About iPhone firmware 3.0 and Jailbreaking
Everyone has been talking about the new iPhone firmware, it's high time I stepped in too with my views on the matter.
What's new?
Apple recently gave a preview of what firmware 3.0 will be capable of, let's see what 3.0 will bring to the iPhone:
- System-wide Copy and Paste (text and photos)
- MMS for photos, vcards, audio
- SMS forwarding
- Landscape keyboard in major apps
- System-wide Spotlight Search
- App Store subscriptions (i.e. subscribe to magazine apps)
- In App purchases (i.e. buy a weapon in a FPS)
- Turn-by-Turn GPS Navigation in App Store (bring your own maps!)
- Push Notification Service for badges, alerts messages, sounds
- Peer-2-peer service using Bonjour and Bluetooth for interaction and data exchange
- Access to Dock port for Apps to work with accessories
- Voice memos
- Audio/Video tags
- Live streaming
- CalDAV Calendars
- Calendar subscriptions
- Improved Stocks widget, landscape mode for details
- Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
- YouTube Account login
- YouTube Subscriptions
- YouTube Ratings
- iTunes login
- iTunes account creation
- Encrypted profiles
- WiFi Auto Login
- Call log
- LDAP (directory services)
- Shake to shuffle music (like iPod nano)
- VPN on-demand
- EAP SIM
- Proxy Support
- OTA Profiles
- Revoke Certificates
- Exchange ActiveSync Policies
- Notes sync
- Media Scruber
- Parental controls for TV, Movies, Apps
- Languages: More languages, better keyboards
- Anti-Phishing in Safari
If you check back to my old post about what I wished for the iPhone 3.0 you'll see that I'm quit happy with what Apple have done. To me it's quite obvious that the other smartphone manufacturers will now have some problems with making bad publicity for the iPhone.
What does it all mean?
Well, the 3.0 firmware means different things to different people. To gamers it's all good news since 3.0 will allow multiplayer without internet, expansion packs and stereo bluetooth headphone so the wire doesn't disturb them anymore.
For businesses it's all about productivity and that's exactly what they'll get: contact sharing, notes sync, VPN on demand, encryption and other productivity stuff.
For the web&media people 3.0 is just great news. Shake to shuffle, faster Safari, bluetooth headphones, cool wired or wireless accesories, YouTube authentication & subscriptions and live streming will be just a few of the things you'll start hearing of in casual conversations.
But, for everyone Push Notification Service (PNS), system-wide search and navigation apps will make the iPhone seem alove. PNS will make completely obsolete the idea of logging in to some site to get the news. System wide search will mean users don't care for music browsing anymore (especially when the 32 gig iPhones arrive). And GPS, well you don't need me to tell you about that.
Overall Apple have tackled most of the issues users (and bad publicity makers) complained of and have transformed the iPhone into a real world tricorder.
Jailbreak of not?
I took a quick look into what jailbroken applications I've installed and it looks like when the new firmware comes out, I won't be kailbraking. The only app I'll be missing will be Cycorder, that's if Apple don't release some video app in 3.0.