Entertainment

3.0 COMING OF THE IPHONE

Apple has sold more than 30 million iPhones and iPod touches since release, and just about all of them will be getting a face-lift when version 3.0 of their mobile OS hits iTunes over the summer. Apple previewed the new operating system for developers on Tuesday, revealing more than 100 new features that will be free for the iPhone and $10 for the iPod Touch.

While the new software won’t drastically change the overall feel or experience, it does add functions that customers have been asking for since launch. There will finally be a utility for recording voice memos, as well as the ability to cut, copy and paste text.

Another high-profile addition is multimedia messaging, which will allow users to send pictures and sound clips without using e-mail, something almost every other smartphone can do.

Other features have been revamped, like the Spotlight search system, which will now scour every supported piece of data on your device, including maps, contacts, music, video and applications. That should make finding things on your increasingly cluttered device much simpler.

Apple has freed up the integrated Bluetooth for peer-to-peer connections, which

allows for wireless, multiplayer games and bolsters its viability as a portable gaming platform. How that affects users, however, depends on developers’ ability to implement it.

While it still won’t be able to run applications in the background (like the upcoming Palm Pre), OS 3.0 adds Push support, which gives real-time notices as new e-mails or messages arrive. That’s a big deal for users who need constant e-mail access.

Some of the features are sure to become trends in the cellphone market, but the more immediate effect will most likely be a large number of iPhone users saying, “Hey look. When I shake my phone in iPod mode, it shuffles the songs!”