IPhone 3.0 has copy/paste, subscriptions, micropayments, P2P, maps, push, MMS, etc

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/17/live-from-apples-iphone-os-3-0-preview-event/#continued

by sama • 17 years ago

138 140 17 years ago

engadget.com

charlesju• 17 years ago

Shouldn't we wait until this conference is done before posting?

sama2• 17 years ago

too exciting

comatose_kid• 17 years ago

SDK access to bluetooth? Awesome, I have a client who is dying for this...

raptrex• 17 years ago

yay for turn by turn apps in the future

briansmith2• 17 years ago

It will be interesting to see what happens with the pricing for those apps. On other phone platforms, they usually cost over $100 per year. A very bad deal, IMO.

pieter3• 17 years ago

I came across http://sygic.com/press/press_12.3.09.html which says it'll release its software for the 3G for $79

bemmu• 17 years ago

In-app sales will create huge new opportunities.

wvenable• 17 years ago

From the talk: "Would you like to purchase one rocket launcher for $0.99?"

Oh yeah, that sounds like fun. Clearly a great way to be nickle and dimed to death in every application and game.

henning• 17 years ago

Clippy resurrects himself from the grave and pops up in the lower right-hand corner

It looks like you're trying to copy and paste. Would you like to pay $0.05 in order to continue? (Continue/Cancel)

It looks like you're trying to exit the application. Would you like to pay $0.10 in order to continue? (Exit and pay $0.10/Stay for free)

It looks like you're shocked to see one of Microsoft's worst creations pwn your smartphone. Would you like to buy a copy of iLithium(R), iXanax(TM), or iProzac(TM) to soften the blow for $14.99? (Yes/No)

unalone2• 17 years ago

Every good tech implementation will be abused. I'm sure games will come out that don't leech away on their users, just as some will make lots of money by suckering out lots of micropayments.

snprbob86• 17 years ago

I'm sure that was just for demonstration purposes. EA tried that in a bunch of games when Xbox LIVE first offered these features. Customers FREAKED and things have been much more reasonable since.

Jasber2• 17 years ago

I was surprised to see in-app sales were only for paid apps. I imagine a big market where apps "hook" a user by being free, then make money from in-app sales.

dmix2• 17 years ago

Offering in-app sales in free apps would be bad for user experience. When you download a free app you do so without intention to spend any money-only to try it out.

A lot of developers may try to abuse this by creating tons of free apps with paid content. Then it will be impossible to know whether the apps your downloading are really free.

Angostura2• 17 years ago

I suspect we may see an influx of 'demo' games costing $0.01c, where you can buy the additional levels. At the moment there are a host of free 'Lite' games with paid-for versions.

ja2ke• 17 years ago

This would create a million apps far more horrible than even what's there now. Think the Windows "freeware" market.

floozyspeak• 17 years ago

It will definitely be nickle and dime theater.. and HUGE. The push notifications will be a test on whether or not we all start to hate iphones.

trezor• 17 years ago

From the report:

No backgrounding, no multitasking, no unobtrusive notifications. No copy and paste (yet), no MMS, no video. Really pretty minor stuff thus far.

Ah well. So we have push notification, better hardware access and the maps API opened up for apps. Not totally shit but not revolutionary either.

fortes• 17 years ago

Peer to peer communication and device apis are nice too.

Timothee• 17 years ago

Device API is what interests me the most! (even if I'm nowhere close to be a hardware engineer) I feel like it really opens a new field for the iPhone.

I'm not quite sure what would be a great application for this yet (the examples were ok but not ground-breaking), but I really like the idea of the iPhone being able to control a bunch of stuff...

jonursenbach6• 17 years ago

We just got copy & paste.

zaveri• 17 years ago

Added support for MMS!

Maktab• 17 years ago

They've also added copy & paste, landscape view in Mail and other key apps, CalDAV support and MMS so far. Looks like they've made an effort to address most of the criticisms of the phone while laying the foundation for a huge amount of additional functionality from apps, especially with the p2p API. I'm quite pleased with what's been unveiled.

jws2• 17 years ago

You really should watch the live coverage by someone other than engadget. I get the impression their person is only there because someone threatened to fire him if he didn't go.

If you are looking for information the Grumpy Mystery Science Theater version of the live cast is the wrong place to be.

ashr2• 17 years ago

I recommend watching the video on apple.com

unalone2• 17 years ago

MMS and C&P are a go.

