Apple iPhone 2.1 software released: improved battery & stability promised

Could this be the end of dropped calls and flaky battery life?  Apple have released the v2.1 iPhone firmware, as promised earlier this week, and among the promises are a decrease in call initiation failures and mid-conversation drops, "significantly better battery life", reduced backup times in iTunes and better email reliability for both POP and Exchange users.

The firmware will also address third-party applications, with faster installation promised together with fewer bugs, hangs and crashes.  Native apps also get a tweak, with improved text messaging performance and faster loading and searching of contacts.

The 3G signal strength indicator has been reworked for accuracy, and as an added security feature you can now set the iPhone to wipe all user data if ten incorrect passcode attempts are made.  Finally, Genius intelligent playlist creation is introduced.

You can access the v2.1 software by plugging in your iPhone, running iTunes and choosing "Check for update"; it will download (it's a 237.8mb file) and install automatically.  Let us know how you get on with the update in the comments.

[via iPhoneBuzz]