After downloading the somewhat anticipated iPhone 1.1.3 update last night and having a day to play with it, after initially low expectations Iv got to say its grown on me. Firstly the Home screen (now screen's) has been updated to allow users to customize it by rearranging icons and adding bookmark style "webclips" to the Home screen which not only remember what part of the web page to look at when touched but even produce a little image based on the web sites design, very nice! Icons can also be re arranged by holding your finger over an icon and they begin to wobble, indicating they are ready to be rearranged to your hearts content! You can even swap out the icons in the Dock and arrange them onto separate Home screens though the Dock icons remain consistent and feels similar to Spaces (A feature of Apples Desktop Operating System.)

Im a big fan of Maps and id be (literally) lost without it and its received a much deserved pampering in the update. Firstly The "Locate Me" feature pings nearby cell (mobile phone) towers/marsts to triangulate your position. Though I thought this would be a bit gimmicky at first I have found it to be very accurate, even to around 5-10 meters in built up areas though this can grow over 200 meters in rural areas! Especially useful for when you get lost in town though! From here you can get directions to nearby Restaurants, Cinemas ect and pretty much any address with a ZIP/Postal code. The user interface has also had a makeover, the cluttered lower menu has been replaced by an elegant eye style button which peals the map upwards in a flip board like fashion unveiling a drop pin button (which lets you drop and drag a pin to wherever you want for safekeeping), Show Traffic and the different views which now has a much welcome new member, Hybrid, which lets you view an overlay of road names on top of a satellite view, which is useful when looking out for landmarks and road names simultaneously.

The iPod also get a gloss of paint which new chapter support for movies as well as lyrics support, which may be a niche market but Im sure more than enough people are going to love it.

The iPod touch wasn't left out in the cold though, new iPod Touches will come pre installed with the update while existing owners can upgrade for $20 (which isn't bad considering it includes 5 new apps (Mail, Maps, Notes, Stocks and Weather) a slightly updated interface to bring it inline with the iPhone.
That pretty much sums up the update, but with the SDK on track for a Late February Launch, more iPhone love should be coming our way soon
keep your eyes pealed!

Tags: iPhone, Apple, Tech, MacWorld, iPod, iPod Touch

1) Apple iPhone
For years I have been searching for the perfect mobile device. A Phone,Web and Email in my Pocket, just like I experience it on the desktop. After going through several so called "Smart Phones" which do everything I wanted, but not very well or where too frustrating and fiddly to be worth the effort Iv finally found my match, and so have several million others! The Simplicity of the user interface is staggering but much like the Mac, still holds allot of power. By replacing tens of buttons with a giant touch screen it makes the device easier to use than any phone ever created, paired with its operating system, Mac OSX it is also the most powerful. It is touch to find fault with Apple's creation with the press and public agreeing, dubbing it "The Jesus Phone" this is probably the best mobile device ever created and has changed the entire mobile industry, much like the Mac changed the computer industry, in the short time since its launch.

2) Sony Playstation 3
The heavyweight of the next gen consoles comes from Sony in the form of their Playstation 3. Its BluRay Disk player and extensive media playback features shows Sony are marketing this as more of an AV hub than games console, but dont think it wont impress for gaming. With its Cell Processor and RSX "Reality Synthesizer" it will come into its own when developers start getting to grips with the machine. Future games such as Killzone 2 should show us what Sony's "Super Computer" is made of. The ability to install other operating systems onto the machine also adds to its appeal letting you use it (with a little technical know how) as a desktop computer.

3) Mac OSX 10.5 "Leopard"
Over the last few years Apple have been steadily improving Mac OSX with a number of major releases, each one pushing it further and further ahead of the competition.
Leopard is no different, building on top of Tiger with improvements across the board, a new refined + consistent user interface and several new features such as time machine which is not only useful but looks out of this world. Under the hood enhancements such as Core Animation (which plays a strong role in the iPhones Interface) provide an infinite playground for developers to push there design and show us all what the "Delicious Generation" is all about.

4) Apple iMac
How do you go about redesigning the most well known and most popular desktop computer in the world? Coat it in aluminum, put it on a diet and give it a beautiful glossy widescreen display of course!
The new iMac is simply jaw dropping, from the elegant slimline keyboard to the glass display the attention to detail is staggering and on that not so is the price, the value for money compared to other machines of the specification is amazing and thats before you start considering Mac OSX Leopard and iLife 08 which come included as with all new Mac's.
Apple Market the iMac as "The Ultimate all-in-one" and do so with good reason, the iMac has everything you could ever want, including an iSight camera & Microphone, Beautiful WIdescreen display, Wireless N & Bluetooth 2.0 as well as a generous array of I/O round the back.

5) Xbox 360 Elite
FInally Microsoft delivered the 360 we had all been hoping for... and a whole lot more.
With its Huge 120GB Hard Drive to compliment the newly launched movie rental store, upcoming IPTV Service and the ever growing marketplace of downloadable digital content, it gives consumers alot more space to play with than the puny 20GB the console launched with.
HDMI was also added to the joy of A/V fanatics and to top it off, a matte Black finish with looks at home with the rest of your equipment. Unlike Sony, Microsoft where extremely generous by throwing in Component, HDMI Composite/Scart and Ethernet Cables as well as a Headset considering the £299 ($450) Launch Price.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, Leopard, iMac, Sony, Playstation, Xbox, Tech