As promised during the Apple Let’s Rock Keynote. The iPhone 2.1 Software Update was made available yesterday.

iPhone 2.1 Software New Features

• option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• significantly improved battery life for most users
• dramatically reduced time to back-up to iTunes
• improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• faster installation of 3rd party applications
• fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
• improved performance in text messaging
• faster loading and searching of contacts
• improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• repeat alert up to twp additional times for incoming text messages

Kernel Panic

The first time I tried installing the update I got a major kernel panic, and the black screen wipe of death. Possibly unrelated, but I haven’t had one of those for a long time.

Apple’s Let’s Rock event was a bit of a disappointment for me. Mainly because Copy and Paste apparently hasn’t made it to the 2.1 iPhone software. The upgrade will be available on Friday. Expect:

• faster sync – yay!
• less call drops
• less crashes
• better battery life

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

—Steve Jobs

Also, it seems strange for Apple to drop the 160GB iPod Classic. The biggest iPod you can now get is the new 120GB Classic.

I am not sure about the new iPod nano, either. The new features are cool. Especially the shake to shuffle feature. I like the colours too. I will have to get my hands on one to see what it’s like in the flesh.

The new features of the new Second generation iPod touch look pretty neat.

Really looking forward to downloading iTunes 8. The new Genius feature looks cool. I wonder how it will categorise my music?

Roll on Friday.

there are other parts to 2.1 that were specifically removed from developer seeds in order to keep them secret from the world.

—Jacqui Cheng

My Big Deal Predictions

• iTunes 8
• New iPod nano
• New iPod Touch
• Copy and Paste for the iPhone

If Copy and Paste finally makes it to the iPhone, there will be a revolution. See you tomorrow!

It seems that the whole world wants to join the iPhone Revolution. Even revolutionary and inspirational leaders like Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro want it’s pioneering technology.

Bill Gates and Seinfield have nothing on Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. I thought the BBC didn’t do adverts, but I suppose everyone wants a piece of Apple.

On a more serious note. Pete Mortensen comments that Apple’s latest ads might have run out of Apple juice.

Able to run Microsoft Office isn’t news to anyone who could be swayed by a TV ad. What’s the next narrative? How does Apple start its next growth curve, whether through marketing or design?

—Pete Mortensen

I disagree. The Apple revolution needs to quite rightly focus on Snow Leopard. The Microsoft Exchange support might not be as evolutionary as the iMac, iPod or iPhone. But it’s time that Apple stopped being the rebel, and joined hands, even with Microsoft technologies. I want stable, efficient and fast. Snow Leopard looks like being the Mac cat that will claw it’s way into even the most blue shirted of corporate IT markets. I am expecting something unexpected at Apple’s Big Deal Event. But even so, they have already got most of the iLife right. Let’s see if they can do the "dull stuff" too…

…Back to comedy – You can keep your Viva la Vida, listen to Come The Revolution.

I like nothing more than to put on some cool, chilled out tunes on my iPod. Fridge maker Gorenje want to make it even cooler. They are now demonstrating their new “Made for iPod” fridge, which includes a docking station, charger and speakers. It will go on sale early next year. They don’t see it just as a music device though. Plug in your iPod Touch (and presumably your iPhone) and you have all your recipes, shopping lists and more at your fingertips.

Cool.

Cool Tunes

Here is a selection of cool music for your new fridge.

• Black Ice – AC/DC
• Chill Out – John Lee Hooker
• Chilled Ibiza
• Viva la Vida – Coldplay
• She took a long cold look – Syd Barrett
• Milk and Alcohol – Dr Feelgood
• Orange Juice Blues – Bob Dylan & The Band
• Message in a bottle – The Police
• Milk – Garbage
• Cold Blood – iFingers

Apple have recently released a new software update for the iPhone. Described, just like the previous update – 2.0.1, as a bug fix release.

