Apple's iPhone 3.0 OS coming in June, features revealed

3.0 brings cutting, copying, pasting and much more With the looming release of Palm's Pre and corresponding new WebOS, Apple Inc. has hedged its bets by offering a slew of new features to appear in its iPhone (2G and 3G) and iPod Touch ($10.00 for update). Aside from features that users have long been clamoring for, iPhone OS 3.0, which will be released in June, has an abundance of new applications well waiting for. Here are the announced new features: Developers get the SDK today, the world gets the OS in June In App Purchase - Enables the buying of content or services from within applications. For example, in a virtual pet type game - users can purchase clothes and accessories for their pet from within the game but using established iPhone App store linkages. Multiplayer Shoot Em Push notification service- Long promised feature enables ways and means to notify users of new information even if the application isn't running. For example you can still receive messages from an instant messaging application even if it isn't on. This integrates some cloud computing features. Accessories- A new framework that allows extended use from "Made for iPod" devices through the dock connector or via Bluetooth. Peer to peer connectivity- This is a biggie, enable multi-player or interactive gaming between devices using bluetooth and no pairing is required. This means you can, in theory, beam messages or photos or even apps and content (songs, short videos) to nearby iPhones and iPod touch devices that have their Bluetooth enabled. Universal search- A response to a feature on the upcoming Palm Pre, this uses Apple's Spotlight technology to allow you to search your entire iPhone or iPod Touch. Cut, Copy and Paste- The big Kahuna feature which users have been begging for since the iPhone first came out. Text can now be selected and moved between applications and this will enhance the usefulness of these devices making them, in essence, handheld computers capable of doing so much more. Cut, copy, paste on the horizon MMS- Multi Media Messaging, the ability to send photos, video and other media via text, has long been available on networks but has not made an appearance in the iPhone until now. Personally we already have email so why MMS is such a key feature escapes us, but it is good to have nonetheless. Landscape mode on keyboard-Thank goodness, you can now type email, text and other applications in landscape mode, making full use of the screen real estate for the keyboard Stereo Bluetooth- Now we're talking! The iPhone 3G will be able to use stereo Bluetooth headsets and eliminate the need for wires. This can only be a good thing although I wonder how much this will affect battery life. Over 100 features are expected on the iPhone 3.0 OS, which will be released in June. If all these features work half as decently as the demo suggests, this is a monster upgrade for every iPhone owner and a major salvo against competing OS's. The 3.0 improvements don't just make a more useful and better smartphone, they clearly give the iPhone some of the features that can well propel it in the corporate space and even allow it to encroach the netbook space. I for one, am looking forward to the new release and I am happy that Apple seems to be focused on improving the iPhone ecosystem as well as bolstering its feature set so that developers can churn out more awesome applications. Now, will 3.0 be accompanied by a new iPhone model. You can pretty much bet on it. We're hoping that aside from a new 3G iPhone we'll see the return of the Newton - a 10-inch screen with full wireless and network connectivity, storage and all the features needed to bridge the gap between smartphone and sub-notebook. By Gadjo C. Sevilla

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iPhone OS 3.0 update coming up

Updated iPhone software coming soon but will it come with a new device? According to Engadget The Apple iPhone OS 3.0 will be previewed on March 17th. This appears to be a pretty big update, big enough to merit its own event. Will iPhone OS 3.0 include the widely demanded cut-and-paste function? Will there be additional features perhaps involving the VoiceOver technology, more GPS, Amazon Kindle-like features? Its hard to tell at this point since they will be announcing what we can expect and fielding information to developers. Does this have anything to do with the rumored touchscreen netbook. New iPhone, new Apple netbook, an eBook reader, we can't really say at this point but we're anticipating what this new update can offer and if any new devices will be announced as well.

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Reshuffle: Apple's new iPod navigates by voice

Smaller than your average shuffle - the new iPod with VoiceOver Apple has released the third generation of its smallest, cheapest MP3 player -the iPod Shuffle. The new shuffle, which packs 4GB of storage for roughly 1000 AAC encoded songs (perhaps more in MP3 format) is even smaller than its predecessor and eschews the buttons and clickwheel which was a staple in the past two versions. Without any buttons and controls on the iPod Shuffle (they've been moved to a sliver of plastic attached to the headset), the anodized aluminum device (in black or silver) is sleek and seamless. It is smaller than a AA battery and with the attached clip the new shuffle is super-portable. VoiceOver in the House Taking a feature from the current iPod Nano, the new Shuffle can access song names and even playlists using VoiceOver. This feature is enabled once you press on the headset dongle. The robotic voice is eerily similar to the one belonging to the new Amazon Kindle, making us think that a trend of talking gadgets and devices are well on their way. The VoiceOver technology manages to work in different languages as well. VoiceOver solves a problem with the shuffles which made it impossible to create or navigate playlists. Competing products from Creative and others manages to squeeze in tiny OLED screens to help guide users through the navigation. The new iPod Shuffle doesn't have a standard headphone jack, so if you're particular about the headset that you use you might need to wait until Apple comes up with a solution (supposedly in the works). Otherwise you will need to content yourself with the white buds that come with the controller. The iPod Family - Now easier to lose As you can see the new Shuffle is incredibly tiny. Hopefully the sound quality is outstanding and the VoiceOver technology works well or is easy enough to use. It seems that the unibody look and construction of the MacBooks is quickly inspiring the rest of the Apple product line.

