iPhone 2.2 Software Update

I tried out the new features in the iPhone 2.2 Software Update today.

• Safari: Stability improvements caught my attention.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  Zoobird, a Ning-based network for organic gardeners I've created has a tendency to crash Safari, as does Codetown, a similarly constructed Ning network I made for software developers. So far, so good. No crashes! The address box and search box share one line for added real estate. Nice.




• Google Street Views are enhanced so that you can see a 360 degree view by clicking on a map's person icon. Of course, I surfed to 4000 Millennia Blvd in Orlando, FL to see what the OrlandoJUG location looked like from the iPhone.
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  Then, I surfed to Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. It's where we had our first meeting of the SeneJUG, the West African Java User Group. Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't have a Street View of the University of Dakar (but you can see pictures I took on Senejug kickoff night here!) One feature I heard about was the ability to drop a place marker in a location of your choice. For example, sometimes Google Maps shows an address in the wrong location. This feature lets you correct it, and assign the location to a contact, too. You can share the location. So, I dropped a pin close to the university and the coast.
  
  

  

  Not exactly, but close! If you click CajunJUG. Bingo! I dropped a placemark on the iPhone and shared it by emailing it to myself. Just click

  
  
  To test it, I surfed to Swampcast using iTunes and listened to the Pandora podcast. Cool! It seemed almost as fast as streaming.

• A shortcut to the home screen is another new feature. With so many new apps, you can save several moves by just clicking the Home button to go back to the home screen. Nice!