Get ready to upgrade to your mobile browsing experience with the release of Cooliris for the iPhone Version 1.5! This newest incarnation focuses on streamlining your social networking and media surfing on the fly.

Let’s talk specifics.

The first thing you’ll notice is the improved speed. We’ve boosted the app’s performance to make your searches up to 5X faster! This souped-up engine is complimented by a beautifully revamped user interface. Version 1.5’s new, snappier design features simplified menus and navigation with an intuitive feel that works naturally with the iPhone.

Have you tried Bing, Microsoft’s new “decision engine”? Cooliris brings it right to your iPhone, with the ability to surf images through Bing, as well as Picasa Web Albums. And no matter which provider you use, v1.5 provides a Safesearch option.

We’ve also introduced a new feature called “My Social” for full Twitter support. Now you can surf through both your personal and public Twitter timelines. You can even pick new users to Follow and can ReTweet your favorite posts. To log into your Twitter account, simply go to Main Menu > Preferences > Login > Twitter Login.

Now, if that’s not enough, we’ve streamlined things to make navigation smoother and easier. For example, now you can view titles for individual items on the Wall without having to select the item. Also, you’ll never lose the context of any Wall item again when switching to the home screen.

And finally, for the geek crowd, here’s a cool trick: Launch any Media RSS feed from Safari using cooliris:// + Feed URL, and it will launch the feed page into Cooliris! For example, enter this feed into Safari on your iPhone: cooliris://feeds.digg.com/digg/news/popular.rss. What’s cool about this is if you have these Cooliris URLs listed anywhere on a webpage, you can easily launch them from Safari without manually entering the URLs into Cooliris. And as long as you’re logged into your Cooliris account, you can favorite or subscribe to these feeds or Walls with just the click of a star!

So check out Cooliris for the iPhone v1.5 at the iTunes App Store, and enjoy a fluid mobile browsing experience at lightning fast speed. Let Cooliris be your window to a world of media “ and the door to sharing that world with friends and family. Connecting just got a whole lot easier.

Shark Week on the Discovery Channel is pretty much the best week of the year. What could be better than spending a whole week underwater amongst gigantic, sharp-toothed sharks without even having to leave your couch? Have a look!

Unfortunately, Shark Week is more than half-way over. But don’t panic! You can continue to get your shark fix throughout the year by checking out shark pictures and videos through Cooliris. In fact, this clip here is about as jaw-dropping as anything you’ll see on TV. Who knew sharks had hops like that? Jawsome!

What are some of your favorites? Share them below as a Cooliris URL in the comments section! And enjoy the rest of Shark Week!

As far as summer spectacles go, there are few things more impressive than a towering sand castle. Just this past Saturday, the 18th Annual Sand Castle Competition was held in Amagansett, Long Island, which inspired me to do a search through Cooliris for other awesome sand creations. Have a look at these crazy sand sculptures from contests around the world!

My favorite is probably the the folks who built a queen-size bed out of sand. That must beat lying out on a towel! Also, you gotta love the sand dragon eating the sand castle builder, and the Finding Nemo turtles. Great stuff.

What are your favorites? Let us know with a comment below, or paste the Cooliris URL to your favorite one!