It's official, the 2012 Handa Australian Open iPhone application is live on the AppStore. Boasting a tonne of upgrades and improvements. Player scorecard, tee time reminders and pull to refresh just to name a few.

Included with this years app are comprehensive instructions along with the ability to customize the user interface to allow users to control the order of frequently used buttons.

This version of the application has been completely rewritten from the ground up to take advantage of iOS 5, so if you haven't updated yet plug in your phone and head over to iTunes for much needed update (takes about 45 minutes).

The player tee time reminder sets a 15 minute reminder in the phones calendar so you don't miss your favorite golfer teeing off. Edit, delete or change the details as you wish any time by heading over to the calendar app.

Delve into detailed statistics of each player and discuss their round with your friends as you move around the course. All  information is displayed in large clear font that is easy to read when you're out in the bright day light or viewing your phone behind a pair of shades.

This years course map is incredibly detailed and looks amazing on the retina display of the iPhone 4 and 4S. Each hole of the composite course is easily recognizable with tee and pin icons separated by dashed path that clearly shows the trail of each hole. Select one of the hole numbers on the map and view  details of that hole which includes par info, hole description and an image. If you're not sure where you are simply dop a pin to locate yourself on the course. Very helpful when you're not familiar with Royal Melbourne..

On the technical side the app serves all data from Amazons S3 storage to improve reliability and performance. Individual player data is stored on cloudants couchDB document database cloud storage. Reliability has been improved, now calling all requests asynchronously, reducing UI lag. The UI has been designed 100% for the target audience, larger buttons along with increased font sizes, improved clarity and contrast of font on background colors to ensure all information is clearly visible under bright daylight conditions and from behind sunglasses.

The last thing for you to do is head over to the app store and download the App. It's totally FREE.