Confirmed: iPhone OS 3.2 has support for video calling, file downloads, and SMS (update: handwriting keyboard?)
By Nilay Patel 
posted January 29th 2010 8:46PM
posted January 29th 2010 8:46PM
We can also confirm that iPhone OS 3.2 supports file downloads and local storage in the browser, which means you'll be able to pull files off the web and use them in other apps, and there's at least the beginnings of SMS support buried within the code -- a fact we were able to verify with noted iPhone jailbreaker chpwn, who sent in the above screenshot from a hacked-up copy of the iPad simulator. (The simulator always says "iPhone simulator" in the menu bar, but that's the iPad.) chpwn also tells us he's found some inklings of actual phone support, there's a spellchecker, and that both the new landscape orientation for the homescreen and keyboard support appear to be destined for the iPhone itself when 3.2 comes out.
We're not sure what any of this means at this point, or if any of it will ever be implemented, but we're definitely starting to get the impression that Apple didn't tell us everything there is to know about the iPad on Wednesday -- and we're even more curious to find out what iPhone OS 4.0 will look like when it arrives.
P.S.- chpwn was also able to port iPhone multitasking hacks ProSwitcher and Backgrounder to the iPad simulator, which is certainly going to be useful if an iPad jailbreak exploit is eventually discovered. Check out a shot of it going in the gallery below, along with some other settings panels the coder dug up.
Update: We just got another tip from iPhone jailbreak dev Ryan Petrich, confirming that there's a spell checker with multiple dictionaries and user-added entries (huzzah!), much richer text support for apps, the ability to selectively draw to external displays (using the VGA or component adapters, we'd imagine), location-aware ads in Maps and possibly other programs that use the Maps API, file upload ability in Safari, a modifiable cut / copy / paste menu, and, most interestingly, prototype support for a "handwriting keyboard." Maybe we'll see some stylus action on this thing after all. Peep Ryan's take after the break.
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New features I've uncovered:
• CoreGraphics to PDF API for sure, printer API is being prototyped
• Spell checker in text fields and web views using AppleSpell
- multiple languages
- grammar checking (English-only so far)
- address book integration
- user added words
- SDK access
- Included dictionaries: Apple Dictionary, New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, Shogakukan Daijisen, Shogakukan Progressive English-Japanese Japanese-English Dictionary, and Shogakukan Ruigo Reikai Jiten (may also be used for a Dictionary app perhaps?)
• USB Host support or expanded Bluetooth support
- PTP support for transferring images
- MobileStorageMounter (perhaps used for PTP; perhaps used to mount external USB storage?)
- Hardware keyboard: USBKeyboardLayouts.plist
• Much richer text API including low-level access to font data and highlevel support for drawing formatted text
• Support for querying attached screens and choosing which screen a window draws on (App Store approved?)
• The beginnings of file upload in Safari
• Location-sensitive ads are being prototyped in integrated Maps application (and applications that use the maps framework)
• Ability for applications to modify the standard cut/copy/paste menu
• "Handwriting keyboard" is being prototyped.
Wow, thats a great work. Now i think many people will use OS 3.2 for iphone. Thanks for the great update.
Regards,
Williams,
http://www.fundybuzz.com
If a stylus EVER appears on this device I fully expect the Engadget staff to mercilessly crucify this device. For all the crap they have given other devices with that use stylus this would only be fair. We can't read a single post about Windows Mobile without the obligatory whining about resistive screens and the inclusion of a stylus.
Of course, Apples implementation of a stylus will somehow be much better than everyone elses. Probably will get kudos for thinking outside the box with character recognition technology.
@bjsguess .. styluses already exist for the iPad. There are loads around. And you will never see Apple release one because they don't want developers assuming you have one.
@bjsguess
Straight up hater! Maybe some of the publication peeps requested a stylus or maybe it will benefit students when they are in class, using their ebooks and need some other type of input device to quickly highlight notes and other stuff? Who knows. Apple never said they wouldn't release a stylus accessory.....they just said they want their devices to fully function without having to use a stylus....which it does. What's wrong with giving people options.
