{Tech Info Online}

Along with the release of the iPhone 3G S this week, Apple also released the iPhoneOS 3.0 software update for existing users. The new version of the iPhoneOS is a free upgrade for all existing iPhone users. If you have an iPod touch, the update will run you $10 thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules that legally don't allow you to add features to products that already have been paid for. Apple has gotten around this for the iPhone by accounting for their payments over the course of 24 months.

I have been running the new version of the iPhone software on my iPhone 3G for the past two weeks and it is great, for the most part.

From what I've gathered, the most oft-requested feature since the introduction of the iPhone was support for copy and paste. While I never found myself clamoring for the feature, I'm happy to report it is finally here and pretty good. You can cut, copy and paste text from application to application. Just double-tap where you want the cursor to start, drag your finger to the end point and select your operation.

My personal favorite feature of the new phone is Find My iPhone, which requires Apple's $99/year MobileMe service. If you lose your iPhone, you can log on to the Web site and see exactly where it is with the built-in GPS. You then can send a visual and audible alert to the phone letting the person who found it contact you (even if the phone's on vibrate). If the phone is forever lost, you can erase its contents forever.

Apple also added and enhanced existing phone applications. The new Voice Memos application lets you record audio straight from the iPhone's microphone. If you are in a meeting or just want to verbally jot down an idea, it works fairly well. The iTunes application lets you grab TV shows and movies in addition to music from anywhere with a WiFi connection.

Not everything is great about the 3.0 release. Some features are frustrating, such as the rotation support added to Mail and the Messages application. I have a tendency to hold my phone at an angle and it's frustrating to have two of my most frequently used applications rotate into landscape mode.

There should be a setting to disable that functionality.

Existing phone users also won't be getting support for Voice Control or the Compass application because they require the more advanced iPhone 3G S hardware.

The other downsides are mostly in part because of AT&T, which dropped the ball by not having support for MMS and data tethering available out of the gate for its millions of iPhone users. MMS is promised later this summer and AT&T has stated tethering is "coming soon."

If you are an existing iPhone or iPod touch user, I cannot recommend the update enough.

Most new applications that will be released will require the 3.0 software, and its benefits far outweigh its detractions.

Source:[courierpress.com]