Hands-On Report--iPhone and iPod Touch Software v1.1.2 is Available via iTunes

Apple finally released iPhone and iPod Touch Software v1.1.2 and it is available for download via iTunes. Version 1.1.2 was initially released on the iPhones sold in the UK and Germany beginning last Friday and was available as an unanounced stand-alone download but was not generally available on iTunes until late on Monday.

The Apple documentation states that 1.1.2 contains new features and bug fixes but is generally silent on the details except to refer to the manual.

Here are the details on the security fix:

ImageIO--CVE-2006-3459, CVE-2006-3461, CVE-2006-3462, CVE-2006-3465--Viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Credit to Tavis Ormandy, Google Security Team for reporting this issue.

iTunes downoaded, installed and verified the new software and then it updated our iPhone's firmware. Finally, our iPhone restarted and then activated via iTunes, the latter step being one we do not recall from previous updates.

The new features that were readily apparent are:

• The ringtones list is now separated into Custom and Standard lists. Our custom ringtones added by iToner 1.0.4, which we favorably reviewed, were still there and functioning after installing the software update. Ambrosia is advertising that iToner 1.0.4 is compatible with iPhone Software 1.1.2.
• The General category under Settings now has an International selection with four sub-selections: Language, Keyboards, Asian Font and Region Format.
• There is a battery icon in iTunes' sidebar following the iPhone's name that shows the charge status of the iPhone's battery. This is very helpful since the iPhone's screen is usually off while sitting in its cradle.

After updating, our iPhone ran fine. No issues were discovered in several hours use. We do not have an iPod Touch to test. [Bill Fox]