iPhone 3.0 Update Launches June 17
Posted 06/08/2009 at 1:36pm
| by Zack Stern

The iPhone 3.0 software update will be released on June 17; all iPhone customers will be able to download it for free. Both generations of iPod touch owners will be able to get it for $9.95. iPhone developers can download the golden master version today.
At the WWDC keynote, Scott Forstall covered most of the same ground as the previous iPhone 3.0 software demo, showing off push notifications, peer-to-peer Bluetooth support, paid downloadable content, Spotlight search across email and other text, and more. But he introduced a few features that we hadn't yet seen.
- Parental controls now support movies, TV shows, and apps. Hopefully, given those app ratings, Apple can ease off its role as morality police, and the App Store approval process will open up further.
- Find My iPhone, coupled with a MobileMe subscription, tracks down your
lost phone. It can show you the location, play an alert sound or message on
the phone, and even remotely wipe all the data if it's lost for good.
- Among other software demos, TomTom announced a GPS turn-by-turn driving package, which will be sold this Summer.
- The 3.0 software adds tethering a data connection over USB or Bluetooth, so that you can
get a laptop online through the phone.
- This feature requires carrier
support... and AT&T hasn't yet joined that party.
- Safari improvements let it read HTML 5, stream audio and video, and autofill fields with passwords or other data.
All together, the presentation lacked many surprises, although we're able to finally able to put a date on our excitement: June 17.