The update is free for iPhone 3G users, and there is a small charge of 5.99 for iPod Touch users.

To update your device, you need launch iTunes and connect your iPhone or iPod Touch. Once it is recognised by iTunes, you need to select it from the list of devices and click on the summary tab. Here you will see the option to ‘Check for Update’.

iTunes will connect to Apple’s servers, and after a few seconds you should see this message:

Updating to iPhone OS 3.0

To start the update, click on ‘Download and Install’ and you will then be shown a screen that shows you more information about what is included in the software update.

Update Summary andd License agreement

When you click on Next, the download will start. It’s around 230MB so might take a while to download, so go make yourself a drink while you wait for it to finish. Once the download is complete, it will back up your existing device and begin the update process.

Depending on your download speed, the update process will take around 20-30 minutes to complete. Your phone will restart a few times then it’s ready to use!

If you’re keen to try out some apps that support the new push notifcation feature, then take a look at appadvice.com. They’ve got a list of apps that use push notification and update it pretty regularly.

Spotlight on iPhone

I’m going to start with the Home screen and work my way through. The new things about the home screen that are noticeable so far is there are a few new icons. Its not all that noticeable, but the phone icon, the ipod icon and the messages icon have changed, and now have a more contemporary brushed effect. You’ve also got the new spotlight feature which is really helpful if you want to search for songs, emails or contacts, it searches everything. You just swipe to the right and it brings up the spotlight search screen. Its a really good feature and is surprisingly fast, I thought it was going to lag for quite some time, but it’s quick and snappy. That is it for the new home screen.

Moving on to the phone features, there’s not much added to the this bit, however, when you get a missed call or it shows you your recent calls, it now shows you what they called you from, for example if you called them on their mobile, or work phone you can now see this in the Recent calls screen. So that’s a really easy way of showing where they called you from.

Landscape Typing on iPhone

Landscape Typing:
The best bit you’ll probably find in iPhone 3.0 is that it now has landscape typing. So now when you’re in your inbox, you can view it in landscape, and you can create a new email in landscape too. The only thing I’ve found that I don’t like about this new firmware is that you still can’t delete messages in bulk, you still have to individually select them, which is really annoying. If you have a ton of emails coming through every day, you have to scroll through and it just takes forever. I just want a delete all button, which will just make it all so much quicker and easier.

Onto Safari then, not much new in here, although you have got auto-fill, so when you are on a web page with an address field, once you click in the text box, you now have this new option auto fill which will fill in all your address details for you. The only other feature I’ve noticed, is more of an enhancement than a feature is that safari seems to be a bit faster, not particularly for browsing, but for launching, rotating the screen and launching bookmarks for example. It can be a bit laggy at times, but then this is the Beta version, but I find it does seem to be a bit more nippy when rotating the screen.

Improved Messaging:

Now the messages application is really, really good. There are a lot more new features in here, however they’re not all in the Beta, MMS is not yet supported. You can now view your messages in landscape and not only that, you can type in landscape. I didn’t think I’d like typing in landscape, but it’s so much easier and I’m finding that I’m only using the landscape keyboard all the time now. I was expecting it to be extremely glitchy but it’s surprisingly fast to switch between the two views. Also, you can now delete individual messages, previously you could only delete the whole conversation. Now you can click on edit, select the messages you want to remove and press delete.

iPod & YouTube:

iPod Improvements

Going on to the iPod then, not much new in here, the only thing I can see is a search function, which is really fast and works in the same way as spotlight on the home screen. Also, when you go on now playing it’s got the new shake to shuffle shuffle feature. It’s quite hard to use, because you have to shake it quite a bit, and if you use it when you’re out running, it can sometimes go off which can be a bit annoying, it’s like the new Nano which has the shuffle, but I’m not too keen on it.

