Thoughts about iPhone 3.0 Event

Unfortunately I was did not receive an invitation to Apple's iPhone 3.0 Event today in Cupertino, so I had to suffice with watching live blogs and Twitter while sitting in class trying to learn about dynamics.

The iPhone OS 3.0 apparently will be available for all iPhone (for free) and iPod Touch (for $9.95) owners in the "summer".

Some stats shown:

• iPhone in 80 countries
• iPhone first introduced almost 2 years ago
• App store open for 8 months
  
• 25,000 apps in the iTunes App Store
• 800 million apps downloaded
  

The new features for consumers include (but not limited to):

• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
• Cut, Copy & Paste (finally)
  
• Landscape keyboard in all applications
• Push notifications
• Calendar enhancements
  
• Spotlight

Features introduced for developers:

• In-app purchase
• Auto discovery (Bluetooth communication with other device)
• Accessory device usability
• Embedded maps in applications
  

A few features that were rumored, but not announced:

• Video Recording
• Wireless sync
• Flash in Safari
• Tethering

I am a little disappointed about the wireless sync and tethering. I travel quite a bit and wouldn't mind have my iPhone share it's 3G data plan. I know that I can probably achieve the same tasks on a MacBook Pro as I can on an iPhone, but it's just a bit of a pain on the iPhone. One might argue the point of, "Why not get a netbook?" Well I have considered that, but it would be really easy if you could hook-up or wirelessly pair a keyboard to the iPhone and interact with it that way.

Some rumors went around about a new hardware introduction, but I believe that this will be saved for WWDC. Rumors point to a tablet-like design after reports from China say that Apple has ordered 8.9" - 10" touch screens.

Apple asked a few developers to create a few applications to showcase at the event. Some were smule, EA and ESPN. One thing that was quite impressive was the developers ngmoco:) playing a first-person shooters together. Smule also performed a duet with their new Leaf Trombone app - "Phantom of the Opera". It was impressive, but quite comical as well.

One drawback is that iPhone 1.0 owners will not be able to use MMS and A2DP.

I am excited for the new OS, however I will probably be in the Bahamas at the time and will not be able to utilize the new features. But we shall see.