My Top 5 Favorite iPhone 3.0 Features
Among Apple’s many announcements today was the release of the iPhone 3.0 software update (available June 17). It took me a while to cut through all of the news surrounding the mediocre hardware update to find the feature list for the software update, but lo and behold: here it is.
Below are the top 5 features I’ve most been looking forward to:
- Sync Notes. This is by far my number 1 most requested feature of the iPhone. The fact that it hasn’t been able to do this very basic function for so long is absurd. It’s actually forced me to completely change the way I manage my to do’s, and as a result, it’s hindered my productivity significantly. Definitely looking forward to this.
- Cut & Paste. Another super-basic feature that’s been talked about around the blogosphere since the iPhone’s introduction back in 2007.
- Spotlight Search. I’m mostly looking forward to this because you can use it to search your email, something I’ve been wishing the iPhone could do forever. Great work at finally adding this!
- Safari Improvements. Looking forward to auto-fill for usernames and passwords. This will be especially helpful with Gmail, which I use to star emails sometimes when I’m not near a computer. Again, basic improvement, but a really nice touch. :)
Internet Tethering. Oh wait, we don’t get that in the U.S. Thanks, AT&T.
So those are my Top 5 favorite iPhone 3.0 features. They’re all pretty standard on most of the other phones on the market. I would have loved to have seen the ability to run background applications, not to mention the inclusion of camera flash on the 3GS… Maybe next year.
The new “Google Ion” phone. Looks like a significant improvement over the G1 in terms of hardware specs. Abandoning the physical keyboard is an interesting move; I’d like to see how it stacks up against the Pre (release date imminent).
The phone wars are heating up and with iPhone 3.0 coming out in less than a month it’s finally going to get interesting!
Today in Tech: 1.19.09
TechCrunch Tablet Prototype B [Read Article]
When Arrington first announced his intention to build a low-cost, web-dedicated tablet, I was definitely skeptical in his ability to manage the R&D, production, and distribution of such a device. After the better part of a year, it looks like he’s overcome that first hurdle and is now making some final refinements.
The device itself looks great thus far, and the price tag looks even better. I am not fully convinced, though, that I would feel comfortable buying this yet. Netbooks are largely priced in the same range and have the ability to run non web-based applications. Further, CES saw the introduction of the first convertible tablet netbooks, which give users the flexibility to use a physical keyboard when it makes sense to do so. I’m also wondering how typing an email will work when the touch screen is full-on monitor-sized.
Then there’s the issue of support after the purchase. If TechCrunch is going to be the company distributing this product, I’m definitely going to pass on v1.0 and wait for the product reviews to come in. huge benefit with buying a netbook from a company like Dell, HP, or even ASUS is that you can at least trust the 1-year factory warranty in case anything goes wrong. I’m not saying a 10-person blog operation can’t offer great technical support, I’m just saying we haven’t heard anything about their plans to build out that operation and until then, this would be a very questionable purchase in my opinion.
Microsoft to Launch Mobile Mesh & Others [Read Article]
It looks like Microsoft is getting ready to launch a mobile version of Live Mesh called SkyBox, along with two other services: SkyLine (exchange-like solution for the enterprise) and SkyMarket (app store for Windows Mobile). I’m personally glad to see that Microsoft is working hard at regaining a tremendous deal of lost footing from Apple and RIM.
If these reports are correct, Microsoft will launch these services at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona in February. Many Microsoft watchers are expecting announcements about a new version of Windows Mobile with Zune software integration. This may or may not be part of a social-networking project, codenamed Pink, that Microsoft has been working on since its acquisition of Danger (the guys who make the Sidekick) back in February 2008.
I’m definitely excited to hear that Microsoft is still innovating and working to recapture lost markets in spite of the economic downturn. My job depends on it. :P
Windows 7 Testers Find and Fix Installer Bug [Read Article]
I haven’t encountered this, but to those of you Win7 Beta testers who have, check out this article for links to a workaround. Hopefully Microsoft will release an official fix through Windows Update soon.
