iPhone and iPod touch Updated To Version 2.2.1

Yay! A new version of software is now available for iPhone and iPod touch. Version 2.2.1, to be exact. Nothing too exciting, but here's a list of changes:

• Improved stability of Safari
• Fixed issue where some images saved from Mail do not display correctly in Saved Photos
• Fixed issue that caused some Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio files to skip during playback

Seems like a worthy update. Safari seems to be getting more and more stable as time goes on. Prior to the last update, I had Safari crash almost constantly. Nice to see that it is continuing to get the love. The update can be yours the next time you sync your iPhone/iPod touch to iTunes. 

Make Your Own iPhone Web Apps

Sometimes, some of the most useful features of an application go unnoticed despite being right in front of your eyes. Take, for example, the ability to make your own web apps for the iPhone/iPod touch right from Safari. This feature is pretty overlooked since the App Store was launched but it can still have its uses.

If you find yourself using a particular webpage very frequently, simply press the + icon on the bottom of Safari. A menu with appear with a few options. Click "Add To Home Screen". 

From here, you can give it any name you'd like. When you are finished, press "Add" in the upper right. Now your home screen will have an app for that webpage.

A useful scenario for this feature would be when accessing webpages that function like applications already. A great example of this is Google. Google makes a great app for the iPhone which lets you access many of their services, such as Google Talk and Google Reader (two of my personal favorites). Unfortunately, it takes a few clicks to reach these pages from inside the Google application. With this Safari feature, you can make an app for each one making them just a single click away from the home screen.

Pretty handy, yes?

500 Million And Counting

Apple has announced that its wildly popular App Store has served 500 million apps since it opened July 10, 2008.  Currently there are 15,000 apps to choose from in the store and they range from productivity apps, games, utilities, and more.  According to AppleInsider, downloads have doubled since early December.  It's not unreasonable to guess that this increase is due to holiday sales of the iPhone and iPod touch.

The App Store is Apple's online marketplace for distributing applications for their popular iPhone and iPod touch platform. It is accessible from the devices themselves or via iTunes. Applications on the store are written by individuals, large companies, and even Apple. Apps are available either free of charge or for various prices determined by the developer.

Have you downloaded apps from the App Store?  Any particular favorites?  Please feel free to post them in the comments!

Topple For iPhone and iPod touch

Who doesn't love a good puzzle game when on the go?  If you are looking for a fun game to add to your favorite handheld device, check out Topple from ngmoco.

Topple may look like a Tetris clone at first, however, the similarities end quickly.  In Topple, you take objects of varying shapes and stack them to the goal line before time runs out. It sounds easy at first but as the shapes get more unique it gets harder to keep the stack from collapsing.

Topple is available free of charge in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.  Click here to download the game (link opens in iTunes).

To see the game in action, check out ngmoco's official site for Topple.