iPhone 2.0 software

With a little over half a day to go before the second iPhone’s release in America, impatient geeks have already figured out how to get their hands on the new iPhone software. While I don’t have one of the new models of the phone (and I seriously wish I did), I followed the instructions posted online and downloaded the 2.0 version of the software onto the phone I have. For those unaware, this release allows you to use applications other people have written on your phone.

I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with what’s out so far. To start, Apple released an application called Remote that lets you control your iTunes with your phone. Kinda gimmicky, but interesting. If you’re familiar with the Internet radio station Pandora, they’ve released an application that lets you listen to Pandora on your phone (over WiFi or the cellular network). Similarly, there’s also an AOL Radio application that lets you listen to all its stations over WiFi, and a smaller selection over EDGE. Like I said, since I don’t have a new phone, I don’t know how these apps treat phones on the 3G network.

For information apps, there’s a great app called BoxOffice that lists movies that are playing close to you, what they’re rated on Rotten Tomatoes, and what the showtimes are at the theaters. If the theaters allow you to order tickets online via Fandango, the app does that too. WeatherBug is a much more advanced weather application, allowing you to get weather information from local sources, see live weather radars, and look at pictures of the sky from weather cameras near you.

Facebook has its own app that accesses the site in a way that’s faster and cleaner than the iPhone optimized website. MySpace has a similar app. The New York Times and Associated Press have also put out news apps that load faster than their respective websites, with pictures and videos included.

There are tons of social networking apps, but I’ll mention one in particular I like, Graffitio. It’s like a Facebook wall for physical locations. You can open it up and see and leave messages from people who have been where you are, using the location features of the phone. I imagine it’ll be more accurate for those with the new iPhone and GPS. If you’re around here and you can see it, leave a message on “v64’s house”.

And yes, I got the iPhone Super Monkey Ball, and if you love Monkey Ball, you won’t be disappointed. If you have any questions, leave a comment.