Features That Apple Must Consider For The Next-Gen iPhone

Apple definitely needs to manufacture a smartphone. Before you storm out and remind me of iPhone or iPhone 3G, let me remind you the fact that these things can’t even copy/paste something like a phone number. I’m not trolling when I say that the next-gen iPhone should come with lots of new features as now the competition is harder and with Steve Jobs gone, it’s very likely that Apple will lose some of its notoriety and that is really bad for business.

So, now those guys from Apple are working on a smartphone even if they deny it. Why would they admit it? Then the “aforementioned” competition will steal their ideas and outrun the iPhone as the best-selling phone in the US market. Finally, they will add the long-expected copy/paste feature to the new smartphone, and let’s not forget about video recording capabilities which definitely requires a better camera. This is another big problem for iPhone users – the camera is just crappy as there is no Xenon Flash, no Auto-focus, and no megapixels if you allow me to say this.

Why would the iPhone need a better camera? Nowadays people are spending their time on social media websites therefore they need to share their photos on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter. It’s very simple – we love social media and we want to share stuff like pictures or videos. Another feature that is absolutely necessary is Adobe Flash Player support which is #2 on my wish-list after copy/paste. I’m pretty sure that this feature will be available mainly because Apple announced that Adobe Flash support is coming this year so they wouldn’t lie to us.

Let’s move to the next important feature – the battery. Oh God that really sucks! I don’t know what would they thinking when designed the phone, but the iPhone needs a removable battery with a larger capacity. Maybe they could add some solar cells on it for extra-power, but that would mean a ridiculously expensive phone and we wouldn’t want that even if it saves the world. Another perfect addition would be turn-by-turn GPS, although Google Maps is a perfect substitute, I just happen to like that one better.

Something that Apple has ignored so far is multitasking. I don’t really know why, but it would be very useful. Just kidding here as I would love to chat with my friends via IM, read a story on my favorite website, and to listen to music in the same time. Apple said that the iPhone will not crash if it runs only one application, but I want to have more fun using the phone and I just want multitasking!

A few weeks ago I heard that Apple will introduce Bluetooth A2DP, but I’m not a fan as Bluetooth headphones are very expensive. However, I would really love to see Bluetooth data transfer there, but Apple says “No!” as everything must go through iTunes therefore we’re not going to see anything like this on the next-gen iPhone.

Many people complained about the fact that the iPhone doesn’t have MMS capability. Again, another simple-to-add feature, but Apple said “No!” twice. Why? I never knew what MMS is all about as I’ve never used it. I don’t need it, but I know many users do – I’m just saying that if you would like to share a picture with someone, just upload it on Flickr, Twitter, etc. The problem is that not everybody has a phone with Internet capabilities, or if they do, maybe they don’t have a data plan. OK, Apple just bring MMS to the masses!

Moving on, I never understood why the iPhone doesn’t feature a landscape horizontal keyboard for texting as it’s useless in Safari. Really Apple, what were you thinking? This could happen with a simple software upgrade as I’m sure that many iPhone users requested it and Apple should consider a horizontal keyboard for SMS/Email.

The iPhone would need a hardware upgrade including more RAM and a faster processor. This could be useful if Apple adds multitasking to the smartphone, and I think that 256MB would be decent and it could run many applications. The last thing on the list could be 4G speed, but I’m just dreaming as this will happen in three to four years.

Most of these will happen, but this would mean that the iPhone will become more expensive and during this recession, we wouldn’t want a pricey phone as we don’t have money for it. First, I think that Apple should consider a software upgrade, and then think about the hardware part. The design is cool as it is now, and they shouldn’t concentrate too much on it. Apple will probably launch the next-gen iPhone sometime Christmas, or in early-2010, but that doesn’t matter – everybody wants a close-to-perfection smartphone and the iPhone could probably be that one!

I’m sure that there are many other features that should be added so you don’t you tell us what would you like to have on your iPhone!