For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

I was then showed the Licence Agreement panel. The download began and began to install automatically. With my (allegedly 7Mbps) connection, the update took about 15 minutes. The update is verified with Apple and the process begins.

But then I had a message to tell me that the iPhone could not be updated. The device was no longer shown in the side panel and on the iPhone was a "connect to iTunes" image. I pulled the cable, reset the phone and the same image appeared. This is the first update ever of an iOS device that has given me this sort of problem. This was a blow: I have things planned for today.

When I reconnected, iTunes gave me one option: Restore. It was just as well I had done that backup this morning.

It was restored to factory settings and restarted. "When the Set up your iPhone" panel appeared, I was given the option to set it up as a new phone or to use a backup. The button for this displayed the latest (7.22 am) backup which I used which also restored the phone name (from the vanilla, "iPhone"). When done (about 20 minutes) the iPhone restarts again. The progress bar on the screen went across fairly quickly while in iTunes I was told that the software was up to date: the phone then began to sync automatically. This took ages, but I do note that the reloading of apps seems to take place one screen at a time. I will check the settings later but an initial glance shows that all is well.

In the meantime, I tried the iPad, but ignored the warning about connecting by cable (we live dangerously sometimes). The last backup, should I have needed it, was from the day before. The download was around a minute. It installed, restarted and is just fine. There may be a lesson here.

As a note, from the looks of the online sources, this update was released at about 1am Thai time. A support page (link from AppleInsider) shows information about security changes with the update and some of the problems that have been addressed. At this time, I have seen no reports of others having problems.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.