13 Features that Will Make You Want iPhone OS 3.0

Bowled over! Apple has come up with the third generation of the iPhone OS, climbing up to 3.0 this time. Following the Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 event, here are the great and new features that Apple has planned for the new OS, which is released this summer.

Copy & Paste

Following all the rumors, no surprises here. Apple has announced that the new OS will support copy and paste, and cut too. This is how it works: You double tap the desired text. The text is selected and movable grab points are shown. You grab the text and choose between cut, copy and paste from a tiny little box that pops up. Copy & Paste works in all major applications and there is ’shake to undo’ which, as its name implies, brings up an undo and redo option when the iPhone is shaken. It works with photos too, so you can send multiple photos with the Mail app.

MMS

This was another rumor being spread by the rumor birdies. Although a great addition to the list, it only comes to the iPhone 3G, leaving the first gen iPhone users in the dark. But it finally relieves us from our SMS sorrows.

Push Notifications

iPhone OS 3.0 will feature push notifications, letting you seamlessly sync email and contacts between a desktop and mobile in real time. BlackBerry’s getting competition!

In-App Purchases

Featuring an enhanced App Store, Apple has unveiled a new feature called In-App purchases. With it, you can purchase additional content for games, magazines and maps for different cities. An example that was given was of purchasing different levels for games. As you finish the included levels, you can buy more levels from the app store.

It allows developers to make more money selling add-on content over the original app, and on the other hand it makes you want to spend more.

Peer-to-peer networking

Something that was not much talked of by the rumor birdies, peer to peer networking on the iPhone lets you share data wirelessly with other iPhone and iPod touch users over bluetooth, without the need for wifi.

Bluetooth tethering

With Bluetooth tethering, you will be able to use your iPhone as a modem, although you will need to use an app to bring that to use.

Maps API and turn by turn directions

Enhancing the already present GPS, developers can now insert maps in their applications using Google Maps. Turn by turn directions are also provided,  using the Maps API by Apple.

Accessories

A new feature called Accessories lets you control external devices using an API. The iPhone can connect to external devices such as a loudspeaker, FM transmitter or blood pressure monitor through a dock connector or bluetooth.

Bluetooth Stereo

Another late entry into the list of features is bluetooth stereo. Now you can stream music from the iPhone through bluetooth to a pair of compatible headphones or speakers.

More App Store Surprises

Apple also unveiled some new iPhone apps that were no less than a surprise. A new app called Voice Memos lets you record notes and reminders – great for journalists and freelancers. Safari now auto-fills and remembers your login information, and added phishing protection makes you more secure while mobile. A new feature called Spotlight lets you search the iPhone for data. The search works for all the Apple-made apps including Calendar and Mail. The OS 3.0 adds 1000 new APIs to extend the working of apps and give new opportunities to developers.

Landscape keyboard

The landscape keyboard can now be brought up when using applications like Mail and Notes.

New Calendar Type

Two new calendar standards have been added to the iPhone. CalDAV is a protocol that is supported by Google and Yahoo. And you can make subscriptions in the .ics format which is supported by Apple’s iCal.

Bonjour Discovery

This will let the iPhone discover other nearby devices using Bluetooth without setting up a wireless network first. It can surely bring life to multiplayer gaming on the iPhone.

What’s Your Verdict On It?

There may be some surprising features, but unsurprisingly, Apple left out Background Processing. We still can’t run two apps simultaneously. Well, that’s a bummer!

With over 25,000 apps in the App Store today and over 30 million iPhone OS units sold, the new iPhone OS 3.0 does rock, whatever the Windows fanboys say!

The iPhone OS 3.0 update will be free for iPhone users but iPod Touch users will have to pay $9.95 for the update.

What’s your take on it? Let us know in the comments!

(images by gizmodo)

(By) An avid freelance writer and technology enthusiast, Keshav Khera is young geek from India. Fanatic about the web, he also writes a blog and makes unsuccessful efforts to avoid twitter.

