I just downloaded iPhone 3.0 and will detail both the steps involved in downloading it and some of the new features as viewed directly from my own iPod Touch 2nd Generation.

Installation of iPhone 3.0 on an existing iPod/iPhone
1. First, Connect the dock Connector from your iPod/iPhone to your computer.
2. Launch iTunes™ from your Mac or PC
3. Select your iPod/iPhone in iTunes and choose check for updates (as the screenshot below indicates).

4. You will be asked to agree to Apple’s license agreements and then a Buy button will appear if you are upgrading an iPod or should be free if you have an iPhone.

The software will download to your iTunes and will take awhile as it was roughly 257 megs according to the iTunes software. It took about 8 minutes to download to my computer on my 7meg dsl connection. I suspect if you wait till later in the week to download it, the download will likely be quicker without all the server load from users trying to download it on release day.

Once the software has downloaded (as long as your iPod/iPhone is still connected to your computer via the dock connector) it should begin installation. Your iPod/iPhone will show a loading bar for a good 5 or 6 minutes while the software is updated and verified and the firmware version updated. Once the install is complete, the iPod/iPhone should automatically reboot and it is important that you let the iPod/iPhone reboot without turning it off at this point as it could hinder the install.

After I installed the update, I noticed that my icons for my apps were out of order. At first, I thought the update had somehow deleted all my apps. But I suspect what happened was that the new Voice Memos icon pushed one of my apps onto the next screen all by itself. So when I scrolled over one screen from the home screen, I had one single icon on it. Because Voice Memos is a new feature of iPhone 3.0, it adds a new icon to the home screen and likely the extra icon shifted all my icons for my apps over. I suspect that other users may also have their icons shifted around due to the extra Voice Memo icon.

Another annoyance I found with the new software, when I played around with the new Parental restrictions and disabled Safari access the Safari icon disappeared as expected. When I re-enabled the Safari app using the parental restrictions, the Safari app reappeared on the home screen. However, I noticed when I rebooted my iPod Touch that the Safari icon (though enabled again) appeared on the very last page of my apps instead of on the home screen. I repeated this process twice just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke and both times after a reboot Safari ended up on the last page of my apps. So it appears when you disable an app with parental restrictions, that you may get some shuffling of your icons. This could fool users who aren’t computer savvy into thinking that the app is still disabled. You can, of course, inconveniently drag the icon back to its previous location but it seems bizarre that the icon is rearranged only upon reboot of the iPod/iPhone.

I had an opportunity to play with the new copy and paste features as well which I have provided screenshots of later on in this blog post. Overall, if you are an iPod Touch user the primary advantages of this update are the landscape keyboard, copy and paste functionality, spotlight search, Voice Memos (only if you have a set of headphones with a built-in mic which doesn’t come standard with the iPod), parental controls, auto fill in Safari, ability to hold more apps, iTunes rentals and iTunes U.

The iPhone 3G S of course sports additional features which you can check out on Apple’s web site.

To do a search using spotlight on the new iPhone 3.0, simply flick your finger to the right on the iPod Touch home screen and you should be taken to the spotlight search where you can search your entire iPod or iPhone for music, podcasts, movies, apps, pictures, or files that are stored on it. A screenshot of the new home screen and the Spotlight screen appear below:

As you can see from the screenshots, the spotlight icon is located at the bottom of the iPod Touch/iPhone home screen. Flicking your finger to the right should bring up the spotlight screen in the second screenshot above.

The Voice Memo feature is the next most obvious feature. Pressing the Voice Memo icon should launch the app and present a screen similar to the following screenshots:

If you press the record button (the button with the red dot), the Voice Memo will start recording unless you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone and do not have a Mic connected. The iPod Touch does not come with a Mic as standard equipment but you can purchase headphones with a Mic from most retailers that sell Apple hardware if you wish to use the Voice Memo feature. If you have an iPhone all the hardware you need should have come with your iPhone. Pressing the second button on the Voice Memo takes you to the screen as shown in the second screenshot above. You can choose to share or delete the voice memo.

