iPhone OS 3.2 — What Do You Want and When Do You Want It?

Apple is no doubt already hard at work on iPhone OS 3.2, the second minor update to the third major release of their mobile platform. Sure, we got iPhone 3.1 just over two weeks ago on Sept. 9, but looking back, we should expect to see the first beta versions of 3.2 sooner rather than [...]

Apple is no doubt already hard at work on iPhone OS 3.2, the second minor update to the third major release of their mobile platform. Sure, we got iPhone 3.1 just over two weeks ago on Sept. 9, but looking back, we should expect to see the first beta versions of 3.2 sooner rather than later.

By way of comparison, iPhone 2.1 was released on Sept. 12, 2008. iPhone 2.2 Beta 1 was released on Sept. 25, with some tweaks to App Store and Safari’s UI. iPhone 2.1 Beta 2 dropped on Oct. 24, with Google Street View, SDK support for line-in audio, and direct podcast downloads and streaming. The final iPhone 2.2 firmware was released on Nov. 21, and both Google Street View and the ability to get podcasts on-device were great enhancements.

So, it’s not unreasonable to imagine 3.2 Beta 1 could show up before the end of the month, with a final release before the holidays.

Since we’ve already gotten direct TV and Movie downloads (over Wi-Fi), there may not be an analogous improvement to iPod and iTunes this time around. Subscribing to podcasts on device, however, where a push notification alerts you when a new episode is available and you’re on Wi-Fi to download it, is something we’d adore. iTunes LP and iTunes Extras support would also be dandy give their introduction in iTunes 9.

Likewise, Google Voice and Google Latitude having been rejected/held-for-study by the App Store, we may not get a Maps app update either (though Apple baking Latitude into the existing Maps app, Google-willing, could be a great compromise solution). We won’t hold our breath for push Gmail either (not GoogleSync, we mean built-in, doesn’t use up your only ActiveSync slot, genuine push email like MobileMe and Yahoo!)…

Enabling 720p TV-out from the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch G3 would be a great, and competitive addition, especially with a souped up dock-to-HDMI video cable to go with it.

We have our ongoing (though admittedly greatly reduced since 3.0) wish-list: better support for Bluetooth controls (AVRCP), APIs to allow apps to interact with the calendar, some form of background support for streaming audio, turn-by-turn, and other apps that cry out for it, Mobile iChat, remote backup and restore, iTunes music and video streaming, file system access for document handling, etc.

(Yes, we left out bug fixes, as we hope Apple sees those as urgent enough to address in an iPhone 3.1.1 release much, much sooner).

But what do you want to see Apple prioritize for iPhone 3.2?

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iPhone OS 3.2 — What Do You Want and When Do You Want It?

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