Last year, I gave my "real user" review of the Apple iPhone.  Since then, Apple has release a few minor updates, but nothing real major until the latest update (1.1.3) that was announced at MacWorld 2008.  I grabbed the new update the same day and have been playing with it ever since. 

I thought today would be a good time to give another quick review of this latest update, and some things I hope to see in coming updates.

Locate Yourself!

The iPhone doesn't have GPS built-in, which for some people is a big flaw, but for me personally it's not that big of a deal.  GPS won't be added to the iPhone with a software update, but they have added what I think is the next best thing.  The "Locate Me" feature uses triangulation with cell phone towers and wi-fi hotspots to locate yourself on the iPhone maps.

From my home I usually get a pretty good reading down to within about 500 feet of my actual location.  Traveling to and from the Orlando area I tested it with very similar results.  So far this is an impressive feature that can come in very handy.

Maps

Staying on the topic of Maps, the update also added some new functionality to the Maps feature as well.  The most notable changes were in the Maps UI, which adds a new page "curl" to access some of the maps options like the changing of views, show traffic, and another new feature.....Drop pin.

You now have the ability to add drop pins to custom locations and add your own names and directions if you choose.  This is real handy for places that don't show up in the map search.

Web Clips

This has to be my favorite new addition so far.  Basically, this allows you to place bookmarks on the home screen of the iPhone.  In addition, you can zoom onto any section in a website, and "clip" that, which will take you directly to that section when clicked. 

This makes navigating to your favorite sites that much easier, and this feature also leads us into the next new addition.

Customizing home screen

Since the iPhone was released, there just wasn't much you could with customizing the home screen without using some hacks.  Well this is finally possible and I would guess leads the way for 3rd party applications which should hopefully start showing up soon after the upcoming SDK release in February.

Clicking and holding an icon will start all the icons to shake, which you can move and delete icons.  You can also have up to 9 different screens where you can store as many bookmarks that can fit.

Overall impressions

I haven't ran into any performance issues with this update, so overall I'm happy with it.  I am still disappointed that Apple hasn't added the ability to delete multiple e-mails, but I'm optimistic this will be added soon.  Supposedly, the SDK will be released in February in which we should see some really fantastic applications coming for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

If you are a user of either of these devices, make sure you have this latest update.