Backgrounding and video would be nice, but when I think "phone features" they're not what come to mind.

pxlpshr4• 17 years ago

Apple really nailed it with version 3.0, and this is going to be great for us. I suspect you'll start seeing app acquisitions as companies look to acquire an 'install' base to leverage.

Time to get crankin' on more apps before gold rush 3.0!

pxlpshr4• 17 years ago

Actually, hmm.. I wonder how the subscription will work for apps that were formerly free. I assume users will be able to 'opt-in' for subscription payment, otherwise the application is deleted.

GHFigs6• 17 years ago

In-application payments are not available for free applications.

tocomment3• 17 years ago

So you can embed Google maps in your app, but you can't use their maps? Isn't that kind of worthless?

peregrine• 17 years ago

You can use their maps just not for turn-by-turn. Read the article. :)

ryanwaggoner2• 17 years ago

"Now as I said before, 3.0 brings a lot of new features for devs, but for customers as well... starting... with cut, copy, and paste."

Freaking finally!

jgfoot• 17 years ago

> Q: Why did copy paste take so long?

> A: Scott: It's not that easy. There were security issues.

What does this mean? Could it be that with the iPhone, letting the user extract his own data from the device and sending it elsewhere is a "security" issue?

wallflower• 17 years ago

I wonder if the buffer is outside the normal application sandbox.

jws2• 17 years ago

I think perhaps it is more "bypassing of security" issues. On the iPhone applications don't get to interact with each other, so a breach must be made in that protection, and once breached it must be guarded.

tptacek3• 17 years ago

You download a game. You play it once. It sucks. Meanwhile, it has stolen your mail and phoned it back home to a server in Uzbekistan.

ftse• 17 years ago

I've just used it for the first time running the 3.0 beta. I copied a URL from an email into Safari. It Just Works, as you would expect. It is very intuitive - I deliberatly tried prior to reading a detailed review or watching the video of the presentation.

markessien• 17 years ago

Lovely. This was a good platform choice for me to specialize in. I'm going to start consulting almost exclusively for the iPhone, I think it's a platform that will be here for a good number of years.

nanexcool2• 17 years ago

"So, copy/paste in iPhone 3.0." Applause. Applause for a feature that every other device in the world has. Odd.

I like the iPhone, but this sums up what I usually feel about Apple products.

wensing3• 17 years ago

Don't you think the genius is that they created an interface where it wasn't absolutely essential from the get-go?

nanexcool2• 17 years ago

I often found myself wanting to copy stuff from my to-do list to an email message. Or a URL from Safari.

axod• 17 years ago

They take time to get it perfect :/

sounddust3• 17 years ago

Applause because the iPhone went from being the best mobile phone despite lacking major features, to the best mobile phone which lacks no major features.

pietro• 17 years ago

Except for video recordings, a decent camera, and built-in TV. Those are standard features in high-end phones in Europe and Japan.

sama2• 17 years ago

Search mail on the server!

ObieJazz• 17 years ago

3.0 SDK beta is available today. Can't wait to try it out.

kylec• 17 years ago

Is the new OS just for registered developers? How hard would it be for a non-developer to obtain and install it?

ROFISH• 17 years ago

It's just the normal $99 developers. Originally the betas were limited to whoever Apple liked.

lpgauth• 17 years ago

Downloading now! wheee

menloparkbum• 17 years ago

If I upgrade to the developer's 3.0 (I'm in the program), can I restore my 2.0 OS?

edit: just checked, you cannot restore the old version.

dustineichler• 17 years ago

What was the report on streaming video? if it's what i think it is, this is a huge win for qik and others.

ajju2• 17 years ago

How good the micropayments feature is depends on what their cut on it is. 30% off of 10 cents hurts a lot more than 30% off of $10.00

cubicle674• 17 years ago

um... in what way does it hurt more?

ajju2• 17 years ago

That was a stupid comment made in haste that makes no sense as written. Paying apple 30% of repeated micropayments would hurt me more than the alternative, but it's only true in my context - which is probably not the context Apple designed their system for.

I am building a web based service which can also be accessed via an iPhone app. I get paid via micropayments which I aggregate till they reach a certain dollar amount and then process via a payment processor that charges me in single digit percentages. I have the option of using iPhone's own micropayment service but that would hurt me more.

