Cupertino (CA) – There is no better way to respond to a rival’s new product than unveiling a new product yourself. In an obvious effort to steal the Blackberry Storm’s thunder, Apple unveiled a 250 MB update for the iPhone and iPod touch firmware on Thursday night. The software includes an all-new Google Street View, public transit and walking directions, direct podcast downloading on the device, a preference setting to turn the text auto-complete feature on and off and several stability and performance improvements.
The most significant new feature in the v2.2 firmware update is a major overhaul of the Maps application. It now displays the addresses of dropped pins and added a Share Location button that enables users to share a specific location via email that includes a Google Maps URL. The button is shown when the arrow next to a drop pin on the map is clicked. Also new is Google Street View feature that lets iPhone owners navigate through street-level photographs. This feature is not available on the iPod touch.
Street View is activated by defining a location through a pin on the map or by choosing a location from past searches or bookmarks. If there is Street View data on Google's server for a certain location, an orange symbol will appear next to location tooltip on the map. Tap it and the screen animates sideways to switch to Street View. If there is no street view for a given location, nothing will happen. You can rotate the street view by 360 degrees with your finger, zoom in and out or click on arrows to advance in any direction. A handy navigation circle that sits in the lower right corner of the screen shows your position on the mini-map in real-time.
Public transit and walking directions (available in some urban areas) are also new features, which provide travel data such as arrivals and departures of public transportation. There is a new Directions mode for car, bus and walking icons that display recommend transit info on the map. Edit and Start buttons allow users to enter destination data so that the iPhone can calculate the route. The handset then offers step-by-step instructions on how to get to a destination by bus or subway, broken down into phases such as "walk to this bus stop," "wait for that line," "get off on this stop," etc. You can also view up-to-date or future arrival and departure times, check fares and estimate the travel time.
The combination of public transit and walking directions and location sharing enables users to use the iPhone's GPS module to locate you, drop a pin on the map and send your current location to a nearby friend for use as the Transit mode's destination for step-by-step instructions how to get to you. The iPhone is the only smartphone so far to implement public transit and walking directions, while Google Street View can also be found on Android G1.
Direct podcast downloading
The new podcast downloading feature on the handset is why Apple kicked Podcaster application from the App Store that offered the same functionality. You can stream or download audio and video podcasts over both Wi-Fi and cellular network using the iTunes Wi-Fi application on the handset. Apple warns that there may be a limit on the maximum podcast episode download size over the cellular data network. Downloaded podcasts are be copied to iTunes 8.0.2 and are available as soon as you sync the gadget with your computer. More information here.
Safari, Home Screen tweaks, auto correction preference
Apple claims there is a "better performance and more stability" in Safari, in addition to a more search-friendly user interface. A subtle change moved the refresh button inside the address bar to save space while the magnifying glass icon for Google Search has been replaced with a dedicated Google search bar positioned next to the address bar. The change cuts the status bar height in half and increases the screen real estate. Safari now understands App Store links in web pages and automatically launches the App Store application.
Another optimization lets you press the Home button while in any of the nine available home screens to go back to your first home screen. This may be useful to users who install many third-party applications and constantly flip back and forth between the first home screen and others. Reacting to an online petition, Apple has finally added a preference setting to turn the auto-correction feature on and off.
Minor tweaks
Apple says the new firmware resolves isolated issues with scheduled fetching of email and brings several security updates. Formatting of wide HTML email messages in Mail is now improved, while sound quality of Visual Voicemail messages is better than before. The new firmware decreases call setup failures and the number of dropped calls and tweaks the App Store a bit. You can no longer write reviews if you have not downloaded an application and the App Store now positions applications based on the release date on top, resulting in more exposure for new arrivals.
As always, there are some undocumented additions as well. When you delete an application, you are asked to rate it on a one to five star scale. The App Store now allows multiple screenshots on an application's info page instead of one that you can tap to start a slideshow. There is still no sign of a copy-and-paste feature, background notifications for applications and turn-by-turn GPS features.
The most significant new feature in the v2.2 firmware update is a major overhaul of the Maps application. It now displays the addresses of dropped pins and added a Share Location button that enables users to share a specific location via email that includes a Google Maps URL. The button is shown when the arrow next to a drop pin on the map is clicked. Also new is Google Street View feature that lets iPhone owners navigate through street-level photographs. This feature is not available on the iPod touch.
Street View is activated by defining a location through a pin on the map or by choosing a location from past searches or bookmarks. If there is Street View data on Google's server for a certain location, an orange symbol will appear next to location tooltip on the map. Tap it and the screen animates sideways to switch to Street View. If there is no street view for a given location, nothing will happen. You can rotate the street view by 360 degrees with your finger, zoom in and out or click on arrows to advance in any direction. A handy navigation circle that sits in the lower right corner of the screen shows your position on the mini-map in real-time.
Public transit and walking directions (available in some urban areas) are also new features, which provide travel data such as arrivals and departures of public transportation. There is a new Directions mode for car, bus and walking icons that display recommend transit info on the map. Edit and Start buttons allow users to enter destination data so that the iPhone can calculate the route. The handset then offers step-by-step instructions on how to get to a destination by bus or subway, broken down into phases such as "walk to this bus stop," "wait for that line," "get off on this stop," etc. You can also view up-to-date or future arrival and departure times, check fares and estimate the travel time.
The combination of public transit and walking directions and location sharing enables users to use the iPhone's GPS module to locate you, drop a pin on the map and send your current location to a nearby friend for use as the Transit mode's destination for step-by-step instructions how to get to you. The iPhone is the only smartphone so far to implement public transit and walking directions, while Google Street View can also be found on Android G1.
Direct podcast downloading
The new podcast downloading feature on the handset is why Apple kicked Podcaster application from the App Store that offered the same functionality. You can stream or download audio and video podcasts over both Wi-Fi and cellular network using the iTunes Wi-Fi application on the handset. Apple warns that there may be a limit on the maximum podcast episode download size over the cellular data network. Downloaded podcasts are be copied to iTunes 8.0.2 and are available as soon as you sync the gadget with your computer. More information here.
Safari, Home Screen tweaks, auto correction preference
Apple claims there is a "better performance and more stability" in Safari, in addition to a more search-friendly user interface. A subtle change moved the refresh button inside the address bar to save space while the magnifying glass icon for Google Search has been replaced with a dedicated Google search bar positioned next to the address bar. The change cuts the status bar height in half and increases the screen real estate. Safari now understands App Store links in web pages and automatically launches the App Store application.
Another optimization lets you press the Home button while in any of the nine available home screens to go back to your first home screen. This may be useful to users who install many third-party applications and constantly flip back and forth between the first home screen and others. Reacting to an online petition, Apple has finally added a preference setting to turn the auto-correction feature on and off.
Minor tweaks
Apple says the new firmware resolves isolated issues with scheduled fetching of email and brings several security updates. Formatting of wide HTML email messages in Mail is now improved, while sound quality of Visual Voicemail messages is better than before. The new firmware decreases call setup failures and the number of dropped calls and tweaks the App Store a bit. You can no longer write reviews if you have not downloaded an application and the App Store now positions applications based on the release date on top, resulting in more exposure for new arrivals.
As always, there are some undocumented additions as well. When you delete an application, you are asked to rate it on a one to five star scale. The App Store now allows multiple screenshots on an application's info page instead of one that you can tap to start a slideshow. There is still no sign of a copy-and-paste feature, background notifications for applications and turn-by-turn GPS features.