iPhone OS 3.0 is coming, preview on March 17th

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/12/iphone-os-3-0-is-coming-march-17th/

by jasonlbaptiste • 17 years ago

99 53 17 years ago

bprater• 17 years ago

Man, at least tease us a little about what's coming!

weaksauce2• 17 years ago

Well it is not a point release so expect something as big or close to the changes from 1.x to 2.x. In that case it was the ability to run third party apps. This one should fix some of the deficiencies in the OS like push notifications, copy and paste, etc....

In any event I am looking forward to the changes.

fortybillion3• 17 years ago

I would like to see a refresh of the notification system, and status messages on the lock screen, which I believe was hinted at a while back in a patent filing.

Would be nice just to hit the home button while the device is in standby and see a list of recent emails, SMSs, etc.

ajju• 17 years ago

Ironically, that's the point of this event. They don't have anything ready, they just want to tell people what's coming. If they tell you now, their precious event will be pointless.

scblock3• 17 years ago

I think it would be prudent to retitle this as "Apple expected to announce and demonstrate iPhone OS 3.0 March 17" or similar.

jwilliams5• 17 years ago

Or simply keep original engadget title with any editorializing: "iPhone OS 3.0 is coming, preview on March 17th"

scblock3• 17 years ago

Engadget's title originally did not include the word preview, and hence was misleading.

jasonlbaptiste• 17 years ago

Title Updated I just used whatever title the bookmarklet grabbed from Engadget at the time.

scblock3• 17 years ago

I noticed that, and the blame appears to rest with them. Appreciate the update all the same.

pstinnett• 17 years ago

Pretty excited about this considering how big the change was from 1.x to 2.x.

Does anyone else remember if the iPhone 3G was announced when the 2.0 software was announced? I'm still using a first gen iPhone and I'd like to upgrade, but I figure I'd skip the 3G and just pick up whatever is coming next. I've seen some news saying that Apple has been buying up Flash memory from manufacturers and that goes in line with what happened previously. Wondering if I should hope for a new iPhone model on the 17th in addition to the software.

Raphomet2• 17 years ago

This is just a preview, not the release. I expect the software release to be simultaneous with the hardware release, which Tim Cook has been hinting will be in June.

As with the iPhone 3G and iPhone OS 2.0, they're likely to release exclusively on the new device first before making the update available to older generations. There will probably also be some hardware-based features exclusive to iPhone 2009 to incentivize paying for a refresh.

abl• 17 years ago

terminate-and-stay resident (TSR) capability for third-party apps built into the sdk would be a nice addition. how do you guys work around this now?

thorax• 17 years ago

Pretty much:

* A remote site that monitors info and sends you SMS or email

* You jailbreak your iphone and use Backgrounder

dkokelley2• 17 years ago

I am going to officially start the rumors for the 3.0 release: Copy-Paste, Push Gmail, Background IM apps, and wireless iTunes sync.

This is really just my personal wishlist, but if the rumors spread, enough people will be expecting these features that Apple will have to build them in (since they're already so receptive to external input). It's a self fulfilling prophecy!

rscott• 17 years ago

Add video in there and I'll help your cause.

Hexstream• 17 years ago

Wouldn't that drain the battery too fast?

pieter2• 17 years ago

Push GMail would be very welcome. I have separate Yahoo! account now for the push feature, but it's worthless. Just to name a few:

* It often doesn't work. I put it on 'fetch', but that sometimes doesn't work either, so then I have to wait for hours to receive my email

* Worst webmail interface ever

* No support for forwarding / pop / imap / whatever

* OMG, the ads

I'd drop it in a second if gmail push was there

fortybillion3• 17 years ago

Push Gmail would be doable on 2.2 if Google enables the feature in their ActiveSync implementation. They already have contacts and calendar sync working.

3.0 could add shortcuts like Yahoo's though, to make setup simpler.

agotterer• 17 years ago

Dont forget about Google latitude. That needs to get implemented directly with maps. So I wouldnt expect to see that as well.

pieter2• 17 years ago

What would be even more interesting is having some kind of Maps widget available in the toolkit.

Right now you can use a webview that points to a maps.google.com url (you do see this in some apps), but the experience isn't nearly as smooth as the native maps app.

The other option you have is generating a URL that opens the maps app. This works, but you can only specify one or two points of interest, and your app quits after you do this.