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Amazon's Kindle and the Possibilities of Paperless Publishing

Kindle goes 2.0 but only in America By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla Amazon's Kindle Electronic Reading device was recently released in the US and has caused quite a stir. Version 2.0 was redesigned by former Frog Design employees and they have done a great job prettying up the once unattractive but useful device. With the Kindle and the Sony eReader hitting their second and third product generations respectively -we wonder if these paperless devices can serve beyond their current functions and replace some of our current paper models. Here in Canada, the only option we have for a handheld reading device is Sony's Digital Book which is limited to ebooks and RSS feeds and requires a PC connection in order to purchase and download the digital books. Amazon's Kindle, on the other hand, relies on PC-free wireless connection to deliver content on demand and this includes books, newspapers, magazines and RSS feeds. Is an Amazon Kindle in the cards for Canada? The new Amazon Kindle offers the following new features: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you Large Selection: Over 240,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases (US) $9.99, unless marked otherwise - The Kindle certainly has the upper hand in terms of instantaneous delivery of content, its Whispernet over-the-air service is basically unlimited, on-demand wireless Internet. This is ideal for transferring text and some monochrome images quickly and can be a useful method of sending newspaper stories, textbook chapters, serialized fiction, comics, magazine subscriptions and newsletters. Going beyond the fiction and non-fiction book-selling aspect of these early eBook readers, we can see a myriad of truly useful uses for a wireless distribution system. As a number of traditional newspapers have stopped their presses, perhaps an inkless, paperless and purely electronic means of distribution is the way to go. Certainly, we have the Internet and an increasing number of publications have deferred their content to their online versions since these are more instantaneous, easily updatable and cost nearly nothing to disseminate. Reading online isn't as easy as reading print and despite the increasing portability of computers, tablets and smartphones - they will never be easy mediums to read on. E-ink, on the other hand, is the most paper-like technology available today. E-ink is easy to read, non-reflective and sips battery power. On our Sony reader device, we can turn 300 pages before the battery needs recharging, that's the length of the average work of fiction and over a week's worth of newspapers (minus the adverts). We believe electronic, portable reader devices are a no-brainer solution for newspapers, magazines and serialized content. Once you are done reading the content it can be archived or deleted easily, hard drive space costs next to nothing when you consider the diminutive footprint that mostly-text files carry. For students, who pay a fortune for shoddily-rehashed and often bulky textbooks, a Kindle-like device which can manage thousands of pages worth of information makes total sense. New Edition? No problem, just beam up the updated chapters, references and marginalia and everyone with a subscription gets it within minutes. There will be no problems with copyrights, photocopying and reselling of used textbooks either as it seems that eReader devices are strictly attached to digital rights management. In a lot of university courses, two or three textbooks by different authors are chopped and merged to create a more targeted curriculum but this often results in additional print runs and uses up a lot of paper, production, transportation and storage resources. This sort of tailored hodge-podge can be achieved a lot better and more efficiently if it is done centrally to one file and then disseminated to all the users for that specific course. There seem to be other perks as well, the new Kindle offers a passable text-to-speech technology which can read the content of the text files to the user. This may not be ideal for most as it sounds robotic and monotonous but has its advantages for users with accessibility issues. This makes more titles available to persons with disabilities who now have access to books and newspapers that can essentially read themselves out loud. There are a number of things still to consider. In Canada, there's the copyright and fair use of the books, magazines and content that may be available to US customers. Sony's Reader Store has a fair amount of content but you will see lots of titles marked "Not Available in Canada." The delivery of over-the-air content relies heavily on wireless providers. For the Amazon Kindle, data is transferred by Sprint EVDO. The only companies in the Canadian setting that can offer EVDO are Telus and Bell. Seeing how local data plans today are almost obscenely priced, its very hard to reconcile a lifetime of free data service tied into a device unless it is sold for thousands of dollars. These are just some of the challenges we need to overcome in order to realize paperless publishing. It is achievable, the technology is already in place, we just need to set things in motion and get it all to work together.

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