPhone 3GS Voice Control
Why bother with touching your phone when you can just voice command it? Hold down the home button for a second and you will be prompted to start issuing voice commands which can include making calls, asking your device what song is playing, telling it to find similar songs and so on.
iPhone 3GS Pricing and release date
The iPhone 3GS will sell for $199 for the 16GB version and 32GB will go for $299, both with a two-year service contract, of course. In a new twist, though, the 8GB iPhone 3G will still be available for the reduced price of $99 with two-year contract. While you won’t get all of the latest features with the new version, it is certainly a welcome addition to continue the iPhone’s unprecedented market penetration.
So, when you can get this new device? Start lining up for the official release date of June 19th.
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