Sorry I have not blogged recently; Monday and Tuesday were crazy busy. Monday I started work early and finished late; Tuesday I started earlier, finished a bit earlier, but then Sachi and I went straight off to our first anniversary dinner. More on that later. This morning we’re prepping to run off to Shanghai for an extended weekend.

Before getting more busy, I wanted to blog on the most recent announcement from Apple–a big one, the news of the iPhone 3.0 upgrade due out this summer. Maybe it was Palm breathing down their necks with the Pre, maybe it was just a backlog of technical issues that got resolved, but finally Apple has done most of what people have been clamoring for on the iPhone. They claim a hundred new features, though as is usual with these big claims you will likely only use a small fraction of all of those.

• Systemwide Cut, Copy and Paste: This is a biggie. I still don’t see why Apple could not have had this from the start, but they needed this. If they had come out with a third generation without cut, copy and paste, the iPhone might have suffered from it. Apple’s solution looks simple and elegant: double-tap to select a word, use end-handles with a new magnifier to extend the selection, and tap on the cut, copy, or paste buttons.
• Systemwide Push Notification: Again, Apple needed this, and hopefully it will work right this time. Should provide a new level to what apps can do, even if Apple was unable to provide the ability for apps to run in the background (something they will eventually need to offer). The ability to have sounds and screen messages (hopefully also when the phone is asleep) will make a big difference, especially if Apple allows this to work with its email app; Sachi, for instance, very much misses her phone making an audible alert when a new email arrives.
• Systemwide Search: Another long-needed feature. Now you can also search Mail–though I am not yet clear as to whether or not you will be able to search only the few hundred messages currently residing on the phone–or iff more messages can be stored and searched locally.
• Landscape Keyboard: I don’t need this as much as others, but it makes complete sense, and again seems strange that Apple didn’t do it sooner.
• Stereo Bluetooth: I presume that this means that Bluetooth headphones will not only be stereo, but that you can listen to music over Bluetooth headsets as well. This always struck me as a bizarre omission on Apple’s part. I’ve long desired a good wireless headset–but not just for phone calls–and this will probably get a set made that I’ll be interested in buying.
• Developer Pron: A thousand new APIs–the ability to embed maps, use shaking, in-app email and voice chat, use notifications, and especially to purchase more stuff from within applications (possibly along with a premium store which would help avoid slumming with all those free apps) all are pretty clearly aimed at enticing developers who have grown disenchanted with Apple. A lot of these will be good for the end user as well (Apple has struck a good balance between helping developers and keeping performance good for users), but most of this is most useful for the software writers.

There’s a lot more–peer-to-peer connectivity, the ability to plug in more hardware, turn-by-turn navigation… Needless to say, this will be a pretty huge update, bigger than 2.0 was. For the time being, this is all I can post on. Gotta go pack now.

You can view Apple’s event via hi-quality streaming here.

Postscript: I understand that most of the new features will also work on 1st-gen iPhones (unless limited by hardware, like lack of GPS or not-adavanced-enough Bluetooth) as well as 3Gs–and, of course, whatever new version is coming this summer.