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In the next week or so, we’ll be rolling out the new Applications site :

http://www.nativeiphoneapps.com

We’re trying not to integrate it into the Sciphone interface, but instead create a whole different division. This will keep Sciphone pure and strictly about wallpapers, and if you’re looking for the latest and best applications, you can visit our applications website. We will be placing a link into the Sciphone navigation to make it easier for you to access the site.

So far, we have over 500+ applications added to the database, and we’ll continue to add to that number as new applications are released. If you have an application or know of one we don’t have in our database, you can submit applications through the site as well. We’ve tried to keep with the Sciphone mentality and make it as easy as possible for you to browse and access applications for your iPhone and iPod Touch.

As I said before, I’m not sure when we’ll have the link online and operational, just thought I’d mention it because I couldn’t keep it secret anymore. We’ll just say an official launch will take place December 25th, 2007. Christmas present for all the Sciphone users!

Also, I wanted to let you guys know that starting next month, we’re going to be switching how the Cash Out Rewards works. Because not everyone can upload wallpapers to the site everyday, it’s not very fair to those who have jobs or family or anything else to deal with. I’m leaning towards a milestone rewards where users can cash out once they hit specific milestones on the site.

At this moment I don’t have all the details, but I’ll work it out and keep you guys updated. For this month’s end though, we’ll keep with the “top 3 uploader” rules. Stay tuned!

- support for iTunes 7.5
- fixed text display for Leopard
- improved email procedure
- fixed alignment bug for Home Screen backgrounds
- a ‘Small Icons’ choice for the (advanced) Home Screen
- fixed ‘vanishing iPod icon’ bug
- a ‘News’ page for up-to-date info about updates bugs and more
- a ‘Make Executable’ function in the File Manager item popup menu

The latest version of iFuntastic allows users to jailbreak their 1.0.2, 1.1.1, and 1.1.2 iPhones, and also provide other customization options. There are directions on how to Jailbreak a 1.1.2 iPhone for free, but some may find this solution more convenient.

Macs have made several cameos on the show in the past. But in a recent episode called “Trail Blazers”, Adam whips out an iPhone (complete with what appears to be Incase’s Leather Fitted Sleeve) and uses the Stopwatch function of the Clock app to time how long it takes for a 7-foot trail of gasoline to burn from one end to the other. That’s much cooler than my last use for the Stopwatch — figuring out how long it took me to walk home.

I’ve only been running 1.1.2 for a matter of minutes, but there are already a few new features. The biggest change, as predicted, is the International support, which you’ll finder under Settings -> General -> International. You can change the language of the entire phone into French, German, or Italian (wait, when is Italy getting the iPhone?); I changed it into French for kicks, so I could check my courriel. You can also enable four additional keyboard layouts: English (UK), French, German, and again the mysterious Italian; doing so puts a little globe icon next to the spacebar whenever the keyboard comes up. Tapping it will cycle through the keyboard layouts you’ve enabled. One nice touch I discovered was that if you toggle into the number/punctuation mode, it replaces the $ key with the appropriate currency symbol for your layout: £ for the UK, € for French, German, and Italian.

The International section also contains an “Asian Font” setting, in which you can pick either Chinese or Japanese (what, no Thai? Korean?). And “Region Format” lets you control how information like date, time, and phone numbers are formatted. You can choose from a bunch of different locales for each language. There’s still no built-in support for Arabic and Hebrew in Safari, though. Apparently some regions get more loving than others.

1.1.2 brings a couple of other small additions as well. The phone’s battery charge now shows up in iTunes, next to your phone icon under Deviccies (pictured above). And your custom ringtones—both those purchased through iTunes and those you transfer with software like Ambrosia’s iToner—now appear in their own “Custom” section of Settings -> Sounds -> Ringtones, above the “System” tones (and all of my iToner ringtones remained intact through the update).

The one downside to the update—which, in and of itself is actually a good thing—is that Apple has patched the TIFF exploit that could be used to jailbreak the phone and install third-party apps. All third-party apps disappeared along with the update. The good news is that iPhone hackers have already apparently cracked 1.1.2, so look for a new jailbreak procedure shortly.

The biggest question for me, which I’ve yet to answer, is whether 1.1.2 does anything about the much-discussed battery draining problems which seem to have plagued many an iPhone user. I’ll be checking it out in the next few days, and shall not rest (or recharge) until I’ve discovered the truth.

[via MacNN]

According to the folks at one UK tech publication—who claim access directly to the horse’s mouth—the new version won’t be restricted to just continental iPhoners: rather, Apple will roll out 1.1.2 to the whole world tomorrow. We still don’t know exactly what 1.1.2 will bring with it, other than presumably a patch for the TIFF exploit, but rest assured that as soon as it hits the tubes, we’ll be all over it like, er, bloggers on a software update.

Now, our U.K.-based friends get to experience the same thrill. At least they only have to contend with one time zone. Anyhow, November 9 is iPhone launch day for both the U.K. and Germany, and, as far as the former is concerned, our colleagues at Macworld UK have already begun chronicling the line forming outside the Regent Street Apple Store in London. (There’s a report from Germany now, too.) Ah, memories — misty-water colored memories.

Be sure to follow all the goings-on at Macworld UK. We’ll pick up a few dispatches here and at the Mother Ship — especially if that rumored 1.1.2 software update rears its head today.