Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iPhone 2.2 (Updated)
Early this morning Apple released the much-anticipated iPhone 2.2 firmware update, adding significant new enhancements to the Maps application and podcast downloading capabilities, as well as a few other bug fixes and improvements.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already used iPhone 2.1 testing to add GPS capability, while 2.2 previews identified Street View and other hidden interface options. The 2.2 release turns several of those anticipated additions into shipping software.
Apple had also activated podcast downloads in the 2.2 firmware ahead of release, making the update a combined location and media-use upgrade rather than a maintenance patch.
First-order effects
- iPhone users gain Street View, transit and walking directions, email location sharing, and over-the-air podcast downloads, expanding what Apple’s handset can do away from a computer.
- Apple strengthens the iPhone’s Maps and podcast experience through a firmware update, alongside the stated bug fixes and improvements.
Second-order effects
- Apple’s iTunes podcast offering becomes more useful on the handset itself because users can obtain episodes directly rather than treating the phone solely as a synced destination.
- The addition of Street View and route options raises the value of the iPhone’s location features, extending the GPS-focused work Apple had pursued in the 2.1 firmware beta.
Third-order effects
- Frequent firmware releases are making the iPhone a software-defined product whose mapping and media capabilities can expand after purchase, concentrating more of the user experience under Apple’s update cycle.
- If Apple continues to pair location services with downloadable media in system updates, handset competition will increasingly turn on integrated software services as well as hardware specifications.
The trend: The iPhone is evolving through firmware into a connected software platform, with mapping and media features becoming recurring sources of product differentiation.