The launch of Apple's new iPhone 3.0firmware update was greeted with cheers and disappointment alike as some users got their wish and others... well, didn't.
1. Copy and Paste
Oh, don't go pretending you're not excited that this is here, moaning on about how 'it's a feature available on all smartphones these days'. While you may be right, Apple has managed to make this tiny feature into a Big Deal, and the way you do it (double tap to magnify text, scrolling and grabbing the beginning and end points) is pretty darn cool too.
2. The sheer range of APIs released
Slightly hidden from the consumer eye was Apple's larger onslaught into making the iPhone the most customisable (albeit with Apple's approval) handset out on the market. We're talking thousands of APIs here, allowing things like peer to peer Bluetooth connection for multiplayer gaming or contact sending, or allowing Google Maps to be used within other applications, so finding that restaurant is suddenly going to be a lot easier.
3. Using the iPhone to control accessories
This idea is pretty big, as it allows manufacturers to make Apps specifically for their hardware. While this could mean big things for the sex toy industry (just look at the route Gizmodo took straight away) it means things like the Lifescan from Johnson & Johnson are now possible, allowing diabetes sufferers to keep a visual record of their glucose levels.
But the possibilities (and cool factor) are now seemingly endless... you could make a golf accessory that assesses your swing using motion sensors and then Bluetooth the results to the iPhone for analysis (actually, that's a good idea, if you try and copyright it, then we'll fight you for it.)
4. MMS support
We all thought Apple would never do it, preferring to make sure the world thinks that e-mail is properly where it's at for sending pictures.
But it's not just those slightly-funny snaps you can pick ping over to your mates' phones now, it's also location info, contact sending and even audio files that can be passed to a friend's phone, so if you want to stalk someone AND listen to the same things as them, this is the upgrade for you.
5. Spotlight
Apple has found a new space within the iPhone... scrolling left from the homescreen. This new area allows you to search over the whole iPhone / iPod touch, and even finds Apps (if they're Spotlight enabled).
So if you're sure that you saw someone's name somewhere in the phone... you'll be able to find it now. And if you have a trillion Apps on there and countless home screens to scroll through you can now move straight there rather than straining your finger.
6. Localised search
As well as being able to search over the whole thing in Spotlight, you now have the option to search specifically in certain areas, like the upgrade that came in the iPhone 2.0 firmware allowing you to search through contacts.
And if there's nothing on the phone itself, users will also have the option to take things further afield by looking on a registered server to find the information there too.
7. Push notification
While we all wanted to see background applications running on the iPhone, in a similar way to the forthcoming Palm Pre, the truth is it's likely that the handset simply can't handle it.
So push notifications are the next best thing, with the phone keeping a constant connection to email servers and IM applications, with similar functionality available for other applications to make use of as they so wish.
8. Turn by turn directions
The problem with using the iPhone as a GPS navigation device in a car is, well, you can't really, unless you want to keep taking your eyes off the road to look where you are on the map, so the addition of turn-by-turn directions is a big plus in that department.
However, thanks to the big wide world of licensing agreements, you can't use Google Maps for the application, so if you want to make a turn-by-turn effort, you best bring your own maps.
That really limits this application to the big names like TomTom and Co-Pilot, and we doubt Garmin will be getting in on the action as it has a rival device out in the Nuviphone.
9. In-App purchase
This is another App-changer for iPhone-ites, allowing you to pay for things inside a program. What this essentially means is you'll be able to customise Apps as you want them, ie a magazine can be offered for free and you choose to subscribe from within the App, with the standard iTunes purchase interface popping up to confirm.
The newly-announced Sims 3 game allows you to do this to purchase items for around 60p, and other games will allow you to buy weapons or power-ups in exchange for cold, hard cash (well, the transaction's electronic, so there's no cash actually, but you get the picture).
By the way, you can also get in-game rumbling too... it's not important enough for its own point on this list, but it's pretty cool too.
10. Landscape QWERTY keyboard, A2DP and shake to shuffle
And finally, the 'tweaks'. Apple has finally dripped out a couple of things that iPhone users the world over have been asking for, like being able to use something else other than the QWERTY portrait keyboard. So the addition of a landscape option for all text input is a real plus, though we can't see why it's taken so long.
Coming 'this summer', it's free for iPhone users and around £7-ish for iPod Touch users, unfortunately original iPhone holders cannot use A2DP or MMS thanks to hardware constraints
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