The New Features of the Apple IPhone 1.1.3 Firmware Upgrade

The Apple iPhone is arguably the greatest phone device of all time. Regardless if you feel it is a great cell phone or not, there are two truths that are undeniable.

• First, Apple is selling a ton of them. Steve Jobs reported in his MacWorld San Francisco Keynote Address that in 90 days, they have sold four million iPhones; that's an average of 20,000 iPhones a day.

• Second, with every new firmware revision, the iPhone is adding new features, and constantly improving.

The iPhone's latest firmware, version 1.1.3, adds some new features that improve the user interface and user experience. The new firmware also dramatically improves both the Google Maps application and the iPod application. Here is a brief rundown of the Apple iPhone's new features.

It may not be third-party applications, but it's close.

One of the largest criticisms of the Apple iPhone has been the lack of 3rd party applications. Apple has contended since the debut of the iPhone that web applications would be enough. Well, they have since relented, and a software development kit is forthcoming. For now however, all of those web applications that have been developed have been given new life. You can create a Web Clip for an application, and that web page will have a quick shortcut on your home screen. This saves a lot of time. The greatest aspect of this new feature is that your web clip will save any zooming, login, or cookie data that you have set.

I have Web Clips for various websites including seeqpod.com, a network speed test, Battle Ship and Frenzic. Having ready access to these websites makes them feel like actual applications. It also automates the process of visiting the site, making productivity on the iPhone a reality.

My iPhone waggles, does yours?

Waggling isn't just for the Nintendo Wii anymore.The iPhone's new home screen management system allows the user to radically adjust and customize the user interface and home screen of the iPhone. You can rearrange the location of any of the icons. Remember the web clipping feature in Safari? Well, if you add more than three Web Clips to your home screen, you can add new pages to the home screen. You can have up to nine pages total of icons on your home screen. Personally, I love this feature. I have broken the applications and icons into user-friendly, contextual groups. For example, I have all my media applications such as my iPod, Photos, and a seeqpod.com Web Clip all organized together.

To activate this feature, press an icon and hold your finger on it until the icons waggle. You can then slide the wiggling icons to their new positions. If you want to move an icon to a new screen, slide it to the left or right of the home screen and the page will change automatically.

I don't have that many friends, but you might.

If you are a texting fiend, then the Apple iPhone 1.1.3 firmware update is definitely for you. The text messaging application has been improved to allow you to send SMS messages to multiple friends.

To do this, simply open the text messaging application, create your message, and then by pressing the blue "plus" button, your contacts will open up. You will be able to send the message to as many friends as you like. Keep in mind that if your messaging is limited, each person you send the message to counts as one message.

Now, an even better iPod.

The iPod feature of firmware 1.1.3 is better than ever. New is the ability to display lyrics to songs (if you have the lyric metadata set through itunes), turning the iPhone into the coolest karaoke machine ever.

You also have the ability to navigate movies by chapter. This was a big deal for me personally. I had several movies on my iPhone that I used for educational purposes. I had to write down my time stamp every time I went to a different movie, and then fast forward the movie to the proper place. Being able to navigate by chapter and have my chapters remembered is a huge boon for me.

Google Maps, Redux

The greatest addition to the iPhone through the 1.1.3 firmware, is the dramatic improvement to the Google Maps application. This application is argued by many to be the "killer app" for the iPhone. In fact, I can attest that the map application has been used by me many times, and in every instance, it was a critical situation.

With the new firmware comes the iPhone's ability to find you. In the bottom left hand of the map application, there is a small "target" icon. When you press this, the iPhone uses data from the surrounding cell phone towers to triangulate your position. I have found this feature works best in dense metropolitan areas. Presumably this is because of the sheer number of cell towers. In my small hometown, my iPhone was able to find me within about two blocks; when I traveled into the city, it was accurate within feet. This new feature is more than a parlor trick. If you know where you want to go, and you know where you are, you can get directions. This feature turns your Apple iPhone into travel GPS device. This adds real value to the phone.

Google Maps is also updated its list of map views with a hybrid view. The hybrid view is my personal favorite on the PC version of Google Maps, so this was a delight for me to see. If Google Maps was the wasn't the iPhone's killer app, it certainly is a contender now.

Last and for me, certainly least.

The final improvement to the Apple iPhone is that of "manual transmission." This feature allows a user to transfer a media file directly to the iPhone through iTunes without syncing the machine. This file transfer is one way (from computer to iPhone), and it allows a user to easily sync their iPhone to more than one computer. While this has never been a concern of mine, I do see how this feature can be very useful.

What's next?

I am excited about the new Apple iPhone firmware. More importantly, I feel that Apple has dedicated themselves to improving an already great device. This is a great feeling. I have had several cell phones (Blackjack anyone?) that were allowed to die into obsolescence plagued with bugs and crippling features. I know full well, that the real upgrade for the Apple iPhone will be when 3rd party applications are available; that is the firmware upgrade that people are waiting for. But for now, my Apple iPhone and the 1.1.3 firmware are good enough for me.