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Apple released the first major update to its iOS 4 operating system today. The iOS 4.1 firmware is available free using iTunes and features several highly anticipated additions to the iPhone and iPod touch. Several important bug fixes are also included in the release (build 8B117).

iPhone 4 owners will be happy that proximity sensor issues experienced under iOS 4 should be improved. Speed and performance issues should also see improvement for those with older iPhone 3G hardware. Bluetooth connectivity problems have also been addressed by iOS 4.1.

Playing games on the iPhone can be fun, but usually it's a solitary experience. Game Center will change that some, with social features and multiplayer gaming. Problem is you're still staring at that little screen by yourself. Enter the Griffin PartyDock. The iPhone plugs right into the dock and now you're talking four-player console gaming on your iPhone.

Four controllers are stored in the dock, which charges the iPhone and provides composite or component video out to your television. Griffin is calling the PartyDock a "media and game dock" for a reason. The unit does more than just play games.

Many iPhone 3G owners have complained of poor performance and other issues after installing iOS 4 on their devices. The new operating system limits features such as multitasking on the older hardware to keep an acceptable level of performance. Unfortunately something went wrong and Apple has been investigating why iOS 4 brought so many iPhone 3G units to a crawl.

Fortunately, the company is poised to release iOS 4.1, a major update that's already in beta 3 with developers. Joel Evans over at ZDNet has confirmed a vast improvement in iPhone 3G performance with the iOS 4.1 firmware update. In fact, he reports that some functions on the iPhone 3G are faster with iOS 4.1 that they were using 3.1.3. This is welcome news for iPhone 3G owners, whose problems were overshadowed by reception issues on the iPhone 4 antenna.

The latest version of Google Mobile for the iPhone features some great improvements, including push notification functionality. The mobile Google app (now at 0.6.0.4416) now features an icon badge with the number of unread emails on your linked Gmail accounts. Push notifications that pop up on your home screen can be sent when a calendar event is about to take place on your Google calendar schedule.

Mophie and Intuit have entered the iPhone credit card transaction game with the Complete Card Solution for iPhone. Mophie, known for its iPhone battery pack cases, developed an iPhone 3G/3GS case that includes a magnetic card reader built in. When the card is swiped, data is encrypted before it uploads to the iPhone to be processed by the Intuit GoPayment 3.0 app.

Mophie is working on an iPhone 4 version of the device. In the meantime, Square features a portable card reader that plugs into the headphone jack of any iPhone or iPad. The two competing payment systems have different costs, with Square being completely free to set up. Complete Card Solution is $179 for the card reader unit and requires a $12.95 monthly subscription.