I’m going to move on to the new YouTube function, which I love. The real let down of the previous application was that you could only view videos, you couldn’t really do much else with it. You couldn’t log on, you couldn’t comment, view subscriptions, or rate videos. with this one you can see your subscriptions and all the new videos. I do still feel that there is still a lot more that can be done with this application. For example, I wish you could reply to comments and messages you can do what ever you can on your desktop, as it’s easier when you’re on the go. I’m always checking emails when I’m out and about and I think that if you add those features to this app it would be lots better.

Notes & Settings:
Notes have been improved too, you can now create a new note in landscape mode. The new copy and past feature is really good. All you have to do is double tap it, and then press select, select all or paste. You can then either select it all or use the blue markers to select the text that you want. Once you’ve chosen your text, press copy, go to where to where you want the text, double tap and press paste. Now this will work everywhere you go, so you can copy text from notes and paste into email. Its that easy. I really don’t understand why it took them this long to introduce this feature.

The settings screen on the phone have changed slightly, the fetch settings has moved to the mail settings, which I don’t like because I like to quickly change it through the main screen and you now have to go through more screens to get to it and it is a bit laggy. In the general settings there are more options for the home button. For example you can now set it to launch iPod, Camera or Search, also on the search settings, when you go to spotlight you can turn off certain search areas, for example I don’t want spotlight to search my Video’s, Podcasts or Notes. That’s about it as far as I can see on the iPhone 3.0 software at the moment, but this is only the first Beta, so hopefully more features will be added soon.

To see Darryl’s full video review on the new iPhone 3.0 software, it’s available to view now on his YouTube Channel.

Nokia N78

Nokia have just announced a second software update to their latest N-Series handset, the N78. Version 12.046 was released on the 14 July 2008, giving a number of performance improvements:

• Softkey selection
• Bluetooth Stability
• Video Playback
• Email Sending
• Alarm Clock Functions

Unlike the previous update, Version 12.046 will be available to download via the Nokia Software Updater, as well as Over the Air – removing the need to connect to a PC.

To download directly to the N78:

• Click Menu > Tools > Utilities > Device Manager.
• Select Options > Check for updates and follow the on-screen prompts.

The file download for this may be quite large, so we’d suggest connecting to a Wi-Fi network if you don’t have an unlimited data plan. This update may not be available for users of network branded handsets.

To check what software version you are currently using enter *#0000# on your handset.

In order to keep their products up to date, Parrot have developed a Software Update Tool, a quick and easy way to update your Parrot product with all the latest software updates.

NB: The Parrot Software Update Tool is currently only available for Microsoft Windows .

Before starting your upgrade, please read the following guides:

	Download PC drivers for Parrot Bluetooth Dongle and Windows XP (.Zip, 85Mb) Download PC drivers for Parrot Dongle and Windows Vista (.Zip, 75Mb)
	Parrot Photo Viewer flash procedure (PDF)
	Parrot Sound System flash procedure (PDF) Download the Parrot Audio Configuration Tool ver 1.3.1.6 (.ZIP 3,6MB) Using the Parrot SOUND SYSTEM with Mac OSX Leopard
	Parrot Party flash procedure (PDF) Download the Parrot Audio Configuration Tool ver 1.3.1.6 (.ZIP 3,6MB) Using the Parrot PARTY with Mac OSX Leopard
	Minikit flash procedure (PDF)
	MK6000 flash procedure (PDF)
	MK6100 flash procedure (PDF)
	3200 LS-COLOR flash procedure (PDF) 3200 LS-COLOR sending photos to synchronized contacts (PDF) 3200 LS-COLOR wall-paper upgrade procedure (PDF)
	CK3100/CK3300/CK3500 (PDF)
	CK3000 Evolution (PDF)
	Rhythm n’Blue (PDF)
	Easydrive by Bluetooth (PDF) Easydrive using a serial cable (PDF)

Change Your Language

Parrot hands-free car kits softwares are available in 19 languages.

Before starting the update, you can select your preferred language in the configuration menu of the Parrot Software Update Tool.