W2 Wireless Adapter Released by Audioengine

Audioengine has released a new high-quality wireless adapter for the iPod that promises to keep sound quality high.

The Audioengine W2 Premium wireless adapter for the iPod wirelessly sends music to any sound system, allowing you to listen to the songs on your iPod through your stereo system without any hassle.

Wireless adapters are nothing new for the iPod, but the difference between the W2 and other wireless iPod attachments is that Audioengine promises CD quality sound with the W2, with no reduction in audio quality. This feature should make the W2 a significant improvement over other wireless adapters, such as ones that are picked up by radio receivers.

The W2’s receiver is plugged into the stereo system and the transmitter is plugged into the base of the iPod, transmitting sound directly to the stereo, rather than being picked up as a radio or IR signal. Also, the W2 requires no batteries and no extra remote, using the iPod’s standard controls to shuffle through songs.

Further, the W2 sends data at uncompressed CD quality in a completely digital, PCM encoded stream over a closed network with a very low latency of less than 20ms. This ensures that the W2 does not degrade the sound quality of your music, and also means that the W2 doesn’t experience the same problems with static and interference that other wireless adapters for the iPod encounter.

Audioengine’s site claims that the W2 works with all music systems, so it sounds like it could be a very solid product; I find that one of the more annoying things about wireless iPod adapters is that they tend mangle your music with distortion and low quality as a tradeoff for being simple and compatible with a wide variety of systems. If the W2 offers the same compatibility without the degradation of sound it would fill an important gap in the market of wireless iPod adapters.

The W2 costs $169 from Audioengine, has a 30 foot range, and is compatible with the iPod Classic, iPod Touch, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations of the iPod Nano.

SimCity Released for iPhone

Today EA announced the release of the classic game SimCity for the iPhone and iPod touch.

SimCity, a game of city construction and management, is one of the first significant games made by Will Wright, creator of the imaginative, and highly hyped, Spore. As the name suggests, SimCity was also among the first in the line of “Sim” games, made widely famous by Wright’s game The Sims.

The iPhone and iPod touch version hasn’t been stripped down for this touch-based version, and brings all the features that players would expect in a SimCity game. From the looks of it, SimCity for the iPhone bears many similarities to SimCity 3000, the third game in the series.

There seems to be a trend lately of developers re-releasing old games on portable hardware, and SimCity seems like the perfect choice for this sort of thing. SimCity is an old favourite of mine, even though whenever I play it I always end up with massive debt and a stagnant slum, so the chance to play it on the go is pretty neat. Especially nice are the touch controls, which in my opinion are well-suited for the type of game SimCity is.

SimCity costs $10 and is available at the iPhone app store.

New “Green” Batteries Will Save the World and Your Laptop

Starting in the first quarter of 2009, Hewlett-Packward will be offering new green batteries to laptop buyers under its new Enviro Series brand.

HP has been working with Boston Power for the last three years on creating a longer-lasting and more sustainable laptop battery. Not surprisingly, Boston Power had just announced that HP will be the first laptop manufacturer to offer their new batteries. Boston Power says the battery, named Sonata, charges faster and is safer to use. Lithium-ion batteries tend to be cased in iron, but the new Sonata batteries use a certain alloy that is less likely to crack open if there is an internal fire.

The green factor comes in to play because of the life of the battery. No longer will you have to replace several batteries in the lifetime of your laptop. A laptop battery’s power time drops significantly after 150 charges, but the Sonata battery can be charged over 1,000 times and still be as strong as the day you bought it. The price-tag for this power has yet to be announced.

Boston Power has also kept out PVC plastic and several types of heavy metals which make it so that the batteries can be recycled. The batteries are designed to be eco-friendly and will be marketed as such.

“Our tests found that 40 percent of consumers over three years have replaced laptop batteries up to five times, says Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO of Boston Power. “If each is $150, that’s almost the cost of the whole system. I think this will change the appetite for sustainable products. Instead of purchasing something expendable, they can have something that lasts.”