You fuckers just hate Apple and will bitch about every little thing you can find!'
iPad=SUCKS !!!
so when i can i download iphone OS 3.2?
The myterious space at the top of the device - i suppose you mean that rectangular shaped thing on the back - only exists on the 3G model. Thus, it can only be a plastic cap under which the 3G antennae are. This is due to the back of the ipad being made of aluminium. See iphone and iphone 3G/S
Uh, that "handwriting keyboard" isn't a prototype. It's for Chinese textual input - nothing else. You even have it on the iPhone and iPod touch - just enable it in Settings.
What exactly does this bit mean? "the ability to selectively draw to external displays (using the VGA or component adapters, we'd imagine)" Does this mean the iPad can be used as a peripheral drawing device?
If the features just weren't ready, then they needed to wait. This thing is half baked without them. This version is the Microsoft Vista equivalent, but of course the Apple faithful will line up in droves to admire the emperor's new clothes to proclaim what a breakthrough it is.
Sorry, I just don't see what Apple has done in this abomination that makes it so new. That os unless it's a limited feature set that most other tablets can do that it cannot.
Course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
@xanatos451
Last I saw, the iPad hasn't been released to the public, so what are you talking about? I don't mind doing a quick software update to add features a few weeks after I purchase a product. Apple knows what they are doing......way more than an idiot like you! Stick with blogs!
@StickyD
Dione, from the looks of your comment log, it's obvious you're a rabid Apple fan. Course that doesn't surprise me when you resort to name calling. Grow the fuck up.
I initially liked the iPhone but have come to find it is limited over and over again. Yes, Apple makes products that are stylish looking and do a few things well. This does not make them incapable of putting out something that is not ready for consumption or making a misstep. Hell, just look at the history of the company as a whole, they've done it plenty of times in the past.
Nobody isn't saying that a large number of its flaws cannot be fixed with software. What I am saying is that Cupertino is not likely to make any major upgrades before release or within a reasonable time frame afterwards towards fixing these nagging issues. I just am fed up with Apple holding back features and then proclaiming innovation. Remember cut/copy/paste? It only took a couple of years to get on the device. Don't tell me this isn't a widely needed feature. I use it every day multiple times a day. I'm still waiting for the ability control iTunes via bluetooth with full AVRCP support instead of the hacked partial support it has now. Multitasking/TaskSwitching and Flash support are still nowhere to be seen.
Apple fanboys/fangirls like you are, numero uno, the reason why people like myself do not care for the Apple "culture" as many of them put it. Name calling doesn't get anybody anywhere and frankly I find it more off-putting against the company's products in the long run. I personally don't want to be equated with a cult of blind followers. Probably one of the reasons why I'm an atheist and why I prefer multiple OS's and hardware manufacturers depending on what does the best job for the task at hand.
Open your mind and realize that all companies, Apple included, are just out for a profit and sometimes they misjudge what the market needs. Microsoft does it time and time again but you don't see anyone defending them for their faux pas as rabbidly as fans of Apple do theirs.
I'm not saying this thing won't be a great product at some point. I'm just saying that they shouldn't have come forward with this announcement until they had done a little more market research into what the public wants instead of telling the what they need. It doesn't have to do everything, but supporting the majority of the content on the web when it is touted as a web-centric device would be a good start. Yes, Flash is bloated and will eventually be replaced with HTML5 which is light years better, but when almost every other web-centric device out there supports it and a majority of content on the web is based on it, you have to make concessions and build some sort of support around it. Lack of flash on iPhone OS (iPad included) is purely a marketing decision and not a security decision as so many of you Apple fans are quick to defend with. This is about content delivery control, plain and simple. Go and read what the real story is about lack of Flash support on the iPhone and the iPad before you jump to proclaim that it is not necessary.
