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Apple Inc. unveiled the third version of the iPhone operating system, adding long-requested features such as a cut-and-paste function and giving software developers new ways to make money on their applications.

IPhone developers will be able to sell additional content, such as video-game levels or subscriptions, Scott Forstall, a senior vice president in charge of iPhone software, said at an event today at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. They also will have the ability to automatically update, or “push,” new versions to customers, he said.

The update, available this summer, lets users detect nearby iPhones or iPod Touch media players and share information with them. It’s the first major upgrade for the iPhone since July, when Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs released version 2.0. Apple is counting on the new features to sustain interest in the iPhone amid slumping smart-phone demand and mounting competition from Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.

“They’ve done pretty much everything users and programmers had been asking for,” said Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer at First Empire Asset Management of Hauppauge, New York.

Apple rose $4.24, or 4.4 percent, to $99.66 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have climbed 17 percent this year.

The new operating system software, called iPhone OS 3.0, adds more than 100 new features for users. In addition to being able to cut, copy and paste information between applications, it offers support for photo, video and audio messages.

Major Difference : many minor features announced today add up to a major difference in the new software,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis. “Apple addressed key issues that were leading some consumers to competing devices.”

Apple has added 1,000 programming interfaces that give developers new ways to add features. For instance, they can now embed Google Inc. maps into applications. Developers will also be able to write programs that tap into new accessories, ranging from an FM radio transmitter to a blood-pressure monitor to devices that test blood-sugar levels for diabetics.

A test version of the iPhone 3.0 software developer kit is available today, Apple said.

The new software runs on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch, a music and video player that connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi networks. Apple has sold more than 30 million iPhones and iPod Touches in total, the company said.

Free Upgrade :

IPhone users will get the new software for free, while iPod Touch owners will have to pay $9.95. The operating system runs on the latest version of the iPhone, released last year, as well as the original model.

Apple currently has 25,000 applications in its online iPhone App Store. More than 800 million programs have been downloaded since July, the company said.

The company has distributed 800,000 iPhone software kits to developers, who write programs for delivery though the App Store. Developers get a 70 percent cut of each program sold, with Apple retaining 30 percent for expenses to run the site. Free programs are distributed at no cost.

That approach is being mimicked by RIM and Microsoft Corp., which both plan to open application stores this year.

Apple was the third-largest maker of smart phones in the fourth quarter, ranking behind Nokia Oyj and RIM, according to research firm Gartner Inc. The iPhone is now available in 80 countries via more than 25 wireless carriers, Apple said today.

New Models?

Apple held the event in the Town Hall auditorium traditionally used by Jobs to unveil new products. With Jobs on medical leave through June, the event was hosted by a trio of executives: Forstall; Greg Joswiak, a vice president in charge of iPod and iPhone product marketing; and Apple’s marketing chief, Phil Schiller.

When asked whether Apple will introduce new iPhone models this year or possibly create a scaled-down notebook called a netbook, Schiller said the company had “nothing to announce today.”

Munster expects a new iPhone model from Apple this summer. He also has said that a netbook introduction is possible.

Sales growth of smart phones -- models with computer and Internet functions -- will slow to 8.9 percent this year, a third the pace of 2008, according to research firm IDC. Still, the segment will outpace the total mobile-phone market, which will shrink for the first time since 2001, the Framingham, Massachusetts-based company said.

Apple has sold more than 17.4 million iPhones since the device’s June 2007 debut. The company introduced a 3G model last year that runs on so-called third-generation wireless networks.

IPhone enthusiasts and bloggers had complained about the lack of some features, such as the ability to cut and paste or use Adobe Systems Inc.’s popular Flash video and animation technology. Schiller declined to comment on Flash today.