iPhone v1.1.3 Adds Valuable Features

By Robert on January 22, 2008 10:36 PM | | Comments (0)
iPhone 2008-01

The iPhone software version 1.1.3 that Apple released last week after the keynote address is one of the largest updates to date. Not only does it fix bugs, it also adds new features! Is there anything more exciting to iPhone users (and blog authors) than an update that includes new features? I think not. Which new features made it in to the release, what has been fixed, does it break third party applications, does it brick hacked phones?

Updates that appear in this release include:

  • The SMS application now allows users to send messages to multiple recipients with a single submission.
  • Google Maps now takes information broadcast from mobile towers to approximate your current location. This feature was added by Google to their mobile maps product in November 2007. Calculated positioning is accurate to within a little more than a half mile. The UI was also updated to eliminate confusion that existed with navigating the application.
  • The hybrid view has been added to Google Maps. This view shows street names on top of satellite images. The term 'hybrid' has been replaced with 'Show labels' on the Google Maps web site. It is surprising that the developers of this application decided to go with the old terminology for this feature.
  • Google Maps has a new feature to drop a push pin on to the map. Pins can be moved around and bookmarked. This is a good start, but I would have expected a little more from Apple like different color/shape pins, allowing multiple visible pins, and fewer bugs.
  • Application icons can be repositioned in any order on the home screen. There is also support for up to 9 home screen pages. Tap and hold any icon to rearrange icons or move them between pages.
  • Safari has a new option that allows users to add web site bookmarks to the home screen. There is also a dedicated search button that takes you directly to the search text box -- much better.
  • Official IMAP support for Gmail. Thank you Google.
  • The iPod application has been updated to support the viewing of movies that are downloaded from the iTunes Store. The iPhone iTunes application does not support downloading movies directly to the iPhone, this needs to be done from your PC or Mac.
  • Enhanced video player with support for chapters, subtitles, and alternate language tracks.
  • Lyrics support in the iPod application. Just tap the screen when viewing the 'Now Playing' screen to see the lyrics that exist the current track.

The next iPhone update will likely appear near the end of February when the SDK is released.

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