iPhone OS 3.0 Best Bits – Part 1

1000 new APIs!

For those of you who haven’t quite grapsed the acronyms thrown about at Apple’s demo of the updates coming to the iPhone’s software and the tools provided for app developers, we’re going to break it down for you in a two part series.

Part 1 – New iPhone Features

Obviously, there were some parts of the event that we all understood, the new features that we, the consumer, will be receiving when the update becomes available for all iPhone 3G users this summer. They were:

Cut, copy & paste – Everyone has been screaming about this feature since the launch of the iPhone (even those who don’t own one!) and in a mere few months it’ll be here. The method looks very simple and the shake to undo feature is a fun addition.

MMS - Picture messaging for those who don’t know. Against all odds it’s coming to iPhone. We assumed Apple was arrogant enough to believe that everyone would use email to send photos, making photos via message a thing of the past. Either they were wrong or we were…

Spotlight Search – Find anything on your iPhone regardless of the app it’s in. Add a search term and a list will be provided showing where that word or phrase appears in emails, notes, music, video etc

Landscape Keyboard - We’ve got fat fingers so we love this addition. The larger keyboard view makes typing far easier and will be available in all the main apps like SMS, Mail and Safari. Finally, a way to avoid inviting friends to the pub for a quick “riot” instead of a pint.

Voice Memo – As you would expect, this app records your voice – you know, like the apps already on the App Store whose developers are now rolling around on the floor crying.

Shared Calendars – If you’re so chronically organised that you need to share your calendars with others (or perhaps you need to for business) then CalDAV support will allow you to do just that with iCal, Yahoo, Google and Oracle’s services.

Stock app – The existing Stocks app has been updated now that the stock market has become more like entertainment. Follow companies as they head to the wall using an EVEN BIGGER stock chart to really rub salt into the wound as your shares nosedive.

Check back tomorrow for part 2 – the best of the API’s and a few thoughts on what we might see from developers this summer.