Ginny Mies of PC World wrote on MSNTech that We’re in the midst of the busiest, most exciting time for smartphones right now ─ and there’s plenty more to come.

The Palm Pre and the Apple iPhone 3G S are the smartphone standouts of 2009, but they’re not the only news. Operating systems are receiving updates, new devices are debuting and app stores are growing by the day. Here’s what to look for from the six big operating systems in smartphones today.

Apple iPhone OS 3.0

At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this month, Apple introduced the iPhone 3G S, its third-generation iPhone, and announced availability for the iPhone OS 3.0. While the exterior of the new phone looks identical to that of the iPhone 3G, the real changes are inside. Apple says the “S” stands for speed: The company’s benchmarks show that the iPhone 3G S launches messages twice as fast, loads games 2.4 times faster, and opens attachments 3.6 times faster.

Though Apple has indicated that it changed inside components, it hasn’t directly confirmed exactly what is responsible for the speed boost. Judging by winks and nods from those in the know, however, we’ve come to assume that it has both a faster processor and additional memory compared with the iPhone 3G.

Some performance improvements will be independent of the network, but others won’t be ─ which raises questions about whether you’ll see those improvements over your local AT&T connection. Over the last few years, iPhone customers have complained about AT&T’s signal coverage across the country, particularly in densely populated areas (remember the South by Southwest meltdown?). The iPhone 3G S will be able to work with AT&T’s forthcoming faster HSPA 7.2 technology, but the network upgrade won’t start until later this year and won’t be finished until 2011.

Other new features include a built-in digital compass application and voice control. The camera jumps from 2 to 3 megapixels, too. Unfortunately, Apple did not throw in a flash, but it gets some pretty nifty features nonetheless; for instance, you can control the focus either by tapping on the screen or by using the autofocus feature. Plus, you get the most exciting ─ and long-awaited ─ feature, video recording and editing. Continue reading »