More iPhone OS 3.1 beta improvements discovered

Apple's iPhone OS 3.1 beta 3 introduces new features that are subtle, but interesting. Our readers have discovered a handful of these and passed them along to us. Check them out below.

• A counter for tethered data appears alongside cellular data usage in the network settings.

• A new, improved security feature for pass-locked phones prompts for a PIN the first time an iPhone is attached to a new computer for syncing. The phone won't connect without the PIN being entered first. iTunes already had this feature, but the protective measure now works in more apps, including PhoneView.

• Copy and paste for videos has been improved, allowing you to capture and share bigger files. The limit now appears to be 15MB for photos and videos, according to WhenWillApple, which posted the below video demo of this cut-and-paste feature:

Some smaller additions to iPhone OS 3.1 beta include:

• Live HTTP streaming has failover support that allows the content provider to make available multiple playlists in a queue, so that if one fails to load properly you can easily switch over to another.
• Third-party applications are supported by Bluetooth audio recording.
• New iPhone SDK APIs allow developers access to the iPhone camera, which has started people talking about augmented-reality apps.

If you've seen and used this latest update, please tell us in the comments about any other discoveries you've found.