Next up I tried the landscape keyboard in my email app and it definitely was a pleasure to use over the portrait keyboard. Though I have fairly small fingers, even I had difficulty using the portrait keyboard. So the new keyboard should make it very easy for those of us with small fingers and somewhat easier for those with fat fingers. I was able to type a whole sentence on my email without a single spelling mistake which I couldn’t accomplish before with the portrait keyboard. A screenshot of the keyboard in action appears below:

Cut Copy and Paste is relatively easy! Simply place your cursor before the word you want to select and a box will appear prompting to Select, Select all, or Paste. If you choose select, only the word immediately following the cursor will be selected. If you choose select all, all the text on the screen will be selected though you can drag the bar at the end if you want to select just specific text (i.e. more than a single word but not the whole text). The screenshots below will help you to visualize the process:

Tune into my blog for my upcoming review of the new iPhone 3.0 Parental Controls

The Best process I have found to ensure that Safari is completely clear of all websites is to take the following steps.

1. From the iPod Touch or iPhone home screen press Settings.

2. Scroll down on the Settings screen and look for Safari and Press Safari.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and you should see 3 buttons labelled Clear History, Clear Cookies, and Clear Cache. Press on each button one by one and when prompted to Clear History or Cookies, or Cache do so.

4. Exit the settings screen by pressing the home button at the bottom of the iPod/iPhone and launch Safari.

5. With Safari open, press the button at the bottom of the safari screen to launch a new page which should look like the icon to the right.

First, you will want to click on the Settings icon which by default should be on the main screen when you start up your iPod Touch. You may need to scroll down a bit till you see the Mail, Contacts, Calendars link

2. Press on the Mail, Contacts, Calendars link and then choose to Add Account under the Accounts section of the screen.

3. You will be presented with several different options including Microsoft Exchange, mobile me, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Aol, and Other. Choose Other .

4. The New Account screen will come up and ask you to enter your Name, Email Address, Password, and a Description of the Account to Help you distinguish it from other accounts in case you have more than one Pop account setup. Enter the requested information in all the fields of this screen (if you require assistance contact your Internet Service Provider if you do not know your email address ) and then click the Save button.

5. You will now be required to enter your POP3 Server name in the host name box. Typically, the POP3 server name for your internet server provider will be pop.yourispsdomainname.com (e.g. pop.mts.net, pop.shaw.ca, pop.bellatlantic.net ) some ISPs use mail.theirdomain.com or mailhost.theirdomain.com. Please contact your ISP for assistance with this setting. You’ll also have to enter your username, password, and SMTP server. The SMTP server of most ISPs will usually be smtp.yourispsdomain.com (i.e. smtp.mts.net, smtp.aol.com). Though the screen asks for the SMTP username/password typically most ISPs don’t require authentication fore outgoing mail.

Facebook App -Download Facebook App Now
For avid Facebook users, the Facebook App is indispensible! The Facebook app, as you would expect, is specifically formatted for the ipod touch. It has most of the abilities of the Facebook website including News Feeds, Notifications, requests, your wall, info, photos, friends list, chat capabilities, and inbox.


Google App -Download Google App Now
The Google App provides you with quick access to Google Search and other Google Apps and is another useful tool. Though you can always load Safari and go directly to the Google page, it is much quicker to load the app.

Fring App -Download Fring App Now
Do you live for instant messaging? If LOL, OMG, ROFL, and other IM speak is second nature to you then this app is for you! This app gives you access to Yahoo IM, ICQ, MSN, and Skype. If you like keeping in touch with all your friends online you need this ipod touch/iphone app.


Twitterrific App -Download Twitterrific App Now
Do you like keeping in touch with your friends, family, co-workers, celebrities, and important people in your life? If so, you need Twitter! If you have never used Twitter before, it helps keeps you connected to your Friends, family, co-workers, etc by answering the all important question What are you doing?


Ebay App -Download Ebay App Now
Buy it, Sell it, Advertise it, Bid on it! Ebay App makes it easy to access Ebay and buy and sell your goods. Now you can access your auctions on the go and quickly check prices on items of interest.

Wordpress App -Download Wordpress App Now
If you are a blogger, you absolutely need the Wordpress app. Imagine you’re at a local coffee shop at 5am, you just thought of a great idea for your blog! You have your iPod Touch with you and the coffee shop has a wifi connection. Well, if you have this app you can post your great idea to your website right at that moment!