Leadership

6 Ways iPhone OS 3.0 Will Help Productivity

By CC Holland

Updated on: June 18, 2009 / 3:12 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

There's a lot of hoopla right now surrounding Apple's newest iPhone (the 3GS) as well as its newest software update, iPhone OS 3.0. And yup, I'm right there on that bandwagon; I'm a big fan of my iPhone -- I still have the first-generation model -- and am eagerly awaiting delivery of a shiny new model on Friday.

But I got a jump on things last night by downloading OS 3.0, which became available yesterday morning. Aside from the painful upgrade experience (it took me no fewer than 21 attempts before it was successful -- yes, 21!), I'm thinking it'll be a big boost to my personal productivity.

How? Here are a few examples.

You can now type on a landscape keyboard rather than the cramped vertical one, which is fabulous for people with large fingers or other typing challenges. Fewer errors means less time spent composing and fixing text entries. Good idea!
I absolutlely love the voice-memo function. I'd actually been using a voice-memo app already, but to have it built-in is a nice bonus. And it seems to work more quickly than my existing app; again, that's a time-saver.
You can now e-mail up to five photos at a time, instead of just one. That helps streamline the process when I want to send a client snaps of an idea, or even send pictures of my kids to my family.
Finally! You can now copy, cut, and paste on the iPhone. To me, that was the one horrible flaw of the first models. As a writer, it seemed insane to me that I couldn't manipulate my text in any way other than deleting or physically inserting. Definitely a great new feature.
Spotlight, a search engine for your iPhone, will save me tons of time by sifting through everything (e-mail, contacts, calendars, notes, apps) when I need to find a name or word. No more physically scrolling through data looking for that message! A huge help.
At long last, you can sync Notes to your computer. This was another quibble I had with the original models, and again, it's high time Apple fixed it.

There's a huge laundry list of additional 3.0 features that will also help improve productivity, and if you're interested in reviewing them, I highly recommend iSmashphone's list of the best 40 features of iPhone 3.0.

How do you use your iPhone to help your personal productivity? Are there any other 3.0 features that will make your life easier? Share your thoughts in the comments section.