iPhone 1.1.3 upgrade is awesome

Just downloaded the latest upgrade to the iPhone.  While the 1.1.2 upgrade was just some patch fixes, this newest upgrade is really a fantastic enhancement to the iPhone.  Stunning even.  Just one feature to mention: location finding!  Using cell tower triangulation, the iPhone can plot your current location on a map.  Very, very cool.  Click the location button on the Google map, and after a bit of a pause, to do some calculations, the map will zoom into your location, with a circle drawn around the most probable location.

The circle will be bigger or smaller, depending on how accurate the data it’s using.  Sometimes, it hits me dead on to my current location; at other times (like, when I drove along Westheimer, within the loop), it was a bit off, drawing a circle about a mile wide.  In any case, a very, very helpful tool – I guess I won’t be needing a GPS device anytime soon!

Map pinning is a nice new feature too, as is the ability to customize the home screen.  Now I can put my favorite web pages (like the Houston Transtar real-time traffic map) directly on the home screen as an icon, avoiding a few extra clicks – first click Safari, then click bookmarks, then click the Transtar link.  Very convenient.  More apps to come soon, I’m sure, so that’s why they’re making room on the home page.

Stunning.  Now, if I could only think of a cool corporate tax application to write for the iPhone.  Hmmm??!!

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kevin

I'm the founder of Agoric Source, co-organizer of the Houston Python Meetup, director of technology at Newspaper Subscription Services, LP, technology advisor to InstaFuel, active board member of the Houston Area Model United Nations, and occasional volunteer to the Red Cross (during hurricanes or other local emergencies). I'm first and foremost still a software hacker, but with my economics background and business experience, I serve well as a project or program manager, technical visionary, etc.