If like me, you don’t know your Ursa Major from your Ursula Andress, then Starmap might be a useful app for you to download to your iPhone or iPod touch.

Somehow, the developer Fred, has managed to cram the universe into my iPhone. Well maybe not quite all of it, but with 110 000 stars, full ephemeris of the 9 planets and their satellites, 150 deep field objects like galaxies and clusters, plus photos and constellation zodiacal signs – to my untrained eye, it would seem so.

Gazing up at the night sky above the New Forest last night. My wife and I were quite literally starstruck. Watching shooting stars, which I now know were from a meteor shower, was pretty exciting. But it seems the more you know about this sort of thing, the better it gets.

So, I browsed for iTunes apps, and the first application I came across was Starmap. Read some reviews, and promptly downloaded this £6.99 application. There are a few speed issues with pinching the UI, but I can live with the speed. It just amazes me that Fred has managed to cram all this information into a package that only a few years ago would have filled 4 floppy discs. 6 mega bytes is not a lot of space, for all this space!

The starlight, I will be chasing your starlight

—Muse, “Starlight” from Black holes and Revelations

The interface takes a little bit of time to get used to it. Tip: roll your finger over the menu bar at the bottom to get more options, settings and search for stuff. There you will also find an integrated lamp with night vision and adjustable intensity.

Starmap Review Conclusion

Some reviewers have really slated the performance of Starmap. There are also some other similar planetarium apps out there, which I haven’t yet tried. But for a Version 1 release, I think Starmap is out of this world. Fantastic.

• Starmap UK iTunes Download
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I have recently bought a second 15inch Studiospares PA Speaker. I now have a stereo pair of these active speakers.  Totalling 600 watts, this sound-system is hooked up to my Airport Express, and now unleashed thanks to the fantastic Apple Remote iPhone App with the magic of Wi-Fi. This is my new home stereo. Where before the arrival of the Apple Remote it would have become what it is: a clunky, dopey P.A. system for occasional use only and also a pain in the derrière to use on a day to day basis.

My brutishly large and rather ’stupid’ speakers are brought to life with this FREE iPhone App. I can turn up the volume from both my front and back gardens – to scare the beejeezus out of my cat and other dozing visitors! I can now play all my iTunes digital media through my behemoth speakers. I can turn up the volume, search, select playlists, pause, skip and lots more. It’s possibly one of the first apps to really bring this whole digital lifestyle thing to life.

…possibly one of the first apps to really bring this whole digital lifestyle thing to life.

— Apple Remote iPhone App

But wait, there is more. I can also pair up the Remote App to my wife’s and daughters iTunes libraries too, so in effect, this turns my iPhone into a monster iPod.

There are a few gremlins too, but then I need to remember this is a Version 1 release. It occasionally can’t find my library, but 99% of the time it works as expected.

Apple Remote iPhone App Review Conclusion

A FREE but essential piece of kit for your digital lifestyle. This is a FREE, (don’t you love that word?) app that transcends what one expects from digital gadgets. It rocks my world, breathes artificial intelligence into my speaker system, and creates an audio system that I can control with even the most whimsical of touches.

Apple Remote Screenshots

View some screenshots of the Apple Remote app.

Apple yesterday updated the iPhone software to Version 2.0.1 yesterday. This is a “Bug Fix” release, apparently.

My favourite guitar tuner, and one of my favourite iPhone Apps, Guitar Toolkit, has been updated to version 1.1. Here’s all the new stuff…

iPhone App Guitar Toolkit – New for 1.1

• 1600+ chord variations added, including “down the neck” chords
• Ring / Vibrate switch no longer affects whether or not sounds play
• Improved tuner stability, especially for low frequency notes
• The cowbell is dead! The metronome now has 12 different sound effects to choose from
• Metronome sounds are reversible (switch tick and tock)
• Metronome is much more stable and consistent
• 1 new alternate tuning added: Guinnevere (EBDGAD)
• Reference tones made slightly more accurate