Navigon have updated their navigation application for the second time and once again the update is free to existing users.

This release adds Text-To-Speech and iPod controls as well as some other minor changes. The Text To Speech allows the road names to be included in the navigation instructions giving the driver more confidence in the manoeuvre they are making. The iPod controls are also a very welcome feature as previously although you could set the iPod playing in the background if the playlist or album ended then you had to exit the Navigation application to change the music.

Also included in this release are: Location sharing, and automatic day/night mode switching.

The full Navigon Press Release follows:
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The iPhone Dev Team are continually playing cat and mouse with the Apple developers providing access to an open platform and the ability to use any SIM in the iPhone. This is termed as Jailbreaking and Unlocking. Although they had perfected the process for iPhone OS3.0 on the iPhone 3GS they were not going to release it until Apple launched the OS3.1 software. This is because Apple would work out the vulnerability used and close it. The release was pre-empted by the purplera1n jailbreak release using the same vulnerability so there was no reason not to release it.

There are 3 basic steps to Jailbreaking and Unlocking your iPhone 3GS, all of which are pretty simple and can easily be performed by anyone who is reasonably computer literate. I did this on my Macbook Pro. I found it really handy to have WiFi connectivity to download the unlock application over the air.

Warning Before you start this process be aware that you could potentially ‘brick’ your iPhone and this is a risk that you must assume yourself. There is no responsibility or comeback on any of the sites or application developers.
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In the last week we have had a number of announcements from GPS companies regarding Turn by Turn navigation for the iPhone. Yesterday AT&T added their offering to the market available for “FREE” on the iTunes App Store. However it seems that Apple have allowed AT&T to break all the rules…

The AT&T Navigator application is free to download, but to use it you need to pay a monthly subscription of $9.99 directly to AT&T in your monthly billing. This is a double rule break. Firstly Apple states that all applications that require subscriptions or in-app purchases must be chargeable in the first place. Secondly AT&T are openly billing their clients outside the App Store (and assumable not passing Apple any commissions).

Now the question here is are Apple setting a president and does this mean that any developer can use the same principle to provide a subscription service? Or is it that the wireless carrier waves a big stick and demands one-off policy changes. Knowing Apple I would not think it is the latter, but I also doubt it is the former so what is really going on here?
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After the excitement of the iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade coming out yesterday I decided to upgrade my iPod Touch. After connecting to iTunes I was met with a screen telling me I needed to pay for the upgrade.

Woah hold on are iPod Touch users second class Apple citizens? This was something that Apple had kept very quiet in the run up to the launch of the new OS, but I suppose alarm bells should have rung when there was no beta software for the iPod Touch.

The upgrade costs $9.99 on the US AppStore or £5.99 on the UK one.

Well we have been waiting for this moment for a while now, but the Apple iPhone OS 3.0 has just arrived for download. Use iTunes to upload it.

So having looked at the hardware for the new iPhones it is time to look at the software. For quite a while now the new iPhone OS 3.0 software has been in Beta and despite NDAs pretty much everything leaked about the functionality that would be included.

A couple of things that didn’t leak (or were not paid any attention) were items like Video, Voice Control, Access to Accessories, Voice memos, and the Nike+ interface.

For me the main features of the new OS3.0 software are:

• Copy and Paste
• Security
• Faster OS
• Video capture and editing
• Access to accessories
• More bluetooth protocols
• Personal Area Networking
• In App Purchase
• Push Notifications
• Access to Maps in the application
• Access to the iPod Library
• Streaming Video
• Compass support

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One of the big features that has been added to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S has been tethering. This is where you connect your laptop (I was tempted to say MacBook) to your iPhone and use the iPhone as a modem to connect to the Internet.

I have to ask WHY??

I can understand the need to access the Internet wirelessly while you are out and about but why use the iPhone. There are some great deals right now where you can get USB stick modems for next to nothing (or just paying postage) and you can get a PAYG 3G SIM and get wireless access for about £2.00 a day or £10 a month. This is as cheap or cheaper than tethering your iPhone and you are not using any of your “unlimited” allowance.

If you think that is too expensive then why not just get a USB stick modem and put your iPhone SIM in it. Configure the APN correctly and you are online for no additional charge. It works great with my O2 iPhone SIM. OK you can’t take calls while you are using it but you can still send and receive Text Messages, and there is no hassle about paying extra for tethering.

Today Apple released iTunes 8.2 and Quicktime 7.6.2 on general release. This is the version of the music, video and application manager from Apple that is compatible with the new version 3.0 operating system currently in beta testing.  

The timing of this release is interesting just before the Apple WWDC where we expect at least one new iPhone hardware platform to be released.  The implication is that Apple are preparing the groundwork for a release of the new version 3.0 software in the near future, possibly even to coincide with the Developers Conference in San Francisco. 

The quickTime update includes some security fixes and also support for iTunes 8.2

Click here for more information on Apple iTunes version 8.

With many sites now reporting July 17th as launch day for the 2nd generation 3G iPhone we thought it might be handy to post a round-up of the rumoured feature-set so far.  We can then post back on Jul 17th and see how many of them were correct!

Certainly the leaked images that have been posted look genuine and came from the same site that showed images of the first generation 3G case which proved to be accurate.  So what do we have so far:

• Rubberised coating for rear case
• Illuminated Apple Logo on rear
• 32GB option
• front and rear cameras
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• Video recording
• MMS
• OLED Screen (I pray this is true, OLED is amazing)
• 1.5x battery life
• FM Transmitter
• Compass

So quite a few features that if true will be very welcome.  Certainly the increased battery life is desperately needed and an OLED screen would be ground breaking.  I confess I’ve never really bothered with MMS on those phones that support it, I much prefer email or to tweet an image but I recognise it has been a major omission for those who are heavy users of it.
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