Having the maps thing as a widget would allow a lot of apps currently in the store to present a beter interface, and could also allow google to implement their Lattitude stuff without it being intrusive if you just want to do a quick maps search.

shimi2• 17 years ago

except for iTunes, all the requested features are already part of the Android SDK

unalone5• 17 years ago

Know what's not a part of the Android SDK? An incredibly clean interface with supersnappy response, auto-sync to my Mac and to MobileMe, and the ability to use the SDK on a personal music player (let's call it a "touch") rather than a phone.

They're both good. Let's both be quiet and let people discuss the iPhone, not Android.

Raphomet2• 17 years ago

I'm holding out for any hints at what will go into iPhone 2009. If the 3G and 2.0 were any indication, there might be some new, hardware-bound features exclusive to the next iPhone refresh.

They've done 3G and they've done GPS. What could be next? Processor/video/memory upgrade to support better backgrounding? Camera on the front for video chat? Personally, I'm wishing that Apple will make the phone slightly bigger, with a new, higher opt-in resolution format for developers, but there are enough problems with that to make it a risky move.

jwilliams5• 17 years ago

Somehow I doubt a significant hardware revision is on the cards.

They have a good penetration with the 1st and 2nd generations. Bringing out a new model now would schism the app community (you need X to work with the 3rd gen iPhone).... This would be a pain, and I'm not sure there is a compelling reason/feature right at this moment.

If anything, they might bump up the storage (to 32Gb+?) - although this might eat into their iPod market... And/or They could also introduce a cut-down cheaper version to get into other markets.

jwilliams5• 17 years ago

+ Tethering + MMS + Landscape mode for SMS and Email.

aschobel• 17 years ago

My wishlist ...

* Allow 3rd party have the same privileges as first party app

* Provide source code so you aren't working against a black box

* Intent based system for Activities^D^D^DApps

* Add Providers

* Allow you to self sign apps for betas

* Move to Java =)

sachinag• 17 years ago

More interesting: predict the steals from Palm Pre's WebOS.

unalone5• 17 years ago

The big thing with the Pre is the card-like metaphor for navigation. I doubt Apple will steal that for the iPhone, though it might be possible that we see a command-line launch system similar to the Pre's.

mike9r• 17 years ago

I imagine that iPhone OS v3.0 has been in the works for awhile, far before the WebOS was unveiled. I bet there are similarities (especially if they revamped the Springboard app) but other things were just being developed while Palm was doing their thing.

I can't see folks at Apple seeing the Pre demo and scrambling to rip-off a bunch of stuff in the remaining months of development.

martythemaniak• 17 years ago

They say updated SDK - so maybe we'll finally see 3rd party being treated fairly - access to data, background processes, system event listeners etc.

Unlikely, but one can hope.

callmeed• 17 years ago

A day before the YC S09 deadline! ... I predict some 11th hour application updates.

unalone5• 17 years ago

Are there many people who apply with iPhone apps nowadays? I'm curious.

Frocer• 17 years ago

As long as they fix the drop calls and bad receptions I will be extremely happy

tocomment• 17 years ago

I'd love to see a better camera. I lately always forgo bringing an actual camera on vacations since I have a camera on my phone, but I'm inevitability disappointed when I get home and review my pics on the computer.

mrtron• 17 years ago

It is just an OS update - but a 3rd party app I have does a better job at reducing blur.

But don't expect too much more from the camera, the hardware is pretty weak.

aditya2• 17 years ago

Is "Night Camera" the 3rd party app you're referring to? It is definitely much better, although the UI needs polishing...

absolut_todd• 17 years ago

All i wish for is working volume controls on my Apple in-ear headphones.

zafarali• 17 years ago

Ok... 3.0 is probably not going to bring anything awesome to the table but it will satisfy those long lost things that were omitted from the iPhone. ->MMS(why not, its all in the software) ->Background Apps(why not, its all in the software- however you may need an update to the phone to run it really really smoothly. There will probably be a limit to the number of background apps you can run) ->Copy/Paste(why not, its all in the software, its not like they have to build a special button for it.) ->Video(I'm not sure if this requires a hardware upgrade) These would be the most obvious additions to the iPhone. and they will advertise it like: And now. You can copy. And paste. or Capture your life, with video.

dingobingo• 17 years ago

agreed.

iPhone OS 3.0 is coming, preview on March 17th

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