The wait is finally over, the iPhone OS v3.0 features were officially announced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday and the update will be available from 17 June 2009 for download.

I got my iPhone just over two weeks ago, and while I am over the moon with it, there have been some things that have bothered the crap out of me.  Things like a keyboard with ridiculously small keys (did they use a pixie to to test the keyboard?), the lack of MMS support and the inability to record video.  Thank goodness that has all changed.  I am very excited with the new release.  And even more exciting is that South Africa will be one of the first countries to support some of the new features such as tethering and MMS support.

So here is a list of the main features/updates included in the soon to be released update:

1. Cut, Copy & Paste
   A feature that should have been included initially, but for some innate reason, was not.  But it’s here now, and that makes me happy!
2. Landscape Keyboard
   Yes please! While some 3rd Party applications use the landscape keyboard, it is not a standard feature on the current iPhone OS.  But now, with this new introduction the landscape keyboard is available in every application on the iPhone OS v3.0
3. MMS Support
   South Africa will be one of the first countries to support MMS capabilities.  In fact, AT&T in the US will only be supporting this later on in the year.
4. Spotlight Search
   Very handy for searching, makes it quick and easy to find anything on your iPhone.  SO much so that running applications from spotlight instead of it’s icon is apparently easier.
5. Voice Memos
   I don’t think I personally have a use for this, but it’s cool.
6. Improved Calendar
   Not sure what, but will inform you when I update my iPhone.
7. Internet Tethering
   Ah, one of the main features we have all been waiting for.  And, once again, South Africa will be one of the first countries to support this.  Apparently other countries are hesistant because they offer unlimited data packages on their networks and feel that tethering would allow the abuse of the service.  But here in sunny South Africa, we get ripped through our pants with data charges, so our networks are not worried about the implications of supporting tethering.
8. Faster Safari browser
   The current browser works pretty well, so it will be interesting to see just how fast it will be.  Pity there is still no support for flash.
9. Stereo Bluetooth
   Also a very important feature as you can now fully connect to most bluetooth devices.  In my case, I have a car radio with bluetooth, and while the phone would connect to the handsfree kit without hassle, I could not play music from my iPhone through my radio.  But with this new feature, I can!
10. Shake to Shuffle
    Shuffle songs in iPod mode with a simple shake of the device.
11. Sync Notes
    Thought you could do this already?  Apparently not.
12. Parental Controls
    I’m not a parent, so doesn’t help me.  But if you are rich enough to give your kids an iPhone, then you can control what they watch and listen to.  I doubt this would work, as most hackers are under 12 years old these days.
13. Multiple iTunes Store Account
    You can now log in to more than one iTunes account on your iPhone.  Who knows why?
14. YouTube Login
    Yup, as it says, you can login to your YouTube account through the YouTube application.
15. New Languages
    To all those multi-linguals out there, this ones for you! 30 new languages and 40 keyboard layouts.
16. MobileMe - Locate your iPhone with Remote Wipe
    Very cool little app, especially living in South Africa.  With MobileMe you can now locate your phone but logging into a computer and literally seeing where your phone is on a map.  And you can also send a “Remote Wipe” which renders the iPhone useless inthe hands of a criminal.  Not sure what happens if you get the iPhone back though …
17. Automatic Wi-Fi Login
    This is handy if you frequent WiFi hotspots (like vida e caffe)
18. Enhanced Stock App
    If you are into this type of thing, then awesome.  Me, not so much.
19. Buy Movies, TV Shows & Audiobooks
    No benefit really to South Africa, thanks to our inadeqaute bandwidth.

All in all, I am very excited for this update, and I look forward to testing all these new features out.

Have a look on the Apple iPhone Update website for more details.

P.S. The NEW iPhone 3G S (“s” for speed) will be launched on 19 June 2009 and will be available in South Africa from 9 July 2009.