With having the iPhone with me for the last couple of days, I’ve been pretty fascinated by the neat capabilities/features this little gadget has. As I’ve been reading through the different applications and news regarding the Apple iPhone, I found out that Apple had released a new firmware upgrade (version 1.1.4) through iTunes. It apparently is a minor update and the documentation states that it is mainly to fix some glitches and bugs found in the previous firmware. There have been news from users that the new firmware has somehow improved reception for both calling and wi-fi and that applications seem to run faster. Since most phones outside of the US (especially in Canada) are unlocked for their prospective carriers, I wouldn’t advise users to upgrade their iPhones just yet because although you can jailbreak a 1.1.4 phone (run third party applications), your phone may still remain locked (cannot make/receive phone calls).

Another piece of good news is that Apple recently announced that they will be releasing a Software Development Kit (SDK) sometime in the next few days in an Apple Event on March 6th. What this means is that no longer are software developers locked out of making applications for their iPhones. Hopefully with the public release of the iPhone SDK, it’ll encourage more small developers and programmers to create new and unique applications that big companies like Apple may have not thought of. Apple definitely needs to get the SDK out as soon as they can because Google is right on their heels with their Android OS and the biggest appeal to the software development community is the software is open-source and Google is encouraging third-party companies to produce new and unique applications for their upcoming phones.

Though the iPhone is a revolutionary gadget, there are still many limitations to it’s use. As long as Apple does not have flash capability and their software is locked from the public, the phone will be more of a novelty as oppose to serious competition to the big players like the Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

-Stephen