Apple iPhone OS 3.0 Announcement summary

Here are highlights of what was announced for the iPhone OS 3.0 release early this afternoon from Apple:

• Cut and paste: it was worth the wait, the touch interaction to do this looks very cool (see picture at right). Works across applications and does undo.
• Multimedia messaging: you can attach a picture to a text message
• Ability to choose a group of photos and send them in a single email
• Push email notification
• Landscape mode text entry (so what)
• Turn-by-turn GPS navigation.
• Available in the summer. That's as detailed as it gets. No doubt will be linked to the new iPhone model coming out in July.
• Virtually all of the new features will work with the original, pre-3G iPhone (exceptions: multimedia messaging and stereo bluetooth)
• Peer-to-peer linkups between individual iPhones for games, file sharing, etc. This exists now with things like AirSharing and Holdem, but those companies probably rolled their own; now it's part of the API
• API support for applications that connect to external devices. Demonstrations with medical devices were given (see pic at right). Medical applications of new technology are always a big win in corporate presentations; the real news here is that this will open up remoting of all sorts of sophisticated devices for music, video, information systems, anything you can imagine.
• Ability to search in your emails on the server side, and search in your calendar items
• Search your iPhone contents with Spotlight (well-known to Mac users)
  
• The Sims 3 will run on the iPhone (see pic at right)