Apple on Tuesday unveiled the next version of the operating system that powers the iPhone, dubbed version 3.0, at an invite-only event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Version 3.0 will be available for developers from Wednesday, and to everyone else "this summer". It is a free upgrade for iPhone users; those who own the iPod Touch will again have to pay for the upgrade (Apple is charging $9.95 (£7)).
Here is a quick roundup of what was announced.
System-wide search
Apple has integrated its Spotlight search technology across the entire device. This will let users search for specific email messages, applications, contacts and any other data from within those applications in one place. Users get to it from a new menu that is to the left of their first home screen. Swiping to the left brings up an open search box that brings in results as you type, similar to Spotlight search on Mac OS X.
Copy and paste for text, photos, and SMS
One of the most-wanted features, the ability to copy and paste text, will be making its way to OS 3.0. Users will be able to select sections of text and take them to other applications. This is one of the new APIs Apple is releasing to developers.
To copy text, double-tap the screen and it pulls up an option to cut, copy and paste. Then simply drag a start point and an end point over the text you want, and then double-tap again. The phone will save the text in a clipboard, from which it can be taken elsewhere. You can also grab entire sections of text using a large rectangle that can be moved around to include paragraphs at a time.
Additionally, copy and paste will work with photos and SMS messages. For instance, to select multiple photos to send in an email, users can now select the ones they want, then send them together in one message. Previously you had to select them one at a time — through the Photos application, over to mail. The same goes for SMS messages too, so if a user feel like relaying a text message to another contact you can simply forward it.
MMS
Users can now send and receive multimedia messages (MMS). This means text messages can be sent with photos and voice recordings, all without using the built-in mail application to do it. Missing, however, is any kind of video support, which is an MMS feature found on many other phones with built-in cameras.
Push notifications
The feature that was supposed to appear in September 2008 will finally be making its way to phones in version 3.0. Scott Forstall, the head of iPhone software development, noted that Apple had been late on this, and blamed the delay on scaling, saying that the original system was too taxing on both the handset's battery and its processing power.
The new system works just like old one, but has been optimised for over-the-air data transfer. It still relies on Apple's servers as a go-between to send audio alerts, text messages and badge notifications. Users still have to fire up the application to get at the data though.
In-app micropayments
Apple has built in a new system for developers to charge users after they have purchased an application. Previously there was no way to do this, forcing developers to hike up the initial price, or use external payment systems, similar to Amazon with its Kindle application.
Apple's new system, dubbed 'In-App Purchase', lets developers create an application where extra content can be purchased from within it to expand what it can do. All the billing is handled by Apple, and goes through the user's iTunes store account.
This same system has been used in console games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero with extra music-track purchases. On the iPhone this was demoed on...
