You can now access a map that shows the location of your lost iPhone, and there is also a remote wipe capability. They also support a cut & paste function.
On the heels of the introduction of the Palm Pre, Apple introduced a new version of the iPhone on the first day of their Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Dubbed the iPhone 3G S (for "Shoulda done this a while ago"), the new models come in 32-Gbyte ($299) and 16-Gbyte ($199) configurations; those prices jump by $200 for users who are not eligible for an upgrade. They also dropped the price of the earlier 8-Gbyte model to $99, so Apple is clearly keeping their pricing aggressive. The announcement also included a new iPhone operating system 3.0, which will be available for free to existing iPhone customers. The new OS still lacks multitasking capability.The biggest enhancement is support for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) data connectivity, which will eventually support peak downstream data rates up to 7.2 Mbps; AT&T plans to begin implementing that capability on their network over the summer. This is significant, as one of the shortcomings of the original iPhone was that its data capability was a generation behind the network (i.e. 2.5G EDGE rather than 3G UMTS) the day it was introduced. While the iPhone 3G introduced last summer brought them "up to speed," capacity problems on AT&T's network have resulted in consumer complaints regarding the iPhone's performance in several major markets.
Most of the features have little relevance to enterprise users, but there are a few that hold promise. Through their MobileMe service, you can now access a map that shows the location of your lost iPhone, and there is also a remote wipe capability. They also support a cut & paste function that was missing before.
In the whiz-bang arena, the big news was video. There had been rumors that video chat might be included, but as the camera is pointed in the wrong direction, that's not happening. They have also enhanced the camera with an auto-focus feature and you can tap on the screen to get it to focus on that part of the image. They have also added voice controls and a number of accessibility features for hearing- or visually impaired users.
As a former Boy Scout who still favors demonstrating my map and compass skills over GPS-based navigation systems, my favorite feature is a built-in digital compass. Thanks to the iPhone's GPS capability, the compass can point to either magnetic or true North, and when maps are displayed, the compass can allow them to be oriented to the direction you're facing.
With an installed base of 20 million units, an application store with 50,000 titles and over a billion downloads, Apple is carving a wide swath through the mobile device marketplace. Further, their aggressive pricing policy seems to indicate that they want to continue to expand their penetration down market. Of course, a $99 model is not so significant when the cheapest service plan you can get is $70 per month, but that's the kind of thing you can do in a consumer market where math skills are limited.
In the smartphone news for the week, the Apple announcement is an incremental addition, but the Pre is the big story. Apple and RIM have established positions, and we have to see how Pre and Android will reshape that picture and what that will mean for other options like Symbian and Windows Mobile. Once again, the only one that really emphasizes enterprise is RIM, so maybe one of these guys will see there is a world beyond consumer markets.You can now access a map that shows the location of your lost iPhone, and there is also a remote wipe capability. They also support a cut & paste function.
