Apple on Tuesday unveiled next-generation iPhone software with copy-paste and multimedia messaging features but no sign of much-coveted Flash for digital video.
Apple gave analysts and reporters a demonstration of the coming iPhone 3.0 operating system during an invitation-only event at the firm’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The software is available for outside developers interested in crafting mini-programs for popular iPhones and iPod Touch MP3 players but the operating system will not be publically released until mid-year.
“It’s a significant update,” Gartner analyst Van Baker said. “When it ships, cut, copy and paste as well as multimedia-media messages will resonate most with consumers.”
IPhone 3.0 software will be a free upgrade for owners of the multi-function, Internet-linked mobile telephones. The new software will cost iPod Touch users about US$10 each.
The improvements in iPhone 3.0 addressed some of the complaints that iPhones lacked functions basic in competitors such as the Blackberry Storm, the Google Android G1 and the as-yet-unreleased Palm Pre.
Upgrades did not include being able to record video with iPhones or play video made using Adobe’s ubiquitous Flash software; an omission deeply irking many iPhone owners.
During a question-and-answer session, Apple executives responded with “No comment” to clamors for video recording and compatibility with Flash.
“They did not address the camera, which is a fairly low quality for a smartphone these days, and they also did not mention video support, which would be nice to see,” Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin said.
“But, you can only do so much with the existing hardware. This is still a significant update,” he said.
Apple senior vice president of iPhone software Scot Forstall demonstrated how text and photographs can be copied from Webpages on iPhone browsers and then pasted into an email or any other application.
Security and user-interface design complexities were blamed for the delay in adding it to iPhone’s operating system.
“There are a lot of pieces we really cared about which we wanted to get perfect as opposed to releasing something that didn’t quite work right,” Forstall said.
A new iPhone function allows users to search through their address books, calendars, e-mail and even iPods.
IPhone 3.0 also contains satellite navigation applications, stereo Bluetooth links and Internet-sharing between devices and other computers.
Electronic Arts, Oracle, ESPN and others used the event’s stage to unveil applications tailored to iPhone 3.0.
“This was the last bit of software that we felt was keeping us from developing for the iPhone,” said Seth Sternberg of instant messenger service Meebo.com.
Apple is now allowing outside developers to build voice chat into iPhone videogames as well as access address books, calendars and iPod music libraries.
IPhone 3.0 also lets accessory makers connect devices, such as radios, to Apple’s smartphones.
“We’re going to allow developers to create accessories that can talk directly to the iPhone,” Forstall said.
Apple said that this functionality could allow doctors to monitor patients on their iPhones, for example.
Apple has sold nearly 14 million iPhones in 80 countries since the devices hit the market in 2007.
More than 800 million programs for iPhones have been downloaded from its online App Store, Apple said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique