Early in the evening on Aug. 4, Apple released a firmware update for the iPhone. The new version -- 2.0.1 -- was issued to fix bugs. Does it fix anything, and did it add any new functionality?The stability of iPhone firmware 2.0 already has been properly lambasted by the media and users alike. Application crashes, keyboard lag, and other issues made the new firmware less than a joy to use. In fact, quite the opposite, it was often infuriating. Apple heard our pleas, and issued a firmware update for the device less than 30 days after its release.

The firmware download was a whopping 250 MB. It took a few moments to download, but the install process took far less time than I imagined it would. I was up and running with the new software in less than 30 minutes. (My iPhone had been trapped into lengthy sync cycles in the past few weeks, sometimes surpassing the 45-minute mark.)

So I quickly set about accessing all my applications. Lo and behold, the darn bug fixes appear to have worked. I haven't had any applications crash since updating the firmware. Crashes were pretty consistent prior to updating. I opened every application, played with it for a few moments, and then closed it. Everything worked as it should.

I also tested out sending some text messages and e-mails. The annoying keyboard lag is mostly taken care of, though I noticed a few short lags here and there. They definitely weren't as bad as previously.

Lastly, switching between pages of the home screens appears to be faster and more fluid.

So far, no new functionality has been reported. But that's fine with me. As long as the darned thing is more stable, that's all I needed for now.