The folks over in Cupertino flipped the switch on the iPhone 3.0 firmware update just a short while ago, so it’s time to fire up iTunes, plug your phone in, and get the 230MB update so you can have cool new features like MMS messaging “" oh wait, we’re not getting that until the end of the summer. Well, you can always get data tethering “" oh wait, AT&T hasn’t announced any plans to offer tethering in the US.
OK, so obviously those are a couple disappointments, but we’re still getting landscape keyboards across all apps, system-wide spotlight, and push notifications (as soon as the app developers implement them) among many other improvements. A scan of the Twit-scape shows that there are speedy downloads and no major hiccups for people installing. So give it a go, and let us know how it works for you. We forgot our cord at home today, so we won’t be installing until tonight.
Update (3:31 p.m.): Looks like we spoke too soon. It appears that while Apple’s download servers had plenty of capacity, the activation servers couldn’t handle the rush of people itching for iPhone 3.0, and many people are stuck with an updated, but non-active, shiny brick. It could be a while before the activation servers come back up, so everyone will likely have to just be patient.
I snagged the update last night. Major highlights are integrated Spotlight search; the ability to (finally, for some) cut, copy and paste; access to movies, TV, and music videos on the iTunes music store; Push for supported applications (which essentially receives data, such as new IMs in Aim or messages in Facebook even when they’re not running – this wasn’t the case before); Bluetooth support; peer-to-peer support for future App store games; and the ability to record voice memos (which is nice, but useless on the iPod Touch unless you have an external mic plugged in. Smaller changes abound, such as improvements to existing apps and new languages.
I consider it a significant upgrade for something I paid $9.95 for, but some of these new features should have been supported in the first place.