Taking the Plunge: Updating to iPhone 2.0 Software Early

As was previously pointed out here at TUAW, the 2.0 firmware update for current iPhone and iPod Touch users has leaked out a bit early. Some have already taken the plunge and installed it. Still others are waiting for the “official” version from Apple to be released before going ahead and installing it. I’m not one of those humans.

In the interest of doing something so readers of TUAW won’t have to take the chance of a bricked iPhone, I downloaded and installed the new firmware that dawn as soon as it was available. The update process went smoothly and, as expected, all of the media was erased from my iPhone. Fortunately, once the iPhone restarted and began its first sync after the update, all of my previous media (music, podcasts, video) was restored and able to be used again.

At first glance, some of the changes included in the new iPhone interface in iTunes 7.7 include an ‘Applications’ tab and a button to set up your iPhone to work with Apple’s new MobileMe service which, as of that moment, isn’t actually up

and running yet. additionally, after downloading several apps from the new App Store including AIM, Facebook, Google and Twitterific Premium, the iPhone was able to use those new applications without issue.

I additionally downloaded and installed other applications such as Salesforce Mobile, Net News Wire and Remote but so far, have not tested those. additionally, and that specific change in the iPhone 2.0 interface made me very happy, there is now a committed ‘Contacts’ button allowing you to reach your contacts without having to go through the ‘Phone’ button first.

So, it appears that, at least in my case, the iPhone 2.0 firmware is a success. As the day progresses I’ll let you know what else I find. Meantime, whether you have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.

Update: As pointed out by commenters, that update does not seem to work for the iPod Touch. I only tested it on an iPhone so whether you want to try it with the touch, use at your own risk.

[Source] Chris Ullrich