New text editing features
Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone software, demonstrated a new text selection feature that will allow users to select text by double tapping on a word. That action brings up a popup of copy, cut, and paste buttons, along with selection markers that users can drag to expand their text selection.
Once the selection is made, the buttons allow for usual copy, cut or paste features. The new feature works across any application, and adds undo support. Apple also demonstrated pasting multiple photos into Mail.
Apple is also adding a landscape, wide keyboard mode to other apps outside of Safari, including Mail, Notes, and the new MMS messages app.
Copying and Pasting in on app
You double tap onto the text, and it automatically selects that text, adding grab points you can drag to customize your selection.
Copy & Pasting across apps
Copy & Pasting web content
Undo
Copying and Pasting multiple photos to Mail
Landscape mode for all key apps
Multimedia Messaging
The current SMS app is also being updated into the Messaging app, with support for individual forward and deletion of messages (rather than just clearing the entire conversation log), and support for MMS picture messaging, which is very popular in the UK and Europe. Users will also be able to text other mobile users their contact vCards, audio clips, and geographic locations.
MMS is part of the 3G mobile networking specification and therefore will only work on the iPhone 3G, and only when it has 3G service. MMS also incurs additional messaging fees. Apple designed the original iPhone to use standard internet email for sending pictures, and has been awfully quiet about MMS while reviewers demanded it be added.
New Voice Memos app
Apple will also be including a new application called Voice Memos, which uses the built in mic or mic-integrated headphones to record audio clips that can be edited and then sent to other users via Email or MMS.
CalDAV Calender
The iPhone's Calendar app is being updated to support the emerging CalDAV specification used by Apple's iCal Server and the open source Darwin Calendar Server, as well as other third party calendaring products. This will allow users to create calendars that can be shared with members of their family.
That will enable third parties an open mechanism for supporting mobile calendar features. The new Calendar also now works with subscribed .ics iCalendar feeds, which populate calendar events based on an RSS feed. This feature is popular for users wishing to subscribe to a calendar containing their favorite sports team's schedule, for instance.
Note sync
The 3.0 update will also add support for Note sync.
Spotlight search
A new global Spotlight search feature can be used to quickly find and launch an application (without having to scroll to your 8th home screen), or to search content content across all apps. It's immediately accessible by flicking the home-screen to the left.
Mail, Notes, iPod, and Calendar are also gaining their own built-in search. The Mail search digs through headers, and if it doesn't find matches to messages on the iPhone itself, it will extend the mail search to messages on the mail server. This is supported by Exchange and most IMAP servers.
Other application features
The iPod app now supports "shake to shuffle" during playback, iTunes account creation. Apps in general get access to the iPod library, new audio video tags, live streaming of audio and video, and A2DP stereo Bluetooth headphone support.
YouTube gains support for subscriptions, accounts, and ratings. Safari gains support for encrypted profiles, anti-phishing flagging of suspect sites, and auto-fill forms.
The Stock app gains support for company new headlines, high and low tracking, and landscape mode for stock graphs. Meanwhile, Phone gets call log support and OTA profiles. VPN on demand features have also been added.
The new iPhone 3.0 software will be available this summer, free to all iPhone users and $9.95 for iPod touch users. Certain features, including MMS, GPS, and A2DP Stereo Bluetooth, will only work on the iPhone 3G due to hardware features lacking on the original iPhone or iPod touch. The original iPod touch also lacks a built in mic input. A Developer Beta is available today, and Apple said it wants developers to get started with the new platform immediately.
266 Comments
At the preview of the new iPhone 3.0 platform, Apple announced new features for users that include ... MMS, and scores of other new features.
Man I'm so pissed that I can't do MMS with my 2G iPhone
I'll wait for the next one in June (hoping that there will be one)
Man I'm so pissed that I can't do MMS with my 2G iPhone
I'll wait for the next one in June (hoping that there will be one)
Yah, that was the one major bummer. Ya gotta have the 3G model. Not a nice thing for many.
It'll help drive the upgrade cycle, tho', eh? Eval.
.
Yay! FINALLY! So much for everyone who was talking up email and how MMS support was "not needed".
It's not needed - it's just more convenient for some. At an anally-raping price. Knock yourself out, I'll be looking for the way to turn it off, since most of us in the US *can't* block them at the service provider, unlike the rest of the world.
I'm going to find it fascinating and interesting seeing how many people who claim that MMS is useless now will b*tch and moan that they can't do it on their original iPhone.
Continuing... I'll say the nay-sayers of copy and paste now will be singing it's praises.
Guess what people? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THERE SINCE THE START.