iphone OS 3.0

During today's keynote address at WWDC 2009, Scott Forstall - head of Apple iPhone software development - gave the audience a detailed overview of many of the new features in OS 3.0, including copy & paste, shake-to-undo, spotlight searching, and more. Two of the "more" were the highly anticipated support for MMS (multimedia messaging) and tethering (the ability to share your iPhone wireless connection with your PC).

Last chance people! The WWDC keynote speech is tomorrow, but that hasn't stopped more spy photos from leaking out. This blurry image from iSpazio shows the iPhone in an active iChat videoconference.

We see a dark bezel and green light matching some other spy photos that have been released. The quality of the image is poor... this wouldn't be a difficult image to fake. Is it a requirement that "leaked" photos are always out of focus or motion-blurred?

Photos are worth a thousand words. The iPhone V3 looks better and better every day. More evidence has surfaced that Apple's killer app for the next generation iPhone is not only video recording and editing, but full videoconferencing using iChat.

Note in this photo from FSMdotCOM what appears to be a green light in the upper right hand corner of the iPhone. This looks just like the light on built-in iMac webcams.

Developers have found new header files in a directory labeled "compass" under iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5. These files point to Japanese company Asahi Kasei’s azimuth sensor No. AK8973. The reference describes a chip otherwise known as a digital compass, or a magnetometer, that comes bundled with a master clock oscillator.

The confirmation of this additional hardware on the next-generation iPhone is exciting, to say the least. Applications that would take advantage of an azimuth sensor have only begun to develop and make a multitude of new functionality possible.

Apple has posted two job opportunities that could give further insight into the hardware and advanced capabilities coming our way on the next generation iPhone. Video recording and an improved 3.2 megapixel camera have been confirmed.

It seems Apple is ready to develop some exciting ways to take advantage of the new hardware. The following is an excerpt from a job description from Apple:

Only one month after the initial release of push notification, Apple has invited iPhone OS 3.0 developers to participate in high-volume tests of the system. If all goes well, push notification is expected to be operative for general users with the release of iPhone 3.0.

Push notification saves the iPhone battery by allowing apps to receive information without actually running in the background. Recent reports have indicated that Apple is considering allowing a limited number of apps to run in the background, however this taxes iPhone resources.

Only a week after the previous release, Apple has made iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 available. Several new tweaks and features are apparent as the final release date for the new operating system approaches. Apple has also announced that all AppStore applications submitted for approval must be OS 3.0 compatible going forward.

First of all, leaked screenshots have confirmed rumors of a built-in digital compass (magnetometer). Along with the GPS and accelerometer, the compass could improve navigation and make a variety of "augmented reality" applications possible by overlaying graphics on top of live video.

The latest iPhone OS 3.0 beta version is live for developers, and requires installation of the iTunes 8.2 pre-release for activation. Questions and speculation have arisen over a reference to Blu-ray included in the "About iTunes" window of iTunes 8.2.

The text reads: CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and music and video-related data from Gracenote, Inc. Could it be possible that Apple has decided to acquire licensing for Blu-ray technology after all?

Jibbler? The name may be awkward, however the code buried within iPhone OS 3.0 it refers to could make the iPhone much more talkative. Jibbler works with the SpringBoard and Spotlight in iPhone OS 3.0 to recognize and synthesize speech.

With improved processing power, it's possible the next iPhone could be controlled by the user's voice. In addition, the iPhone could read off contact names, calendar entries, or song titles on demand. A new Voice Services class has been discovered which may mean that Jibbler will be available to developers in Apple's Software Development Kit (SDK).

The list just keeps getting longer. Soon we're going to expect iPhones to finish up the laundry and walk the dog. More details have leaked about the extensive capabilities being developed for the next generation iPhone. Of course, hardware improvements are going to work hand-in-hand with the new OS.

Apple recently ordered 100 million 8GB flash chips, twice the number they ordered last year. Video recording is the perfect way to fill up 32GB of memory on your iPhone 3.0. Not only this, but Apple has ordered both 3.2 and 5 megapixel cameras. The iPhone camera will definitely see an upgrade, but there is even speculation that a front-facing camera could be added to the next iPhone.