The New iPhone Software

I downloaded the new software for my phone today and have some initial comments.

My two favorites so far are the cut and paste function which is simple and very functional; and the Find my Phone, which seems to be a bit less than completely ready.

I am not sure whether I will use the voice memo feature, which allows you to take voice notes and then send them to people.

The find my phone requires a MobileMe account. It has two features. Both require you to change some settings on your phone and then to establish an initial location. The first is a geo-locator which will find your phone based on signal tracking. I have had uneven experience with the Geo-locator. The site is not consistently available. Thus, when I rung in early in the afternoon - it searched for my phone but was not successful in finding it. A few minutes later I was not able to get into the system. But a second feature allows you to create a text message which can be followed by a prolonged (2 minutes) sound.

The second is an ap to help you locate your phone. I am constantly setting my phone down at home and then forgetting where I laid it. With the second feature you can write yourself a note and ask the phone to play a sound. If the phone is on and even if it is on silent mode it will create a sound to find it. Even when the first locator did not work the messaging did and it worked well.

The stocks application is also much enhanced. It can now work in Landscape mode and the charts display dynamically - so for example if you want to know the price of a stock on a particular day you can move the pointer and it will display it.

There are two features that are not included in the US release. The first is tethering - which would allow you to use your phone as a cellular modem. AT&T has said that will be released later in the year. At the same time you are unable to use the MMS feature with photos (my current phone a 3G does not have video).

I am supposed to be one of the first with the 3Gs and then can review the new phone - but based on a light amount of use - the new software is dandy.