Got an iPhone? Get ready for some new features. Apple developers on Tuesday unveiled a number of added capabilities that will be part of the next update to the iPhone's operating system, due to be released this summer. Some are practical, like the ability to cut and paste text between applications.
For the first time, iPhone users will be able to send and receive standard MMS text messages, a staple of even the most basic handsets from other manufacturers. And you'll be able to cut the cord when you listen to music; iPhone OS 3.0 enables wireless stereo Bluetooth headsets.
While the operating system update will add features and functionality to all iPhone models, only the second-generation 3G handsets will get text messaging and stereo Bluetooth due to hardware limitations of the original model. Philip Schiller, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing, said improvements to the iPhone operating system "will keep us years ahead of the competition."
The truth, however, is that these features have been a part of Microsoft Windows Mobile, another leading smartphone operating system, for years now. "The announcements from Apple today, I think, are not unexpected in terms of addressing some longstanding things that they've fallen short on, that their customers and partners have asked them to add to the platform, and in many cases things that we've had for quite some time," said Windows Mobile senior product manager Greg Sullivan in a telephone interview.
Sullivan said Windows Mobile will continue to differentiate itself by offering variety to the smartphone user with handsets available from a wide variety of manufacturers and cellular operators. "People feel strongly about the particular keyboard that they like on their phone let alone the fact that it has a keyboard at all," he said.
"So we think that addressing those needs and having the choice and the customization and the flexibility to not kind of force-fit everybody into the same form factor is a very valuable thing." Apple said iPhone OS 3.0 will add a new social computing dimension to their handsets by letting users wirelessly play games with other iPhones nearby. They're still working, however, on a way to let owners use an iPhone as a wireless Internet gateway when connected to a computer — a useful function that both BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones already permit.
Sullivan said that going forward, Microsoft considers Windows Mobile to be just one part of a seamless computing lifestyle. "We see the PC and the phone and the really working together with software and services that are going to let you do the things that you want," he said.
"For example the ability to take a picture with my Windows phone, post it up to my Windows Live Spaces, have that happen in the background while I go and check e-mail or play a game or navigate to my next appointment."
The iPhone software update available as a free download sometime this summer — still will not permit multitasking more than one application at a time; developers said it's too much of a drain on performance and battery life.
Most observers expect Apple to release a third-generation iPhone later this year. Windows Mobile 6.5, an incremental update to Microsoft's portable platform, will be available on new phones in the second half of this year.