The lack of 3G support for the iPhone has been a point of contention for many, since it’s announcement. While I too was disappointed, I’ve been heard to say that without the ability to access the iTunes Store directly from the iPhone, it didn’t seem to be quite as big a deal. Well friends, now the 3G-less iPhone appears to be a big deal.
Yesterday Apple filed a patent that would allow mobile devices (Think iPhone, possible forthcoming iPod?, ROKR, etc) to connect to a service such as the iTunes Store and engage in commerce with said service. For the people like me who don’t got college: You can purchase and download from the iTunes Store, directly from your iPhone.
This has been a piece of the puzzle that I’ve felt was lacking from day one. Why have such a capable device (minus the connectivity of course) that can only get its music by docking to a computer? So Apple’s effectively got that out of the way (at least it seems that way). Hopefully now we’ll be hearing a future announcement that the iPhone will launch with 3G capabilities to compliment the rest of its impressive abilities.
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