iPhone 3.0 - What's it got

Apple are going to provide a sneak preview of the v3.0 OS next week, and everyone's guessing what's going to be in it, or not, so I might as well have my three penn'orth.

Firstly, and the BIG question for existing iPhone users is the question of whether this OS is going to be available as an upgrade at all? Chances are that Apple in the infinite wisdom, and because they want people to upgrade devices not OS because it makes them more money (Oh cynic that I am), will require you to buy the shiny new iPhone 3 to get v3.0 of the OS, so for me, all of this might be moot anyway - at least for another 12 months until my contract expires.

So what am I hoping for?

First and foremost I'd like to see either a better PIM functionality, or the SDK opened up to allow others to garner a better PIM function. For me, the biggest downer on an otherwise remarkable device is a poor calendar. Views are restricted, it doesn't link to other applications, you can't mark appointments as private. It's longwinded to add an appopintment, and any of these on a current first line smartphone is a ludicrous omission.

I'd like to see email app should be able to rotate to landscape mode.

I'd really like to be able to forward an SMS. You should be able to have SMS "groups" I know our American cousins think everyone's got always on email so that you don't need to be able to forward SMS, but for me, it would make a hell of a difference. Most of the people I communicate with on a day to day basis always have their phone with them, but most of them aren't "smart" and very few use email on them. They all use SMS though. And whilst I'm on the subject of SMS, that horrible rounded rectangle for typing SMS text into really annoys me. Why can't I have a proper "window"? Adn another thing...why is there no character count. I'm pretty sure every other phone has one. How do I know wehen I've reached my 160 character limit?

I'd love to have the ability to file transfer using bluetooth

I'd like to see MMS, not that I'd use it vey much, but every now and again...

Notification for missed calls/emails.

Well there are probably more things, but that's enough for now. Whether we'll see them or not is another thing. It'll be interesting to see "what's occurin'" on 17th March. I just hope that I don't have to upgrade the phone to get the new OS. Have a feeling I will though.

And a final thought. The Palm Pre, of which we've heard a great deal lately, is getting closer. Previous Palms have always done all of the above, and most of them very well. There's no reason to assume the Pre won't. Have Apple thought about this, and therefore built these things into 3.0 to trump the Pre? We can only wait and see.

I suppose I should chuck in copy and paste - everyone else is. Actually it would make editing anything a lot easier.