Once again, it appears that our friends across the pond get a bit of a jump on us when it comes to checking out the next version of the iPhone’s software. Back in September, they got a sneak peek at the infamous version 1.1.1. Now, ahead of the iPhone’s official drop in the UK on Friday, some British sources are reporting that the models are running version 1.1.2.

Differences? Mainly it seems to be a matter of International keyboard layouts (which we also saw in the UK version of 1.1.1 though they didn’t show up in the US flavor). The only other difference reported at the moment is that the scary TIFF exploit appears to have been plugged. Which just means hackers will have to find a new way into the OS—and undoubtedly, they will.

Me? I just hope that 1.1.2 brings with it a fix for the 1.1.1 battery blues.

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Every time I listen to something on my iPhone, I have to decide whether to use Apple’s stock headphones (which include a microphone and track controls but make music almost inaudible when I’m walking down the street or on the train) or my fancy, custom-molded ear pieces (which seal out background noise and sound great, but don’t give me any control over the iPhone — and require an adapter to even work with the iPhone’s recessed jack to boot).

So I was excited to see that Fastmac today announced its Universal Headphone Adapter for the iPhone. The adapter lets you use any 3.5 mm headphones, and comes in three models: an in-line audio adapter with flexible cable & gold plated connector port ($5); one that adds a shirt clip, built-in microphone and a music playback and phone control button ($10); and finally one that adds to that an adjustable volume slider and noise suppression microphone ($20).

Now I’m not sure how the volume slider will work (can you even control the volume through the headphone port?), but that top-of-the-line adapter is half the price of Shure’s $40 Music Phone Adapter, so I’m definitely going to give it a try.

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Around the time of the release of the iPhone, we first started hearing angry comments from those who wanted to use their phones while abroad. Turns out that even with AT&T’s international calling plans, users often end up being charged exorbitant rates due to the phone’s data capabilities. Apple partially addressed this in the 1.1.1 software update by adding a feature to disable Data Roaming, but now AT&T is doing their part by adding international data plans for the iPhone to the mix.

The plan comes in two flavors, differentiated by a data cap—sorry folks, no unlimited firehose here. For 50MB of data, you’ll pay $59.99/month, for 20MB, $24.99/month. Go over and you’ll pay half a cent for every kilobyte. But wait: there’s more. That rate only applies within the 29 countries in which AT&T has struck their deal. Visit the link above for the fine print. In both cases, you’ll need to add International Data to your existing domestic iPhone plan, so international users looking for a loophole shouldn’t get too excited. Plus, as AT&T spells out, overages can get expensive pretty quick, with each additional megabyte running you up to $20 if you routinely travel outside the coverage area.

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Here’s a tip for would-be trick-or-treaters hoping for a big score at the Michaels homestead next Halloween. Go the extra mile with your costume. Anyone can slap on a pre-fabricated mask and call it a day, but if it looks like your costume required brainstorming, planning, and a rigorous process of peer-review, then the least I can do is make sure some extra candy winds up in your sack. Better still if you can come up with a costume that appeals to my assorted interests and hobbies.

So you can imagine the young lady in the upper left earned herself a fistful of candy when she showed up at my door Wednesday night dressed as an iPhone. You can’t see it in the thumbnail image, but she even went to the trouble of including an AT&T logo in the upper left corner of her phone’s interface — so it’s clear she didn’t dress up as an unlocked iPhone.

A cursory search on Flickr reveals that the iPhone was the costume choice for more than one reveler this Halloween — and that includes trick-or-treaters of the four-legged variety.

So how about you? Did you open the door to any kid-sized iPhones demanding candy last night?

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As we approach the end of the year, it can only mean one thing: looking back and reflecting on 2007. Thus, even with two months left in the calendar, Time’s Lev Grossman declares the iPhone the “invention of the year.” What says Mr. Grossman?

Yes, there’s been a lot of hype written about the iPhone, and a lot of guff too. So much so that it seems weird to add more, after Danny Fanboy and Bobby McBlogger have had their day. But when that day is over, Apple’s iPhone is still the best thing invented this year.

Wait, wait—let’s get one thing straight. Clearly I’m Danny McBlogger, okay? All right. Just so we’re on the same page here.

Grossman goes on to list five features that make the iPhone a standout in its class, namely: good design, the multi-touch interface, Jobs’s “unprecedented” deal with AT&T, the iPhone’s OS X underpinnings, and the Ghost of iPhones Yet To Come (3G, GPS, every lovely gewgaw that users want in their iPhones but Apple has yet to deliver).

So, with the iPhone taking home invention of the year, will the Zodiac replace this year’s “Year of the Pig” with the “Year of the iPhone?” It’s certainly hard to point to any other gadget which has had that much ink spilled on it this year. But really, all it does is get me buzzed about the invention of next year (flying cars, pretty please!).

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