Not so minor changes coming to next iPhone v2.0 - Bonjour, full-screen browsing, vector graphics, locally stored web-apps, PowerPoint, mass email delete, and possibly search
Posted by Will on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 6:34 pm under Announcements, Apple, Applications, iPhone
Well that sure was a mouthful. Sure, there are those minor changes to the iPhone UI that may or may not materialize, but there are also some serious changes in store for the iPhone v2.0.
The iPhone SDK, freely downloadable from Apple, is proving to be an invaluable source of upcoming iPhone features. Remember, the iPhone is revolutionary in the way the OS can be updated and features can be added with a simple firmware update through iTunes. iPhone owners don’t have to endure the lagging development cycles for OS developers to deliver OS updates - new updates mean new features, and with the iPhone, we get new features on a regular basis.
So, what can we expect from Apple’s iPhone v2.0 firmware due out in June (the same firmware that will work with iPhone SDK applications)?
Keep reading to find out…
Mass Email Delete
I don’t know how long I’ve been wanting a mass delete feature for the iPhone’s mail client, but it seems that my nightly prayers have not fallen on deaf ears. The Apple gods will be allowing mass email deletion with the iPhone v2.0. I don’t really get spam in my business email accounts, so mass deletion is not really a problem there. My personal email accounts are an entirely different story. My Gmail inbox is full of ads for mortgages and Viagra - and with push email with Yahoo! Mail for iPhone, I get solicitations to enlarge my penis pushed directly to my iPhone. Talk about annoying.
It’s not clear how this will work, but rest assured, in a matter of months, batch deleting all those spammy emails will be no harder than selecting them and hitting the delete button.
Bonjour
Mac users will understand the awesomeness of Bonjour and what it means for the iPhone. Sure, connecting to a WiFi network is a trivial exercise, but what about connecting to other computers or iPhones on any network (networking in Windows is “fun” to say the least)? Well, Bonjour makes it easy to network devices on a given network. It’s as simple as viewing connected devices and then connecting to them.
Bonjour has been lying dormant in previous iPhone firmwares, and it seems that Bonjour support is coming in June. The iPhone SDK includes Bonjour in the foundation, core foundation and base system components.
Full-Screen Mode on Safari
With the new iPhone SDK, iPhone developers will be able to use a full-screen mode to display webpages/web-apps. In full-screen mode, the web-page/web-app will be displayed without the Safari address bar at the top of the screen or the navigation/bookmark bar at the bottom of the screen. All it will take, apparently, is the addition of a meta tag in the web-app/web-page code. Web-apps with the meta tag will be launched directly in full-screen mode.
Every pixel is a precious piece of real-estate on a mobile phone’s display. And even with the huge screen on the iPhone, it doesn’t hurt to have an extra few lines of usable browser-space.
Scalable Vector Graphics and New CSS Effects
Support for SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) means that images can be highly-compressed, reducing an image file’s size. SVG is an image format that can be compressed to tiny proportions while maintaining the original file’s resolution. That means iPhones will be able to download SVG images more quickly without sacrificing the image’s quality.
The iPhone v2.0 will also support new CSS effects. CSS transforms, transitions, and animations will help take the sting out of the lack of Flash-support. And, some CSS effects will be hardware accelerated to boot!
PowerPoint Support
While making a new PowerPoint presentation might not be in the immediate future for native iPhone features, we’re all going to be able to view those PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint can be viewed through the iPhone’s mail client, and should add to the iPhone’s enterprise appeal. Microsoft Word and Excel files are already viewable through iPhone Mail, but so the addition of PowerPoint compatibility will truly round out the iPhone’s MS Office compatibility.
Locally Stored Web-Apps
Wait, so what’s the hub-ub with all these natively installable third-party iPhone applications? With locally stored web-apps, any web-developer can code web-applications for the iPhone! No web connection? No problem, just store your web-apps locally and they’re as good as native applications (although slightly limited by AJAX, CSS, HTML, etc.)
The iPhone SDK allows for the creation of web-apps, so it makes sense for the iPhone to include support for offline web-apps. Apple says that the iPhone v2.0 will support client-side database API which will allow “totally functional even with the network disconnected.” Score!
Search
And, last but not least - the iPhone may be getting “Search” functionality. If you search for, uh, “Search on iPhone” you may find that searching for anything on the iPhone just isn’t possible. Sure, with auto-completion, you can just start typing a contact to bring up all matching phone numbers or email addresses, but that’s only a half-hearted workaround. A search function is needed. Without a true search function on the iPhone, it’s hard to find a contact whose name you’ve forgotten, but happen to remember noting the contact entry as, say, “blonde hottie” or something like that.
