eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features

iPhone firmware 1.1.3 provides several new features, including Google Maps location detection, SMS (Short Message Service) to multiple recipients and a customizable home page.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Upgrade

To upgrade, it took about 10 minutes to download and install the image.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Fresh Start

After I unlocked the iPhone after the upgrade, I was immediately presented with instructions on how to customize the main screen.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Front Page Bookmarks

I could then add Web bookmarks to the iPhone dashboard, allowing me to access my favorite Web sites with fewer clicks.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – The Wiggles

By holding down an icon for a few seconds, the widgets started to shake, indicating that I could change things around. I could delete my custom bookmarks (top), but not the preinstalled applications. I could, however, move seldom-used applications to a secondary screen, as the iPhone now supports as many as nine pages of icons (bottom left). To move an icon, I just dragged a wiggling icon to where I wanted it.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Google Maps

By pressing the button on the lower left of the Google Maps interface, the iPhone will estimate a user’s current location. The iPhone first attempts to calculate position via Wi-Fi using Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Provisioning System, then falls back to cell phone tower triangulation. A larger circle indicates cell tower tracking.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Manual Reposition

Users can drop a pin on the map, then re-position the pin to better reflect actual location. During tests, my actual location was just barely within the confines of the predicted target area.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Directions

I could use the pinned location as the starting point for door-to-door directions.

eWEEK Labs Tests the Newest iPhone Features – Multirecipient SMS

The new version allows users to send SMS messages to multiple users at the same time. Replies show up in separate threads.