I am a fan of technology. I liked the iPhone when it came out, I've come to find that there are better products out there since, but I will applaud and give credit to Apple for breathing new life into a stale market. If this thing was truly ready for primetime, you wouldn't have seen the 20 point drop in Apple shares since the announcement was made.
Will this be a better device next year for v2.0? We'll see, but I for one will not be waiting with bated breath for it. They most likely won't make significant improvements in the feature set for several revisions and will still require unnecessary adapters to do simple things like use a single USB device which should be a no-brainer. Perhaps in 2013 or 2014 I will consider a purchase if/when my serious reservations are addressed, but until then, thanks but no thanks.
So pull your head out of your ass, quit foaming at the mouth anytime there is a constructive criticism against your church of Apple, and keep an open mind.
/rant
@xanatos451 html5 is a long way from being the hoped for flash killer. Especially since the W3C has yet to agree upon the common video CODEC necessary to make it so. :)
AGAIN, apple. Thanks for bringing this up to spec from about a year past. Usually this much action in one period means you atleast get something right but they are just falling all over themselves with fail after fail. Failing and flailing.
He forgot to add VoiceControl to that mix. there's and app in the simulator's CoreServices folder that says VoiceOverTouch.
And for the record, I work in the software industry so I'm not just an armchair blogger, thank you very much.
Webcam confirmed on 3G iPad - Exlusive
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ispazio.net%2F86098%2Fnuove-conferme-per-la-fotocamera-frontale-sullipad-esclusiva&sl=it&tl=en&swap=1
What ever happened to the fm receiver in the phone?
eebus christ, so many haters here. If you don't like the ipad don't buy it, and please stop post such bs posts. you all are acting like a bunch of 3 year olds. grow the fuck up.
Some interesting things I see:
There will be a camera - of course, silly whiners.
There will be phone via VOIP. No plan, how grand!
There will be GPS.
There will be multitasking, eventually.
Flash is gone. Good. It is a waste of bandwidth, processing power and promoted bad graphic design. I browse the web with Flash turned off - a much better experience. I don't need all that attention grabbing flashy stuff zipping around my screen. Check out Pithhelmet and Glims if you use Safari. Regain control over your web browsing experience.
An iPad (or any iP) with a keyboard is a computer. So simple. Even mice could work.
The iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch (call it the iP) Apps will run on the MacOSX as shown by the SDK test mode on the Macintosh for development. It is just a small step to give this to users in iTunes.
It is only a small stretch to have the iPs run the MacOSX. The processing power is there. All Mac software then runs on the iPs.
Just for good measure Apple also runs all Windows and ClassicMac software on the iPs. This brings in all the Windows users and all that great old Classic software that was there for kids and education. Developers bring out emulators for all other computers. ENIAC lives again, faster and better. Hi Hal!
The MacOSX and the iPOS will merge to become one with the MacOSX being the complex operating system for power users and the iPOS being the simple operating system that is all you get on the small display iPhone and iPod. This was done before by Apple. The wheel rolls around again.
Multiple iPs can become the computers / workstations in a family, classroom or business all base stationed to one computer (Macintosh or [i]Windows![/i]).
Lay out multiple iP's together in a line or a matrix, they self recognize, configure and become a bigger display. Cool advertising and promotion stuff. Wow games!
You might have a small iP (Touch or Phone) for your pocket and a different one for home, classroom, work, etc. People will buy more iPs because they want to have one in their pocket when on the road (iPhone) and one at home for relaxing or using in school or at work with a bigger screen. Watch for the 50" iPad. People who would not otherwise have bought a computer at all will be buying iPs. This sells hardware which is good for Apple, good for software developers, good for content developers and benefits end users. Microsoft will fail - okay, so there are some losers out there. (Note to broker, "Sell MSFT.")
