UK Iphone Installed with Firmware 1.1.2

The UK iPhone is, externally, identical to the US version. The biggest modification is on the inside and is something that will have nerdgeeks sprinting to online forums in a message-posting furore. We can reveal that the UK iPhone is, in fact, installed with firmware version 1.1.2. Oh, how we wanted to post picture proof last week but would have run the risk of Steve Jobs personally removing our knackers. As well as more keyboard character sets, the updated firmware will have addressed security issues and minor bugs: Great for news overall stability, but it is likely to cause yet another uproar in Apple's loyal fanbase, as Apple is sure to have closed up the security loopholes (such as the TIFF exploit) which allowed people to hack the iPhone to run their own software.

The UK iPhone works just the same way as one bought from the states. However, having a solid week to play around on the o2 network meant we could road-test the experiences of iBlighty come 9 November. And impressed we were. Early reservations about the iPhone's lack of 3G were dampened with how well EDGE copes with Safari page loading (around 10 secs), Google map finding, email downloading and other net-based apps (weather and stocks). Glen did mention, however, that because we were testing in Beta, we might not reach warp speeds until the ninth. So, a chunky double thumbs up, although we'd like to see a greater selection of UK weather locations and an improved pop-up blocker - a roguish couple escaped the net.

Web-surfing on the iPhone is simply the best example of internet browsing on a handheld device. Ever. Zooming is smooth, pages look great thanks to its super-sharp screen and the virtual keyboard is quick to learn - we were double finger pecking within a few days. And now that IMAP has been added for Gmail, we were living the mobile office dream.

A nice piece of insider info: If you've signed up to an o2 contract before 18 Sep 2007, you can break it and jump onto an iPhone plan without incurring any leaving or contract-moving costs. You'll be able to keep your old handset too.

source: t3