The iPhone (News - Alert) isn't the only thing from Apple that has gotten a makeover. A new version of the tech giant's Web browser, Safari, was released yesterday along with the new smartphone according to PCMag.com.

Steve Jobs (News - Alert) failed to mention the launch of Safari 5 at his keynote address at the iPhone 4 conference, but that does not mean that it was not worth mentioning.

According to PCMag writer Mark Hachman, Safari continues to be available to both Mac and Windows users, and it "boasts a 30 percent increase in performance over Safari 4, plus the ability to select either Google (News - Alert), Yahoo, or Bing as the default search engine."

Not to let us think they could possibly be outdone, "Apple also claims that the Nitro Java engine inside Safari 5 is three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6," adds Hachman.

One of the biggest elements of the upgrade is Safari Reader, which is used for viewing multipage documents online. By detecting a multipage article and formatting it into a single page, it allows users to "display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email," said Apple (News - Alert).

The icon will appear when it senses that a single- or multi- page article is available and will be located to the right of the address bar. When the button is clicked, the article will be relocated into a semi-transparent window and can be read and/or shared through email, says the company.

One of the nicest features for consumers - albeit bad for advertisers - is that Safari Reader automatically strips out ads and some graphics, says Hachman. One downside to this for the consumers is that some of the attached graphics or slideshows that could help readers discern the meaning of an article would be excluded.

Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, raves about the new version. "Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source Webkit engine runs on over 500 million devices," he says.

The article goes on to recognize that "Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video."

 

Despite all these great features, the browser was still subject to being released in the afterglow of the long-awaited iPhone 4 announcement. Should Apple have waited a day or two? Possibly, but soon enough the newness of the iPhone will wear away little by little and Safari 5 will finally have its well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

 

To upgrade or experience the new Safari for yourself, free downloads are available for Windows and Mac OS® X at www.apple.com/safari.