You may rarely want to buy another 'computer' instead just buying iPs. Many businesses, schools and home power users will buy a 'computer' to have as a central base station which all their iP's dock to. Airport Extreme, Time Capsule and the Mac will merge for this function. It's all there. The iCube is back. Like the iTV except it might be named the iCenter to make it more obvious that it is different. Lots of connectors both virtual on the wireless and physical for speakers, screen, docks, phone, etc. Smart Homes are here.
You are taking your 'Home' folder with you. And it also still exists at your physical home (apartment, house, business, etc) on your iCenter. Your iCenters can even be syncronized. Home made cloud computing and storage.
Since the iP can have a file area now you can take all of your 'Home' folder with you. Security will be an issue. Solvable.
Voice will become another form of navigation in addition to touch, mouse and keyboard. The tech is here already.
All iPods will become iPs. iPNanos can then be used with a bluetooth mic-headphone. Product lines from Nano to PowerMac are once again unified all running the same operating system and all applications/Apps.
Enter the Apple Cybrog implantable iP, due in 2012.
Always on. Always connected.
Order now! :)
Holy crap! They've finally ported all their dictionaries to iPhoneOS (especially the Japanese-Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries).
That's really the feature I've been waiting for all along before getting an iPad. I'm sure finding a Japanese manga reader won't be so tough when the iPad is released. I guess we still have to wait to see what the interface is like for these dictionaries.
Really, I think Apple has enough time to catch up in these next 2 months. Can't wait to see what the full iPhone OS 4.0 will bring. They can worry about hardware in the 2nd Generation iPad.
Honestly, Steve Jobs rushed the iPad into oblivion (at least for the 1st generation). The iPad doesn't really make sense until iPhoneOS 4.0 is released.
Why Jobs decided to demo the iPad on a half-assed iPhoneOS release is beyond me.
iPhoneOS 4.0 better be a damn good OS.......
any word on when iphone 3.2 will actually make its way to the iPhone?
What amazes me is how this 'no multitasking' myth for iPhone OS keeps alive. iPhone OS is based on a fully pre-emptive multitasking unix (mach kernel), for crying out loud. So writing "there is at least some type of multitasking going on here" only illustrates the ignorance of the author on this point.
Apple limits app-level multitasking to a few apps of its own because it trades off battery life (also important as a user experience) against other user experiences. There is nothing that prevents Apple in the future to allow more (non-Apple and well checked for effect on battery life) apps to be part of the multi-tasking app setup and it is not unreasonable that they open this up in the future.
I have no doubt that when video calling will be announced, it will be hailed as a "revolution" by Apple fanboys, despite regular phones having this feature since before 2006.
I can't emphasize how CRUCIAL a handwriting keyboard will be if Apple wants to be taken seriously in the world of health care. If the tablet is to be used at the point of care, it needs the capability to work with gloves. The capacitive touchscreen obviously won't work with gloves, so a stylus that is able to function on a capacitive screen will be key (already available). This is where the handwriting keyboard comes in, with a legit stylus that will work on the iPad, we can actually write notes in the hospital room if we have a handwriting keyboard available, even if we have gloves on. I talk about this in detail on in our latest post:
http://www.imedicalapps.com/2010/01/ipad-could-support-handwriting-keyboard-a-requirement-for-medical-point-of-care-use-in-health-care/
OS 3.2? What about 4.0? I say the new device merits more than just a tallied sub-version. I guess only time will tell.
Where is iPhone 4.0?:
http://xtgo.net/2010/01/31/where-is-iphone-os-40/
The mysterious space at the top of the iPad is simply a cut out in the 3G version of the device to accommodate the antenna. http://www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/.
I really wish the iPad did include a webcam. My guess though, is that Apple did not fully unveil the capabilities of the device, because they were not ready to divulge all the new features of the next iPhone OS.
Crossing my fingers!!!
Much of this, as indicated by the fact it says iPhone in the code, is simply a matter of typical "refit" programming and the rest are common sense feature possibilities going forward, that should come as a surprise to no one.
I Got File Sharing on iPad Working Send me email I Send you files to get it to work