New iPhone 3.0 Beta Software Brings More Improvements

— -- Apple released last night a third beta build of the iPhone 3.0 software, taking developers one step closer to the final release in June. Arriving exactly two weeks after the previous build, the iPhone 3.0 third beta software build brings speed improvements and plenty of under-the-hood goodies.

One of the most significant additions to the latest beta of the iPhone 3.0 software is the way individual apps will be able to notify users of updates or additional content. At the moment, individual apps flag users only in iTunes of new events, but with the 3.0 build, they will be able to do so right on the phone via badge, text or sound notifications.

Developers are also reporting further improvements in the latest beta carrying the 7A280f build number: Spotlight (phone-wide search) will now let users save the last search they made, and can set restrictions for inside-application purchases and location data.

An interesting fact about the third beta of the iPhone 3.0 software is that the Skype app no longer works on 3G. With previous builds, Skype allowed 3.0 beta software users to place calls via 3G, unlike the same app on the current 2.2 platform, which can make calls only over Wi-Fi. Apple seems to have fixed this "bug," so no more wishful thinking for cheap VoIP in the 3.0 final release.

This third beta of the iPhone 3.0 software indicates the imminent arrival of a final 3.0 software in June, just like Apple promised. However, the question remains whether we will get some new iPhone hardware as well, especially as rumors intensified over the last weeks, detailing hardware components and features.