Hexstream• 17 years ago

96% of apps are approved? I thought the percentage was much lower. Vocal minority, I guess.

jedberg• 17 years ago

That doesn't say how many times the app had to be resubmitted before approval. I'd like to see the rate of first time rejections.

jshen• 17 years ago

A lot of first time rejections are for things like version numbers not matching. I'm not sure why that stat would be meaningful.

eyeraw• 17 years ago

Misleading statistic - developers are probably just getting better at self-censorship. They don't bother submitting non "politically correct" apps anymore.

tocomment3• 17 years ago

They should have reported to wait time too. It's been 3 months and counting for my first app.

jonursenbach6• 17 years ago

I'm pretty pissed about MMS not being available on the 2G, but at least now with copy & paste I can finally copy those fucking username/password combinations that AT&T sends me.

gamache2• 17 years ago

If I understand correctly, MMS will be available on all iPhones once they are updated to iPhone OS 3.0. It was never a hardware issue.

jonursenbach6• 17 years ago

Nope.

---- Engadget ----

11:27AM "What about the rest of us? iPhone OS 3.0 will be available this Summer. A free update to all of our iPhone 3G customers. And it works on the original iPhone. Now the hardware has changed between these two devices. For instance, A2DP and MMS won't be available on the iPhone 1st gen. It's also available for the iPod touch... for $9.95."

---- gdgt ----

11:27AM - “As a bonus, we’ve enabled it to work on the original iPhone. The hardware’s changed though: MMS and A2DP won’t be available on the original iPhone.” iPod touch users: $10.

11:27AM - App Store will be in 77 countries. 3.0 ships this summer for free.

tocomment3• 17 years ago

I tried to go to the URL from those but it always says the server is down :-( does that thing work for anyone?

asciilifeform5• 17 years ago

Micropayments: death by a thousand cuts. Mark my words.

icey2• 17 years ago

Well, that's kind of the nice thing about capitalism. If you don't like it, vote (or rather don't vote) with your wallet.

asciilifeform5• 17 years ago

This would be true in a market driven by competition between near-equals.

The iPhone does not live in such a market. It has no competition. It is a qualitatively different product from other mobile phones. The cell phone market is divided into two categories: the iPhone, and inferior crud. If Apple were to begin charging $0.05 per "click", you would have to cough up the dough or switch to a vastly inferior product. Therefore, your ability to "vote" with your money is academic in this case.

martythemaniak• 17 years ago

The app store upgrades look like they might be useful for many devs, but to be honest it's pretty hard to get excited over features other smartphones have had for many years.

And of course, users still don't have access to their own data.

jodrellblank4• 17 years ago

Soooo ... how long until people pull the SDK apart looking for indications of a new iphone with new hardware in June?

Software streaming video support, the recent release of an Apple patent on a front facing camera behind the screen - are we likely to see a videophone iPhone?

briansmith2• 17 years ago

What would a new iPhone be like? Slightly smaller? Better battery life? Better camera? It would be hard for many people to justify dropping $600+ for just those features. And, Apple has demonstrated with these major firmware revisions that they can upgrade the device substantially; I think consumers will get angry if they start withholding firmware updates as an incentive to buy more hardware. That is exactly what Nokia does, and I don't think Nokia's customers are going to take it anymore after seeing what Apple's doing here.

Very soon the typical smartphone lifespan will be close to 5 years and the average computer lifespan will be close to 10 years. The Nokia N95 was released in 2006 and there are still tons of people rocking that device. There will probably be millions of people using the iPhone 3G and the Nokia N97 in 2014 (maybe as hand-me-downs).

jodrellblank4• 17 years ago

Apple released new iPods year on year pretty much just for storage space upgrades for a while.

What could it have that couldn't be done in software? How about:

More storage (always more storage), more RAM, maybe a faster CPU if they could do it without ruining existing software by running it too fast, the new more precise more responsive multi touch screen design that was demo'd on recently, a front facing camera, new radio support (e.g. 4G), reduced power consuming components (3G/bluetooth/gps processors), improved internal speaker for music/handsfree use, new WiFi standard support, more CPU features, camera flash.

What about manufacturing changes? If they apply what they've done to the Macbook range to the iPhone, could they get a casing with fewer seams? Better looking? Cheaper to make? With more room for components inside?

And these are just basic predictable potential improvements without going as far as a projector or an nVidia 3D card or a physical keyboard or some new never seen before innovative change.

ivanzhao• 17 years ago

Good point ---- altough somewhat exagerated ---- but all points to that software development, after years, might finally catch up the hardware development a little bit.

silvestrov• 17 years ago

Probably incremental update such as more RAM (many apps have a hard time because the OS uses most of the RAM, leaving very little for apps) and faster CPU (more responsive, faster web browser).

