Software Update Teaches Old iPhones New Tricks

(Apple rolled out its iPhone OS 3.0 software update Wednesday through iTunes. The software brings new features like landscape typing and copy and paste to the handsets. Other features like MMS and data tethering are technically enabled with iPhone OS 3.0; however, AT&T will not support those capabilities for some time.)

As expected, Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone OS 3.0 software update was made available to users Wednesday morning.

The software contains dozens of new features -- some of which may appear incidental for most users and some of which have been hotly anticipated.

That latter category would include copy and paste functionality as well as the ability to use landscape typing mode -- as opposed to portrait -- in all applications, not just Web browsing. These, plus global search or Spotlight, have come to be downright demanded by iPhone users, even casual ones, Patrick Gilbert, president and CEO of 4SmartPhone, told MacNewsWorld. "By far these features make it a better device."

Altogether, there are more than 100 new features in the iPhone 3.0 software package.