With a little over 3 weeks to go before the final release OS 3.0 - the latest incarnation of the iPhone operating system – is available on general release, just how much can we expect from the update?

Having followed the development of the iPhone OS 3.0 on the O2 network, through our Apple Developer account, I can say that Ive been fairly impressed with both the increase in features and the stability of the Beata releases so far.

The “expiration” of the betas has been an annoyance as a stable beta is, generally speaking, just as usable as the finished article.  With the upgrade process at an average of 3 hours (if you include a backup after the restore) could have been avoided on a biweekly basis as this has been a bind in terms of business hours required.  Over all, however, the new features seem well integrated, stable and bring to the table many of the elements that iPhone users have felt should have been present from the outset.

Its truly amazing what a software update can do in terms of new functionality on the iPhone, as the hardware is more than capable of supporting all the features and functionality you’d expect from a 3rd generation smartphone.  Why some of these features were left out we can only wonder at.

The entire list of features is not yet known, and is unlikely to be general knowledge until the final version is publicly available.  The betas that have been released over the past few months have illustrated just how much more the iPhone can pack in and, indeed, just how much more there could be still to come.

Keep an eye out on 8th June for the final release and you’ll soon be enjoying MMS, Spotlight Search, Cut ‘n Paste, full Bluetooth support and Notes Sync to name just a few!