Early last week, I was awake practically all night waiting to update my iPhone 3G to iOS4, Apple’s new operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The much-touted iOS4 comes as a software update. The moment you connect your iPhone to iTunes on your Mac or PC, you are asked whether you want to download, or download and install, the iPhone software version 4.

Naturally, having waited all night, I decided to download and install the update, hoping it would transform my iPhone 3G into a much better phone.

Let me mention here that since only Cellone from BSNL gives you 3G, I took a Cellone SIM card and with a little experimentation, was getting 3G signals. In some areas Internet access was blazing fast but in some downright poor.

Anyway, I was lucky that from my office and home I was getting very decent speeds. It was so good that I was able to watch the FIFA World Cup matches live without any interruption. For those of you who are interested, the apps that you must have are ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup and another called MobiTV. These are not available at the Indian store.

You need to open a free account at the US iTunes Store and ask a friend to send you a $20 gift coupon. Once it arrives by email, all you have to do is click on the link and your iTunes account will show a balance on $20. Just make sure you are logged in to your US iTunes account.

Coming back to the software update, let me tell you the file you have to download is about 223MB. On my broadband it took merely 20 minutes. The installation, however, took me over nine hours when it should have taken around three. That’s because when the new update is installed a full backup of your phone is taken, the update installed and then the device is restored to its original state with all the contacts, apps, mail and SMSes.

What happened in my case was that when the restoration began, after about an hour, it threw up an error message saying “iTunes could not restore your phone due to an interruption”. I tried thrice, but it kept failing. Finally, I reset the device to the factory settings and set it up as a new phone. In the process I lost all my SMSes, but that was about all.

On the other hand, the iPhone 3GS update went smooth. The iOS4 software update has some very cool features. But most of them do not work on the iPhone 3G where you will be able to make folders and have a common inbox for all your accounts. The camera too works better but you will not get support for the iBookstore. If you do a clean install of iOS4, which I did, you will find that the Clock, Compass, Calculator and Voice Memos have been moved to a Utilities folder by default. I suggest you to stick to version 3.1.3 if you own an iPhone 3G. This phone is nearing the end of its life, anyway. Get the iPhone 4. With that you can video chat. Apple calls it Face-Time.

Let’s take a look at the enhancements in the iOS4 software update. If you own an iPhone 3GS, you will get a host of features, which I am listing here. You must update to software version 4. It will transform your phone.

Multitasking: You can run certain applications at the same time without having to close the app you were on. All you have to do is double tap the screen you are on to get to the app you had left opened.

Folders: Organising your iPhone Home screen is easier. Now you can use folders to store groups of apps in one icon. This is a huge time-saver and makes finding and keeping more apps on your device easier.

iBooks: It first appeared on the iPad. iBooks is now available for iPhone users too. Just like the Kindle app, your purchases and page marks are synchronised across devices. Reading a book is a real pleasure because if you touch a word you don’t understand, the dictionary pops up.

Tap to focus video: iPhone 3GS owners can now tap to focus their videos just like you can when taking still shots. The new software also includes a 5x digital zoom for the built-in camera.

Bluetooth keyboard support: You can now pair your iPhone with a Bluetooth keyboard, which will make typing long documents easier.

Spell check: Misspelt words will now appear in red in all writing apps in iOS4.

Text-Replace: Cut, copy and paste now come with an added feature called “replace” in the pop-up options.

There are many more exciting new features. Update your iPhone 3GS. It is worth it till the iPhone 4 appears around September. The timing of its release in India is just a calculated guess.

App Corner

Find out about some cool games, utilities and productivity apps at the iTunes App Store. Go to www.telegraph india.com/bitsandbytes/appcorner.

Send your computer- related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com. The solutions will appear soon.

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