Apple Sells 4 Million iPhones: Software Update Announced
Currently, only unofficial software can run directly on the iPhone, which you must jailbreak first—a process too complicated, too much trouble or too much of a risk for many iPhone users.
As expected, Jobs officially announced the latest software upgrade for the iPhone, version 1.1.3. A video outlining a leaked version of this upgrade appeared a couple of weeks ago. The new features added in the actual update closely matches what the unofficial video walkthrough showed.
Here's what iPhone users gain with the upgrade:
First up, and perhaps most significantly, is the addition of Google's "My Location" service. This upgrade to Google Maps uses cell phone tower triangulation rather than GPS satellites to determine your location.
While less accurate than GPS, this technology is capable of determining your general position and displaying it on a map.
Apple is partnering with Skyhook Wireless in a bid to improve accuracy of the service by leveraging Skyhook's data about 23 million Wi-Fi networks to compliment the information provided by the cell phone towers.
You can also now send SMS or text messages to more than one person simultaneously. Unfortunately, the update doesn’t add support for MMS (picture & video) messaging to the iPhone, which still, by the way, can't take videos.
Other improvements include the addition of support for song lyrics to the iPhone's iPod function and the ability to create as many as 9 custom home screens. A simply flick of the finger allows you to go through them. Home screen icons can now be rearranged as well.
Apple also adds a button in the Safari Web browser to allow users to save bookmarks, called Web Clips, directly to the iPhone's home screen(s). This should be very convenient for those who've made good use of the thousands of so-called Web 2.0 applications—this is software that runs through Safari from a remote location, available for the iPhone.
In addition to the new features listed above, upgrade 1.1.3 brings the iPhone's Mail, Notes, Stocks and Weather applications to the iPod touch. As the iPod touch isn't a phone, Google’s "My Location" service relies only on Wi-Fi wireless to attempt to determine a user's location.
Unlike with the iPhone, Apple is charging iPod touch users $20 for the upgrade. Doesn’t seem very fair, does it?
Both the iPhone and iPod touch will support a new iTunes movie rental service, also announced by Jobs today.
Apple gives you a month to view a movie, which costs $4 for new and $3 for older films, once it has been downloaded. After you start viewing it, Apple allows you to watch the movie as many times as you like.
You can learn more about iPhone/iPod touch update 1.1.3 here.
Source:blackberrytoday.com
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