Tuesday, March 17, 2009

iPhone OS v. 3.0

As expected, Apple announced iPhone OS v. 3.0 today, and not hardware.

Interestingly, the new OS includes lots of new developer APIs, including APIs for in-app purchase of content, additional game levels, and -- who knows -- maybe even a cup of coffee when it notices you are standing in the store's WiFi zone.

I think the announcement -- which included free upgrades to all iPhone users (rather than a paid upgrade for those whose 24-month free-upgrade term had expired), and $9.99 for iPod Touch users (as was the prior OS upgrade) -- is an event for developers, and is designed to keep the platform improving incrementally for users. Hopefully the streamlining and performance work in Snow Leopard will result in improved behavior in the handheld space on older hardware.

On future hardware, Apple reps had no comment.

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