You can change the language on the following Parrot Kits:

• Minikit
• Photo Viewer ( available in 16 languages )
• 3200 LS-COLOR
• 3400 LS-GPS
• CK3100 LCD
• CK3000 Evolution
• Easydrive

Latest available versions

Check the software version currently installed in your kit (“Preferences” menu, “Information” sub-menu) and compare it with this list:

(Correct as of 11/02/2008)

To know the specifications, read the “release notes.”

• MK6100 : Version 1.03 (release notes)
• MK6000 : Version 1.03 (release notes)
• SOUND SYSTEM: Version 2.10 (release notes)
• BOOMBOX: Version 2.02
• Minikit : Version 1.03 (release notes)
• Photo Viewer : Version 1.03.00.C (release notes).
• Photo Viewer 7” : Version 1.03.00 (release notes).
• RHYTHM N’BLUE : version 6.03 (release notes).
• 3200/3200+ LS-COLOR : version 2.11 (release notes)/ version 2.11a (release notes).
• 3400 LS-GPS : version 2.03e (release notes).
• CK3100 : version 4.17 (release notes).
• CK3300 : version 4.15b (release notes).
• CK3500 : version 4.50c (release notes).
• CK3000 EVOLUTION : version 5.10c (release notes).
• EASY-DRIVE : version 1.05 (release notes).
• DRIVEBLUE+ : version 3.18
• CK3000 : version 3.18
• Software Update Tool : version 3.4.0.1

Sony Ericsson have made all this a thing of the past by launching a software update service that you can do yourself wherever and whenever you want.

There are two ways to update the software on your phone – Sony Ericsson Update Service (referred to as SEUS) and Over-the-Air (referred to as FOTA).

Both methods are simple and straight forward, but the FOTA service is only available on handsets made in the last few years, whereas SEUS is available to pretty much all Sony Ericsson handsets.

Why should I update my phone?
You may not be experiencing any problems or software issues with your phone, so you may not think you need to update it, but some of the updates released can improve features such as battery life, photo quality and improve support for other devices such as Bluetooth Headsets. On some occasions manufacturers may release a completely new feature onto a handset through the software update service.

So what’s the difference?

SEUS is a PC based application that you can download and install from the Sony Ericsson web site. Once installed, the program will ask you which phone you want to update, and then download the necessary updates. In order to use SEUS you will need a PC, a broadband connection and the correct data cable for your phone. Using the SEUS protects your user data and doesn’t delete any of your text messages, photos, videos or contacts. Before you start the update you need to make sure that your battery is fully charged, and ideally should have backed up your data using the Sony Ericsson PC Suite just incase something doesn’t go to plan. You cannot run the update service over a bluetooth connection. SEUS normally takes around 10 minutes to complete.

Click here to go to the SEUS download page

It is very important that you do not disconnect or turn off your phone or computer during the update process as this can cause extreme damage to your handset.

FOTA is a remote update service. Your phone will connect to the Internet and check with Sony Ericsson for any updates to the software already running. If it finds an update, it will download and install it straight to your phone without having to connect to a PC. Software updates are quite large in size, so this method is only recommended if you have an unlimited data plan. A typical update is between 4 and 5 MB, which although is not a lot of data, at up to 2.50 per MB (depending on your service provider) it can prove to be quite expensive.
Using the FOTA option protects your user data and doesn’t delete any of your text messages, photos, videos or contacts. Before you start the update you need to make sure that your battery is fully charged, and ideally should have backed up your data to your PC using the Sony Ericsson PC Suite just in case something doesn’t go to plan. FOTA normally takes 4 minutes to complete in 3G broadband coverage areas, it may take longer if you are not in a 3G signal area.

To check if your phone supports FOTA, go to the Settings Menu, If Update Service is listed you can use the FOTA service. Select Check for Update to start the process.

It is very important that you do not turn your phone off or remove the battery during the update process as this can cause extreme damage to your handset.