iPhone catching up but still has a long way to go
This week Apple released a teaser list of what new features we’ll see in the iPhone/iPod 3.0 firmware. While the list certainly looks impressive and I’m sure many of them will be invaluable for iPhone users the list is mainly functionality that should have been released in the initial firmware. There are still a lot missing many of them downright obvious (like video recording) others impossible without the release of new phone hardware (video calling, higher resolution camera, replaceable batteries).
So what I’ll present in this article is an abbreviated list of the most important updates along with commentary covering why they’re so crucial to the success of the phone and even questioning why they weren’t present in the the earlier revisions of the phone. I’ll then wrap up the article with some of the commentary I’ve heard from various users about what’s still needed to bring the phone up to scratch. Only then can you iPhone users look down on us smart phone users.
Without further adieu the new features:
Cut, copy & paste
This feature has long been the biggest bugbear of iPhone users along with a good reason for some of us who use other smart phones to make fun of iPhone users. Biggest of all it was a great dissuader for potential defecters from the Symbian, RIM and Microsoft camps. It was obvious Apple were going to add the feature but what took them so long?
Multimedia Messaging Services
Another “WTF didn’t you do this earlier?” feature. Welcome to the 21st century iPhone users. I look forward to sending you MMS. I hope for your sake you can send me some back
Peer to Peer
This one’s funny. When I first heard it I imagined iPhones secretly talking to each other without their owners knowing anything was happening. Plotting to bring down the world or something like that. It turns out though that this feature is merely one of the Bluetooth (BT) connectivity profiles that was missing from the phone. Along with support for stereo BT headsets it’s now available. You have to respect Apple’s marketing team for trying to make it sound like a revolutionary addition. Better than admitting it was just another on the list of embarassingly missing features.
Stereo Bluetooth Headphone Support
Finally! Seriously, how can you have a multimedia phone that won’t even let you listen to the music. Well, without a wired headset anyway. This is another shameful feature that Apple missed out that they quietly added.
Search
Also known as Spotlight. Previous incarnations of the iPhone only had very basic search features. Apple have improved these and tightly integrated them into the OS. We can only hope they’ve done it as well as Nokia have with the search on the most recent s60 phones. You can just elect to search your phone for just a text string or lock down the search to certain content types (web, images, email etc) and search by not just text but by dates, genres, names etc. In a way that makes sense in the context of your search. Good on you Apple for adding a feature that was sorely missing.
Turn by turn navigation
Thank goodness for this feature. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been hit by someone in a car squinting at their iPhone trying to read the directions. I’m sure the number of traffic accidents will go down this year as a result. Goes to show though that Apple really should change their policy on applications allowed on the app store. Tom Tom could have been available almost a year ago. No one needed to die.
Miscellaneous bug and feature fixes
- User accounts for youtube application
- Voice recorder – pretty shocking this wasn’t there already
- Auto filling forms in the web browser. Add Flash support and you have the perfect mobile web browser
- Note syncing – another unforgivably missing feature. For me anyway, that would have to be the most important feature on a phone
Even though there is huge slew of feature adds there is still a long list of crucial features missing. Who knows, maybe Apple will add them in time for my biennial mobile phone upgrade. Here’s a list of just a few of the biggest ones:
Flash or flash lite
With it there’d be no need for adding features to the Youtube application. People could just pull up the youtube site instead. I suspect Apple will never add this feature despite saying they have been in talks with Adobe for some time now. It would be too much of a threat to their store. Allowing users to source applications through other methods without the hassle of jailbreaking their phone. Which let’s face it, your average user doesn’t have a clue how to do. So while you iPhone owners are waiting I’ll continue to enjoy videos on more than just Youtube and playing those flash games which are oh so addictive.
Office Apps
If you want to position yourself as a serious alternative to the Blackberry for enterprise users then you need to include software that can both read and write your staple office documents – wordprocessing, spread sheets and presentations. Yes you can buy them from third parties but that’s not the point. Every other enterprise targetted phone includes them as part of the bundle.
Video recording
Another one of those features that makes you think - how can Apple seriously position the iPhone as a multimedia device when it’s missing one of the biggest types of media out there. I can watch a Youtube video but I can’t upload one because the camera just doesn’t do video. I think Apple are holding out on you guys.
In summary: Apple have done a good job at adding features but I still get the impression they are drip feeding us features. Why wasn’t video added? What will MMS really mean? These and quite a few more questions weren’t answered. For the moment I think I’ll stick with my E71. I hope Apple iron out all the issues in time for the fourth generation iPhone. It’s too late for the current incarnation. The hardware is out of date already.
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