March 16th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.0: What new Wi-Fi improvements and features do you want?

Posted by Sean Portnoy @ 5:19 pm

Categories: SOHO Networking

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Inc., Wireless LANs, Wi-Fi, Wireless And Mobility, Sean Portnoy

For iPhone users, the good news about tomorrow’s event debuting the latest version of its OS appears to be that cut and paste will finally be implemented, thanks perhaps to the upcoming competition from the Palm Pre. The bad news is that running background apps beyond Apple’s own may still not available, even though it was promised to arrive several months ago.

What else should make the cut as new features of the iPhone (and iPod Touch)? Since this is a networking blog, let’s focus on the devices’ Wi-Fi functionality. What could be done to improve this aspect? Apple may not want you to do so, but checking out what’s hot in the world of jailbroken iPhone apps is always instructive, as its limitations are overcome—even running official iPhone Store apps in the background. While AT&T has mentioned that the iPhone will eventually be allowed to share its Wi-Fi connections with your laptop, no timeline has been announced. In the meantime, jailbreak app PDAnet already offers the capability without any potential added costs AT&T may tack on. It’d sure be nice if Apple is set to include this feature without letting its sole U.S. cellular partner add fees to our data plans.

Another annoyance that hopefully will be shed in version 3.0 is needing to drill down into the Settings menu every time you want to turn the Wi-Fi mode on or off. Again, a jailbreak app has already remedied that irritant: SBsettings gives you one screen on which you can make adjustments to popular settings, including toggling Wi-Fi on and off.

Are there other refinements Apple should offer when it comes to Wi-Fi capabilities in iPhone OS 3.0? Let us know in the TalkBack section, and we’ll see if any of them show up during Apple’s event tomorrow.