Apple’s not resting on their laurels after reportedly selling 30 million iPhone devices. They’re not making thinks in the mobile space any easier for Microsoft and Google, nor should they. The announcements about the iPhone OS 3.0 beta were both broad and sweeping. The upgrade to the iPhone’s OS isn’t focused on just shoring up one area or expanding another. And it’s not an effort to officially move the iPhone into the enterprise either. Apple’s solidly committed to their Trojan horse enterprise strategy. There are improvements across the board, including new features. And I’ve got to hand it to Apple’s marketing department. I saw a special Facebook ad hammering home all the coverage about the 3.0 OS. iPhone OS coverage is at a fever’s pitch.
Walking through all of the additions to OS 3.0 would be like ready off a laundry list. I won’t go through all of the updates and improvements in iPhone 3.0 OS but here’s my run down of what’s interesting and notable from my standpoint.
P2P Connectivity. iPhones can now discover and talk directly to each other. I know, this is a feature Palm Pilots had years and years ago so why is this so interesting. The developer community, that’s why. I believe we’ll see some very innovative uses of P2P that no other mobile device has dreamed of. Who knows, if three or more iPhones are together at your breakfast meeting, maybe they’ll stage a cou de gras by cancelling everyone’s appointments for the day and book you all on the golf course. Well… I can dream, can’t I? 🙂
New App Business Models. Well, at least new to the iPhone. We’ve got subscription capabilities and now purchases can be made within applications. Think content and application subscriptions here. Also think more revenue for Apple too. It pays to own the platform, doesn’t it.
iPhone Universal Remote. Well, almost. We’d need I/R on the iPhone for that, but I think it’s Apple’s agenda to become the universal remote for your life, not just your lame TV. “Is the coffee done brewing honey? … Ah, looks like it is, and I also found that Rod Stewart song you love so much overnight with my search bot and had put it on your iPhone downstairs. Ooo, you’re such a good hubby!” Seriously, this could be very interesting. Have your iPhone monitor energy usage by collecting data from devices, your electric bill online, and who knows what.
Over 1,000 APIs and Over 50,000 Developers Served. Whah you say’? You’d think this was a Microsoft product announcement with all the new APIs for developers hanging around. New developers can do more than just take advantage of the iPhone as a platform, but also integrate Apple’s software app capabilities into 3rd party apps.
Multimedia Messaging. If the iPhone’s one thing, it’s a mobile platform we want to do lots of stuff on. That’s why not being able to send photos via a message seemed so out of character for the device. Now we’ve got multimedia messaging to stuff all kinds of doodad and content in. More reason to spend time on your iPhone, collecting content of your kids to send to Grandma. It also means you aren’t as reliant on Safari for delivery of rich media content. New services and apps delivering rich content via messaging will definitely spring up.
Back of the Milk Carton. Still missing is any hint of multi-app background processing so you could use one app while another was downloading your music or grabbing stuff for your commute home, while you were checking out the latest stock tip or bailout proposal. I have a suggestion… Switcher! Remember Switcher from back in the 1980’s? Lack of multi-app processing is da ja vu all over again for Apple – we’ve seen this movie before. Seriously, background and startup processes are something many developers would love to get their CPU gobbling hands on but Apple’s holding this card for themselves and not letting iPhones become the land of pesky and unruly startup and background processes.
Housekeeping. Yes, Apple has addressed most if not all of the iPhone’s short comings, which include things like a landscape keyboard, sending photos via SMS, additional calendar types, Wi-Fi auto login, 3G tethering, push notification, and last but not least … ‘tedah’ … cut-and-paste for text.
At first pass, these are what struck me as interesting about the iPhone 3.0 OS announcement. Most importantly from Microsoft’s perspective, Apple’s jumped way out, yet again, making the distance Microsoft’s mobile OS has to make up even that much bigger.
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