Well, it seems that the iPhone v2.0 (or is it iPhone v1.2, or is it iPhone v1.1.5?) could be including a search function. The image you see if from the Apple iPhone Software Roadmap event and shows a little magnifying glass (usually associated with search functions) above the alpha-list. Does this indicate that “Search” will be incorporated int o the iPhone v2.0 firmware? Will we be able to search through our contacts for “blonde hottie” or search our emails for “cheap Viagra?”
Here’s to hoping…
Props to blargKABOOM for spotting the search icon!
March 10th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Are you implying the iphone was the first to have firmware upgrades!? Ridiculous Will, ridiculous!
March 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Do you see any hints of a landscape keyboard in SMS? As a heavy text user, I can’t get a iPhone until this is added.
George
March 10th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Of course the iPhone isn’t the first device to have firmware upgrades. Every single handset I’ve ever owned (and that’s a list more numerous than years I’ve been alive) has had firmware updates. To say or believe otherwise is indeed ridiculous.
But, with the iPhone firmware updates are a simple matter of a couple OS tweaks, pushed through the most integrated distribution platform (which is almost a fact, rather than an opinion) available for smartphones, and crunched out more numerously and faster than most (any) other OS.
Sorry, George, I haven’t seen any information about landscape keyboard. I’ve barely gone through the SDK, and I have to admit that I don’t understand all of it, so I may or may not find references to such features in time. Be sure to stay tuned.
March 10th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Impressive! 2 versions in and iPhone will still be 5 years behind the features of so many other phones on the market.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:41 am
/me wants an iPhone to show of his SVG links
March 11th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Will - how much of a hard on do you have for the iphone and all things apple!? What you have said isnt ‘revolutionary’, at any rate have you considered the way other manufacturers namley Nokia update their firmware? have you considered the reason apple have had to update the iphone so much is because of its missing features. At any rate I am not fussed about this issue, I just had to pick you up on your ridiculous comments.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:39 am
I have to agree with Chris there, Will.
“Remember, the iPhone is revolutionary in the way the OS can be updated and features can be added with a simple firmware update through iTunes.”
That really ignores a bunch of smartphones out there… Yeah, you might not be able to update S60 v3 from FP1 to FP2, but there is definitely S60 OS update. Also, many WinMo 5 phones can be updated to WinMo 6.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:55 am
I don’t think that web-apps will have the same capabilities as real ones.
March 11th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Will - My comments come across a little harsh, it wasnt intended to be quite so ‘acidic’!
April 12th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Are you joking Playerkill? you consider WinMo 5 to 6 an update comparable to adding whole new USEABLE features? The iphone will actually DO something with firmware. Thats why its revolutionary. WIn6 was a downgrade on my Blackjack, and honestly, i think they just changed the loading screen and icons a bit. I dont even own an Iphone, and i have ALL windows equipment, but do you really think that some of the other examples you listed are even comparable in terms of what firmware updates are used for on the devices they apply to? Surly Win6 added word doc capabilites and the ability to navigate for the right price. But the blackjack crashed everytime i attempted to use those features. And how about altering the phone, yeah plenty of other phones can be hacked and modded, but on the same scale as the Iphone? regardless of how many other phones have these features, this particular phone was designed to be different.
June 7th, 2008 at 11:11 am
A2DP…? Is there any talk of it in the next iPhone OS? After all,
of all the phones out there the iPhone, (big brother to the iPod !)
is the one you’d expect to allow you to listen to tunes via your
wireless bluetooth stereo headphones isn’t it. Do I have to fork over
another $50.00 bucks for the icombi adaptor? How about a firmware
flash?
Now…why isn’t anyone asking about “cut” and “paste” capabilities?
HELLO?!! What’s the word on putting some o that in the next iPhone OS?
June 7th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I understand that the OS of the iPhone can update stuff but so can all other OSs out there! You cant consider one OSs ability to update revolutionary over they others. So it can add features? Big deal so can all others. Just saying…
June 7th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Cut/paste is definitely something that needs to be addressed, but the question is how Apple is going to implement the functionality without compromising the UI’s intuitive nature.
As far as the iPhone being revolutionary, I agree that all other smartphones can update their OS (ROM) through firmware flashing - I mention that in my original text. However, to say it again, the revolutionary part is in how the OS updates are easily delivered and installed. Not only does the iPhone get OS updates more frequently than any other platform, but the integration with the mobile platform (ie. iTunes, Mac OS ) that’s used to at once sync the iPhone, restore the iPhone, and manage settings on the iPhone can also be used to download and deliver OS updates is significant. You get full functionality in an intuitive and integrated platform.
But you’re right, Raidium, the iPhone’s ability to update its firmware does not, in and of itself, constitute any sort of revolutionary implementation. It’s all about the bigger picture here.