I've been working with the the new iPhone OS 3.0 (beta 7) for about a week-and-a-half. There are a number of completely new features built into the operating system and some that just extend the range of features already included in the current release version. It's a toss-up which of the new features I'm enjoying most, but here's a run-down of some of the ones I'm using most. This is just a brief overview of some of the most-talked about features of the iPhone's new OS. It is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the Operating System's features. If you have questions, please direct them to mrosch@netforlawyers.com or @MarkRosch on Twitter.

Like just about every iPhone user I've talked to, I couldn't understand why the landscape keyboard wasn't available in the iPhone's Mail client. Thankfully, that oversight has been resolved with the new OS with the landscape keyboard being available to all apps. My fingers are pretty average sized, but keying in an e-mail in portrait mode can be more than a bit tedious. It's a little thing, but having the landscape keyboard available in Mail is a big deal for me. While all apps are supposed to be compatible with OS 3.0 by its (expected) June 8 release date, there doesn't seem to be an update yet for the excellent Email 'n' Walk app that integrates the landscape keyboard.

 

Also new in iPhone OS 3.0 is the ability to cut, copy and paste text - either within an application or between different applications. This is a huge step forward. Until now, editing an e-mail in progress - moving a block of text from one paragraph to another - involved alot of deleting and retyping. Now, tapping anywhere in a text block brings up the "Select/Select All/Paste" menu. Choosing "Select" highlights the word where you've placed the cursor. You also have the ability stretch the highlighted area to select more text to cut/copy. Touching the screen again to place the cursor in the position where you want to paste the new text brings the "Select/Select All/Paste" menu back to the screen. Clicking "Paste" does just that. The process is not all that dis-similar to the "tap and hold" process on Windows Mobile/Pocket PC devices. One big difference is shaking the iPhone to undo a paste action. The new OS also supports copying images, but I really haven't had any need for that function yet.The iPhone even retains the items in the clipboard after it wakes from sleep mode and/or locks. 

You can also Undo Typing in (semingly) any app you can type in. Shaking the iPhone when typing in multiple apps (e.g. Mail, SMS, TwitterFon, Safari) brought up an "Undo Typing/Cancel" dialog box. I'm assuming that this is a universal function available to all OS 3.0 compliant iPhine apps.

Swiping the Home screen to the right brings up the device-wide Spotlight search interface. Typing a term into the search box searches across all files on the iPhone (Contacts, Apps, image names, song titles, emails, notes, and calendar entries). Interestingly Spotlight doesn't take advantage of the new landscape keyboard. The Spotlight search box also shows up at the top of the Contacts list when it's accessed to make drilling down into even the longest Contacts list much faster than swiping. 

In addition to checking stock index or individual stock prices, swiping the price chart at the bottom of the Stock display to the left, now displays stock-related news from a variety of different major news sources.

After upgrading my iPhone to OS 3.0 a new Voice Memo app appeared on the Home screen. It allows me to record audio notes and send them via e-mail or multimedia messages. (MMS is also a new feature set to replace the previous SMS Message app-available from AT&T in US later this Summer). 

When using the iPod functions of the iPhone, I can invoke it's shuffle feature and skip from the song I'm listening to another random song on the device by shaking the phone. Oddly, it seems to prefer up and down shaking rather than side to side.

Also, the iPhone's visual voicemail adds city and state location information for numbers that are not in your Contacts list.

There have been numerous reports of the ability to "tether" the iPhone to your computer - to use it as a modem through which to access the Internet at 3G speed with a Mac or PC. Apple says you'll be able to seamlessly connect via Bluetooth or USB. However, this feature seems to be turned off in the version of the OS I'm running. Apple says it will have 22 carriers on board at launch. AT&T was not included in the slide at their World Wide Developers Conference Keynote presentation. Some reports have indicated that this tethered connectivity would not be covered by AT&T's current "unlimited" iPhone data plan and will require an additional contract. (I haven't had a chance to try out the peer-to-peer connectivity between iPhones using Wi-Fi or Bleutooth.)

There are also a number of other reported new features in the new OS that I haven't investigated:

• Bluetooth A2DP stereo headset connection (it has also been reported that developers will be able to incorporate external accessories into their applications)
• Automatic Wi-Fi log-in to paid hotspots (autofill)
• Enhanced security/anti-phishing notifications in Safari
• Rent or purchase movies, TV shows, music videos, audio books on iTunes
• Enhanced parental controls for video, apps, web, and music
• "Find My Phone" feature (available to MobileMe customers) 
  • Includes ability to send remote "wipe" command to delete data if you lose your phone
• Developers will also be able to include the ability for users to make micropayments from within apps
• Support for Hebrew, Arabic, Korean, Thai on keyboard (portrait and landscape keyboards)