At WWDC this week, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 and rebranded the operating system as iOS.  Thanks to Gizmodo many of the features were no surprise.  Among those features Jobs touted were: FaceTime video calling, Retina display with increased resolution, multitasking and HD video recording/editing.  These features are good, I guess.  They are like icing, but I need cake too.  My iPhone is first and foremost a communication device and productivity tool.  Looking at the new features listed in the iOS 4 software update, some additional features include:

  • organizing applications by folders
  • improved mail: unified inbox, organize messages by threads, open attachments in third-party apps
  • iBooks
  • create playlists on phone
  • 5X digital zoom
  • tap to focus video
  • view photos based on who’s in them and where they are taken
  • home screen wallpaper
  • give apps as gifts
  • spell checking
  • wireless keyboard support

Of these features, those that interest me are the ability to organize applications by folders, the unified inbox (about time), ability to create playlists on the phone and wireless keyboard support (should have been there generations ago).

Since there are over 100 new features, that leaves many to the imagination.  I hope there are features that improve the communications and productivity aspects of the phone.  Here are features I hope are included:

  • ability to turn off geotagging in photos or otherwise remove geotags before transmitting photos
  • synchronization of notes and tasks
  • pop-up notifications consolidated into a notification bar (like PalmOS and Android)
  • easier way to toggle on/off wireless and Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth file transfer
  • ability to use phone as storage device

I understand that Apple’s way is to build from scratch but other phones already do many of these things.  So until I see features I can actually use, the verdict’s out.

Photo Credit: Adam Jackson / Flickr

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