Tuesday came a significant announcement from the mobile world: The leader in emerging mobile technology, the Apple iPhone, announced the new features. And in “new” features, they were essentially playing catch up.
Copy and Paste has finally been added to the device, after much lamenting by users. MMS was another addition – a feature even basic handsets have had for years. The new integrated search is a clear preemptive strike at the Palm Pre, as that “quicklaunch” integrated search was a feature for which Palm received much praise.
The promised Push technology will finally make an appearance, allowing apps to run in a pseudo-background, still getting updates but not consuming as much resources. This too staves off competitive offerings, bringing functionality that most other smartphones offer.
There was little that stood out as unique when viewed individually. However, viewed in aggregate, this update does a great deal in patching up holes in the iPhone’s defenses that competitors on the horizon would have eagerly attacked.
On top of these features, there were a number of items that add additional polish to the overall iPhone offerings; a polish that comes with experience, and is something newcomers won’t be able to bring to the table.
The iPhone is still a great platform for marketers – the presentation today announced 17 million iPhones in distribution, and 13 million iPod Touches, which is a potential 30 million devices. With 800,000,000 application downloads in eight months, the AppStore is as viable a place to be as any marketplaces en route. Within the foreseeable future, Apple is likely to hold tight to their position as the newly crowned king of mobile.
