Tech Toy of the Month: iPhone/iPod Touch 2.0 Software
Most people are aware that Apple has just released the iPhone 3G (which incidentally, the 3G refers to the third generation cellular network, not a 3rd generation iPhone). Of course, the iPhone 3G has many new features. There are many articles out there that review all these new features so I won’t go over those. Instead, I’d like to focus on something that many people don’t realize. Many of the new features of the iPhone 3G are also available as an upgrade to existing iPhones and the iPod Touch.
The reason many of the features of the iPhone 3G are available to existing iPhones and the iPod Touch is that Apple upgraded the operating system that is common to all these devices to coincide with the iPhone 3G release. You can read about the upgrade at this link http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/. Some of the minor features that the 2.0 upgrade include improvements to the e-mail, calendar, and contacts programs. More significant features include support for enterprise services and protocols, which will increase adoption of the iPhone in the corporate environment. But the biggest feature by far is the ability for 3rd party developers to create applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
It is quite difficult to explain how the features of the iPhone and iPod Touch create an application environment that is unlike anything seen on any handheld device, or really any computer for that matter. In using many of the free applications available at this time, it is almost like the last year of the iPhone and iPod Touch was simply a teaser, giving us only a fraction of the potential of these devices. The new wave of applications is unearthing a wealth of potential new uses for these devices. Let me just say that these devices will not only make users of other handheld devices jealous, but they may also make users of gaming handhelds jealous as well. For a phone to be able to support the playing of games graphic and feature-rich enough to compete with handheld gaming devices says a lot about the power of the platform.
Earlier this year I predicted that the Apple TV would be the Tech Toy of the Year. However, now with the release of the iPhone/iPod Touch 2.0 software, I am reconsidering that prediction. One million iPhone 3G devices were sold in the first weekend of their release. It took 74 days to sell one million of the original iPhone. Once people start to see the applications that are running on the devices with the 2.0 software there will be even greater demand.
So if you have an older iPhone or iPod Touch, make sure you get the new update and see for yourself the new applications now available. And if you have any questions regarding the iPhone or iPod Touch, please let me know!