Boston Power soon intends to enter the auto battery market and will release a portable lithium-ion battery for recharging your cellphones, iPods, and other on-the-go gadgets. The young company it attempting to fix all of our battery charge problems while taking care of the environment.

Soon you will be able to run a laptop all day in Starbucks on a single charge and keep your phone from blanking out when you need it most. The first part of that last sentence might be a stretch, but the batteries are supposed to last longer per charge and will come with a 3-year warranty from HP, the longest there is for laptop batteries. If Sonata turns out to be all that it is said to be, it will truly be an advancement and the next step in laptop batteries.

Colourful New Zunes Available for Christmas

For the four or five of you that are interested in getting that special someone a Zune this Christmas season, instead of an iPod, or iPhone, or waffle maker, you’ll be happy to know that Microsoft has added the option to get blue or red customized Zunes.

The new colours are available on the 120 Gb Zune at the Zune Originals site, which gives you the option to customize your Zune with different colours, graphic patterns, or personalized engravings. They’re running at $249.99, plus an extra fee for any neat graphics or engravings you might want to add on.

The Zune has had a hard time competing in the MP3 player business thanks to the ubiquitous iPod, possibly due to some strange design choices. It comes complete with a WiFi connection that ostensibly is designed to allow Zune users to share songs among one another. Unfortunately, the Zune also comes bundled with a powerful DRM feature that disables songs that users have downloaded from friends after a certain number of listens or a certain amount of time, whichever comes first.

Nonetheless, the Zune is about as good, if not better, than any other non-iPod MP3 player, and some argue even has some advantages over the iPod. Microsoft recommends that you order yours by Dec. 19th if you want to make sure to get it by Christmas day.

IM No More

The decline of the instant messenger has been apparent ever since MySpace made its debut. The inability of IM applications to evolve with new communication tools and keep up with user demands has diminished the need and importance of instant messaging.

When I was a young computer user, instant messaging was my primary tool in keeping in touch with my friends. Instant messaging was popular before cellphones were in every pocket, before social networks became Internet communication hubs, before I could check my email on a hundred different devices. I would collect all of my friend’s user names and add them to my AIM and MSN messengers, I’d even find out the user names of the girls I liked just so I can see when they were online in case I ever grew the coconuts to talk to them.

Now my IMs are combined into one program (Adium) and lay dormant, minimized on the bottom of my computer screen. Most of the user names are faded grey and haven’t signed on in months, some for years. Away messages plague those who are online, and when I do talk to someone it’s usually brief and empty.

I no longer keep in touch with people through my messengers. I have a Facebook account where all of my friends, new and old, are stored away and wait for me if I ever need them to cure my curiosity, nostalgia, or boredom. If I ever want to talk to my girlfriend, I use Skype. Most everything else I do is communicated through email, which I can now check on my computer, my phone, my iPod, and a dozen other things I come into contact with everyday.

Facebook itself has a messenger, and although I do not use it very often, it is a part of a larger communication tool and has evolved to fit modern computer user needs. The same goes for Google Talk, it’s a messenger embedded within my email service and is there to use when I need it. AIM, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo and the rest have not evolved, they have remained the same programs for the last dozen years with minimal improvements. With all of the newer communication tools to compete with, old standards do not hold up anymore.

Texting, in a way, has replaced the space that instant messengers once held. You can text any of your contacts at any time you want, from wherever you are. Messenger programs have installed themselves on cellphones and have tried to break into the texting market, but what’s the point in using the messenger features when you can text, send images, videos, and all sorts of files, not to mention call, from your cellphone anyway?

People use online social networking tools to strengthen their offline social networks. IM applications of old are not enriching communication between users the way they used to and soon will become obsolete, save for those that evolve themselves to fit within larger communication tools.

My messengers may be fading into uselessness, but they are still open and running on my computer everyday. As the months and years pass by, I see less of my friends signed on and my conversations are disappearing along with them. The day may come not too long from now when I join my friends and sign off for the last time.