I don't know about you all, but considering I'm not in the market for a pricey, tiny notebook, and I don't need yet another thing hooked up to my TV, the best news I heard at the Keynote today was about this iPhone "January update" (does that mean there'll be one every month?) coming soon to your iTunes.
Included in the free update to iPhone users:
- An updated Maps that will actually find your location automatically by triangulating cell towers (we saw this a while ago), and give you the option to add a pin to the map
- Web Clips, cutouts of web pages that you can attach to an icon sitting right there on the homescreen.
- A customizable homescreen and dock (just hold an icon to get them wiggling, and then move them around as you please), and up to nine homescreen pages total
- The update will also add chapter navigation for iPhone video, and subtitle/audio options as well.
- And though the readers in our IRC channel weren't very impressed with this one, the iPhone will now feature multiple SMS sending.
Very awesome update for the iPhone, completely free and available on download in iTunes right now (!), and definitely an update that will set the stage for all the third party applications we're supposed to see next month. Bring on the SDK!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
1-15-2008 @ 2:13PM
will said...
Wow, that was fast - mine is downloading now.
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1-15-2008 @ 2:13PM
will said...
wow, that was fast- mine is download now
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1-15-2008 @ 2:16PM
badtzmaru said...
Just to let you guys know, Apple also pushed out itunes 7.6, a quicktime update, imovie update and a frontrow update.
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1-15-2008 @ 2:17PM
Ryan said...
How about the atrocity that is the iPod Touch update? 20 bucks for what should of been on there anyway, and for some is :wink:. Not to mention, Apple is again screwing early adopters as all new iPod Touches will come preloaded with Maps, Notepad, Mail, Stocks, and Weather. Way to drop the ball Apple.
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1-15-2008 @ 2:29PM
JGO said...
just wait a month. apple will be sending you a $10 rebate for early adopting ;) hehehehe
1-15-2008 @ 2:50PM
Frank Furter said...
Early adopter? How's that? You bought an iPhone without the phone. We (iPhone users) were the early adopters.
Why'd you buy the device if you didn't think it was worth what you paid? I paid $600 for my phone originally. Why? I felt it was worth it.
Quit whining and mow some more lawns.....
1-15-2008 @ 3:13PM
Ryan said...
First of all, get back under your bridge, troll. Second, some people were in contracts with other phone companies and didn't have the option of just leaving it to shove out 600 bucks. Because you paid more that means I don't get to complain.
I have a legitimate complaint that didn't warrant your response.
1-15-2008 @ 2:20PM
Ted said...
So no mention of 3G iPhone - not even a 16GB version. I'm looking to get one and was hoping at least one of the two would be announced today. Is it a safe bet that neither will be released anytime soon?
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1-15-2008 @ 2:20PM
William said...
I guess I'm missing something, but how come the update for the iPhone is free but is $20 for the iPod Touch?
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1-15-2008 @ 2:50PM
DistortedLoop said...
It's a Sarbanes-Oxley Act thing to cover their butts in financial accounting with the SEC I'll guess. They have to charge you something or they take a financial hit for some reason. $20 seems steep, though.
1-15-2008 @ 5:46PM
William said...
I guess the issue isn't so much how much Apple is charging, but more along the lines of why they're charging. More like the principle of the matter. As someone else pointed out, Sony and Microsoft offer update for their devices [PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Zune] for free and don't have to charge due to some financial law.
I don't know if I would say this is punishing the early adopters, but it does seem odd that Apple is charging for the iPod Touch update but not the iPhone or Apple TV update.
1-15-2008 @ 2:21PM
stuart said...
I am absolutely appalled by Apple. I recently got an iPod Touch, and have hacked it open with Installer App to have all the iphone apps including maps, notes, and mail. Now Apple have finally released an update to install on these officially on the iPod touch - but I have to pay for the privilege!!! yes thats right $19.99 (or an even more unfair £12.99 for us Brits) to get the latest software... cock off Steve Jobs, I will just still to my hacked version!
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1-15-2008 @ 2:23PM
Sam said...
Auch, I have to pay for the iPod touch update. Why? The Apple TV update is free. The iPhone update is free. Ah hell, I'll do it anyway, Steve, thanks, but also %¨L% you and your stocks!
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1-15-2008 @ 2:25PM
Mark Fearing said...
I think the Touch update does make some sense, as it is like an OS update, I can see paying a fee. It's not just a bug-fix. However, the new ultra-portable makes me WISH I was in the market for a laptop!
-M
http://cartoonshmartoon.blogspot.com/
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1-15-2008 @ 2:26PM
Murphy Mac said...
Someone let me know if this update gets the Radio Remote working with the iPod touch? Please?
PS - some people are saying the reason the touch update costs $$ is for accounting reasons. Regardless, the apps should have been included up front.
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1-15-2008 @ 2:36PM
ccarlson said...
Perhaps, but the simple fact is that they *weren't*. If you bought an iPod Touch knowing full well what the feature set was, then you got what you paid for and nobody owes you anything.
Complaining about it now is patently ridiculous.
1-15-2008 @ 2:35PM
ThePete said...
Yeah, gotta say that I'm not inspired to rush out to buy an iPhone or a Touch after today. For a minute I was thanks to movie rentals, but since Steve still didn't say anything about cutting and pasting on the iPhone, I'm sticking with my Sidekick 3. I can cut and paste on that, thanks.
And I've got to say, what's the big deal with the Air? I like the thin and the battery life, but a 13.3 inch screen? Seems to be missing the point of "small". Apple should have something to compete with the UMPCs out there, they don't need something else that competes with other laptops. If they did something like a MacBooklet, a sort of eee with OSX on it, then we'd be talking!
But only a vaguely cool update to the iPhone and Apple TV? I think this is the last Stevenote I'm going to (try to) follow as it happens...
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1-15-2008 @ 2:35PM
Dave Cawley said...
The difference is because of how Apple is handling accounting for the devices. iPhone and AppleTV have their costs spread over a period of time, whereas the iPod touch is counted as a one-time sale like the rest of the iPod line.
It's the same issue that came up with the 802.11n updater for the Rev. A Mac Pro's and others. Apple has discussed this issue in its earnings reports. It's no surprise, and it's not Jobs trying to screw you.
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1-15-2008 @ 2:37PM
vro74 said...
I highly doubt the price was for accounting purposes. The reason they're charging for the iPod Touch upgrade is because they can.
Look at it this way - it's all new functionality that wasn't already on the device - Maps, Mail, etc... Just like they charge for games on the iPod. People willingly bought the Touch without those apps - so now they have to pay $20 to get them.
Yes, it sucks if you just bought an iPod touch - but I think it's not unreasonable.
-V
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1-15-2008 @ 2:37PM
DocRoland said...
The update bricked my iPhone. Lovely. I've tried a restore now with both the old and the new version of itunes and no luck. Anybody have any suggestions? Did this happen to anyone else?
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