No copy-and-paste
Still lacking from 2.0 is the ability to copy-and-paste items, and something that likely won’t be created by a third-party developer.

“You’d need it to attach to every application, and Apple’s not allowing applications that can run in the background,” Greengart said.

“If you’re creating your own separate e-mail application, like Gmail for iPhone, you can include copy-and-paste within your own program, but you wouldn’t be able to create a copy-and-paste that works on the iPhone notepad, for example.”

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Also likely to be in abundance at the App Store are GPS mapping and location programs that will work with the iPhone 3G’s GPS receiver, something the original iPhone does not have. Most of these programs will be for purchase, and some will be subscription-based, as they are for other smartphones, at a cost of around $10 a month.

Two free location programs available Thursday were Urbanspoon and iFob. Urbanspoon, uses GPS to help find nearby restaurants, as well as offers ratings and reviews from bloggers and newspapers. The iFob program is a social networking application that communicates directly with other nearby copies of iFob, "enabling people in coffee shops, airports and at any other public hotspot to exchange taglines and easy-to-edit micro profiles," according to the developer, iCloseBy.com.

America Online made available its free AIM instant messaging program. Last week, Google released a version of Google Talk instant messaging for the iPhone.

Another popular instant messaging program, Meebo, is already available through Apple’s Web apps, or applications, site, where there are more than 1,700 programs available for download. As with the App Store, some are free, some are not.

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Many have been added in recent days to coincide with the launch of the 2.0 software and the new iPhone. Among them are games, such as PongMAX, and Keypoint, which lets users create, edit, view and share presentations using the iPhone or iPod Touch. Another program, Blood Sugar, which is free, allows you to track your glucose levels and insulin doses.

Apple is also hoping iPhone users will take to MobileMe, part of the 2.0 software which pushes Web-based e-mail, contacts and calendar information to the iPhone, Macs, PCs and the iPod Touch. Cost of the subscription-based service is $99 a year, and includes 20 gigabytes of online storage. A free, 60-day trial is available.

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