Apple has just announced iPhone OS 3.0, a major update to the operating system that runs both the iPhone and iPod touch. It comes with a number of incredible features for developers and consumers alike.
Beginning with changes for the developers, Apple mentioned that the SDK (Software Development Kit) for iPhone OS 3.0 features up to 1,000 new APIs. According to Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior VP for iPhone Software, the main objective is to help developers succeed, and that is thru making the SDK the best tool ever for creating software on the iPhone OS platform.
iPhone OS 3.0 will also support In-App Purchases – this makes it possible for developers to sell subscriptions, new levels for games or new chapters for e-books, for instance. We’ll see less of apps like Guide-to-London, Guide-to-Paris, Guide-to-Frankfurt appearing in the App Store, each being sold separately. Instead, developers can now offer an app called Guide-to-Cities. Guides for a certain city are sold separately inside the app. The business model for In-App Purchases remain the same, developers get to keep 70% of the revenue, with Apple taking a 30% cut.
Another new exciting feature is Peer-to-Peer. Based on Apple’s Bonjour technology, and utilizing the Bluetooth chipset, the new set of APIs allow iPhone owners to ‘find’ each other, create an IP connection, and then play a game together. Peer-to-Peer is not limited to games only. Developers can, for instance, create an app that shares contacts between devices.
Accessories – developers can now build apps that talk to certain hardware, over the dock connector or using Bluetooth. This can be achieved via standard or custom protocols. For example, an FM transmitter – in iPhone OS 3.0, developers can now create a customised app that pairs with the transmitter, then find the right station and tunes in.
Next is maps. Apple now allows developers to embed the map technology built into iPhone OS. Besides that, turn-by-turn navigation apps are now allowed. However, developers would need to create their own maps instead of relying on the built-in ones due to licensing.
Push Notification – better late than never. Apple had to re-architect the solution based on developer feedback, after it was announced six months ago. Scott mentioned that the architecture is now ready to go.
Apple also made available a new set APIs for streaming audio and video as well as In-Game Voice. The media player now adjusts the quality based on the available bandwidth.
Cut. Copy. Paste. Yes, the rumors are true! It took Apple some time to enable this, citing security issues. Cut, copy and paste works according to the rumor: double-tap, select cut, copy or paste, then double-tap again to paste.
Besides enabling MMS, iPhone OS 3.0 will also enable support for sending multiple photo attachments via the Mail app. Landscape mode has also been added to most Apple-shipped apps, like Mail, Notes and SMS.
Two additional calendar types will be supported in iPhone OS 3.0, first being CalDAV, second being subscription .ics format.
One last major new feature of iPhone OS 3.0 is Spotlight – the search technology built-in to Mac OS X. You can now search your Calendar, songs, Notes and etc. A new Home Screen app called Spotlight will be made available to support searching in a single place.
Other minor new features in the new OS include Note Sync, Auto-fill, YouTube accounts, stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi autologin and anti-phising.
Apple is making the new iPhone OS 3.0 SDK available today in beta format. Check out http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/sdk.html for more information. For the rest of us, iPhone OS 3.0 will be deployed this summer (June) as a free update to all iPhone customers. iPod touch users will need to fork out $9.95 to get the update.
iPhone OS 3.0 Preview: http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
iPhone OS 3.0 Media Event stream: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0903lajkszg/event/index.html
