Upgrade makes great iPhone even better

— -- In the nearly two years since the iPhone burst onto the scene, the competition for handheld computers has grown fierce.

Apple crushes all comers when it comes to third-party applications — the iPhone App Store has 50,000-plus applications and counting, all the more remarkable because it just opened in July. But though the iPhone broke ground with visual voice mail, smart sensors, multitouch display, true-to-life Web browser and more, it was a laggard in other respects. You couldn't record video, dial by voice (without a third-party app), send MMS messages, copy and paste text, or easily search across the device.

Apple AAPL catches up on these features and adds others through the new iPhone OS 3.0 software upgrade that arrived Wednesday for free (or $9.95 for iPod Touch owners), and through the new 3G S phone that goes on sale at 7 a.m. in local markets on Friday.

I've been testing the latest software on a 3G S device for over a week now, and the changes make an already marvelous device that much better. Not everyone should feel the need to splurge on the latest phone, however, especially if you have to pay full price — the 3.0 software adds a lot of rich features by itself. But you'll appreciate the extra storage on the 32-gigabyte 3G S, and you'll have to upgrade if you want the video camera, voice controls and a new screen reader that describes what's on the device for those who are visually impaired.

The new phone, which comes in black or white, looks virtually identical to its slim and stunning predecessors. But it is snappier (YouTube videos appear without delay) and has a longer-life battery (thankfully) and an improved camera. A new coating makes it less prone to fingerprints. There's a compass to keep you pointed in the right direction.

There are drawbacks. My experience with the new voice-controls feature that lets you make a call or control music on the 3G S by speaking into it wasn't perfect, especially in noisy environments. The battery on the new phone remains sealed, so you can't carry a spare. It still doesn't multitask quite like new rival Palm Pre.

And U.S. customers can't take advantage of MMS until AT&T flips the switch, probably late in the summer. The ability to "tether" or share the iPhone's 3G connection with a computer also must wait for AT&T. No word on cost or when that may happen.

My solo test meant I couldn't try out some new 3.0 features, such as "peer-to-peer" multiplayer games.

MMS and tethering are among the bucket of features included with the 3.0 upgrade. Others: deeper parental controls and the ability to wirelessly buy or rent movies and purchase TV shows and music videos, plus a digital voice recorder. The Safari browser is zippier and can automatically fill in user names and passwords.

Here's my take on some new features. I've noted those that are available only on the 3G S.

•Voice control (3G S only). You can dial by saying a name or number aloud. For the most part, the phone recognized my spoken commands. But once, a verbal request to "Call Ed Baig" resulted in a call to my mother. An automated female voice confirms what it thinks it heard. If you don't specify, "Dial Ed Baig, mobile" or "Call Ed Baig, home" the voice prompts you for the home, mobile or office number you had in mind.

You can also play music (but not video) by issuing voice commands. Floating in the background of the screen that appears when you summon the voice controls are things you can say ("what band is this song by," "pause music," etc.). Syntax is important. Nice touch: If you say, "Play more songs like this," the phone will tap into the Genius feature to generate a new playlist. But I was sometimes misheard. My request to "play songs by Tony Bennett" was interpreted as "playing songs by Joshua Bell."

•Voice memos. I've been using a 99-cent voice recorder application on my iPhone called Recorder from Retronyms (and there are others). But you'll no longer have to rely on third-party software to turn the iPhone into a digital voice recorder — it's another handy 3.0 add-on. You might record meetings, lectures or just leave yourself a quick reminder. You can trim the audio clips right on the phone and e-mail them or sync them to a PC or Mac via iTunes.

But there's still room for developers such as Retronyms to innovate. Its app lets you wirelessly send recordings to your computer through Wi-Fi, a function not available on the new native app.

•Shooting video (3G S only). Shooting video on the iPhone is dirt simple, and the VGA quality, while hardly high-definition, is quite decent. You can shoot in portrait or landscape mode. Moreover, you can trim the scene you shot before e-mailing the movie or uploading it to YouTube or Apple's $99-a-year MobileMe online service. Eventually you'll also be able to share it via MMS. Alas, I accidently tapped the "trim" button on the screen and lost scenes I wanted to keep.

Apple also improved the digital camera on the 3G S, though I still find shooting with it a bit awkward. The auto-focus camera is up to 3 megapixels, compared with 2 megapixels on the 3G model. You can tap an object in the frame that's not in the center to have the iPhone shift its focus there and adjust the white balance. The new camera does a pretty good job on really close-up shots. There's still no flash for snapping low-light pictures.

•Copy and paste. Copy and paste have been a staple on computers for years. I've moaned about not having it on the iPhone. Now, you can cut, copy and paste text across or within apps.You might copy text from the Web and paste it into an e-mail or note. To select text in a message you're composing, you double tap a word, then drag little grabbers to expand the selection. On the Web, you tap and hold your finger against a text block before expanding it. When done, you tap an onscreen "copy" button. In the place you're inserting the text, you tap "paste." Apple adds a bit of pizazz to this — if you make a mistake, you can shake the phone to undo your last edit.

Shaking is a big deal on the iPhone. If you're playing a song, shaking the device puts you in shuffle mode.

•Search. Aside perhaps from the video camera in the 3G S, search is my favorite new feature. It's a useful way to find people in your address book, songs in your library and applications. I've got several screens of icons for apps on my device, and finding the one I want can be a chore. Now you can find an app in a blink by typing its name in a search box. And search works within applications such as Mail, Calendar and Notes.

•Parental controls. Apple had parental controls in the previous iPhone. With 3.0 software, Mom and Dad gain more leverage. You can now set restrictions based on ratings for movies, TV shows and applications.

•Find my iPhone. It's a clever 3.0 feature you hope to never have to use. If you leave your iPhone in a taxi or restaurant, you have a fighting chance of getting it back. The feature requires a MobileMe subscription. From any browser, go to your MobileMe account. It displays the location of your iPhone on a map. You can send a message to appear on the phone screen to let the person who may have found it know how to get in touch. It can also sound an audio alarm that will be heard even if the phone is in silent mode, useful if your kid slipped the phone under the couch. If the iPhone really is lost for good, you can remotely erase its contents. If you find it, you can restore the contents through an iTunes sync.

The 3.0 software and 3G S phone may not check off everything on your iPhone wish list. But they give iPhone loyalists plenty of new reasons to celebrate.

E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com