Raphomet• 17 years ago

The preview of the new turn-by-turn API suggests that they may add a digital compass to the phone, just like the G1.

ryanwaggoner2• 17 years ago

the average computer lifespan will be close to 10 years

Is anyone here using a computer they purchased in 1999?

Come on.

DougBTX• 17 years ago

> It would be hard for many people to justify dropping $600+ for just those features.

Depending on your contract, the last iPhone hardware update was a "free" upgrade.

cubicle674• 17 years ago

Of course there will be new hardware in June.

June 29 will be 2 years since the original went on sale, meaning the end of contract for all the early adapters. Does anyone think Apple will not have some nice new device waiting to help them decide to sign for another two years?

jodrellblank4• 17 years ago

Does the MMS and voice notes support mean you could record a voice message and 'text' it to someone?

Like the best bits of voicemail and SMS combined? Because that would be brilliant.

modoc2• 17 years ago

Yes, it does exactly that!

dans• 17 years ago

Wow. How very revolutionary! You have been able do that with any standard Sony Ericcson phone, for the last 2-3 years, and probably Nokia, HTC, Samsung too. My phone has a button that says "reply with voice-message" and then using some sort of black voodoo it gets sent over mms.

I like it when apple make a new product, strip it of most basic features and then when they finally add the long missing features... It's like the second coming of Jesus.

quilby• 17 years ago

Why does apple not just release new features once they finish working on them? Why do they have to do these we-got-new-features press conferences and only release new features on those dates?

Angostura2• 17 years ago

Not suprisingly, Apple releases the SDK ahead of the OS release, so that developers get some lead time. When the SDK is released it also announces the new features.

zhyder• 17 years ago

Lots of great updates, but still missing voice-activated dialing, which -especially with a bluetooth headset- is very useful when driving.

mattmaroon• 17 years ago

As a serial app developer (though not yet on that platform) here's what I heard from Apple's announcement:

crap, crap, crap, IN GAME PAYMENTS!!!, crap, crap, crap.

P.S. background notifications

I guess that list would probably be a little less bland were I an iPhone user.

phd_student• 17 years ago

is iphone 3.0 only for the iphone, or is it supported on the ipod touch too?

robotron• 17 years ago

There is a fee for Touch users to upgrade.

jhatcom• 17 years ago

Can someone tell me why cut and paste is so much in demand? I've been using my iPhone for months and never once needed it. Are folks editing documents on their iPhone?

sounddust3• 17 years ago

What I need it for the most is when someone sends me the details of a social event via mail/facebook (location/time/phone number) and I need to SMS it to my friends. Currently, the only way to do so is to flip back and forth between the apps and rely on your short term memory.

It's also a pain the other way: When you receive an SMS and you need to facebook/e-mail/SMS others (although SMS forwarding solves 1/3 of this problem).

dkokelley• 17 years ago

What I would use it for is to log in to my my school's wireless network. Not the actual network itself, which is open, but the gateway afterwards that requires you to enter your student email address and password. It's quite long and I usually end up turning wifi off when I'm on campus so I can still get emails. If I could save even just the email address in a note I could copy-paste it and save at least 30 seconds of time (which is surprisingly long when you need to want to catch something before the professor enters and starts lecturing).

ivankirigin• 17 years ago

30% cut to Apple isn't a micropayment, which I define as tolerating small amounts without getting killed on overhead. You could just charge their credit card and get better rates. I wonder if they'll block services like http://tipjoy.com from working on the iphone.

This sounds like an awesome release though.

auston• 17 years ago

I agree. If I wanted to sell an ebook or mp3 or something at a competitive price it would be impossible!

statictype• 17 years ago

Wait - the iPhone didn't have bluetooth before this update right? Which means it was enabled entirely through a software update. Is that right? I know it operates on the same frequency as wifi but still, that's pretty impressive, isn't it?

allenbrunson• 17 years ago

the iphone had bluetooth before this update, but it was very limited in scope.

pieter3• 17 years ago

I wonder how the dock accessoires will influence the app review process.. Will you be required to ship your accessoire to Apple before they can review your app?

IPhone 3.0 has copy/paste, subscriptions, micropayments, P2P, maps, push, MMS, etc

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