Bjango, developer of the awesome iStat for iPhone, is readying the next version of one of its most successful iPhone apps, Darkness (iTunes link). TUAW got a chance to play with Darkness 2.0, which should be hitting the App Store in the next couple of days, and we explored what is new and improved.

Darkness is a world clock on steroids. Not only does it give you the current time for pretty much any city in the world, it also lets you know what time the sun rises and sets, alongside other specific information such as the the phase of the moon.

Darkness 2.0 is a complete rewrite, sporting a new interface and some enhanced features. For photographers, Darkness is a really, really useful tool because it tells you where the sun or moon will be at any given time. you can also find out the exact time that solar noon (the time of day when the sun appears its highest) will occur in your location, so you can help plan for the best time to take certain shots.

I admit I have a real love for astronomy and other science apps. Mike Smithwick, the creator of Distant Suns [App Store link] has come up with another winner for the space minded. Grand Tour [App Store link] is a $4.99US application that will let you tour the solar system in very smooth and realistic animations. Named after the NASA Voyager missions of the ’70s that explored the outer planets, Grand Tour will let you move to Mars, explore its two moons, and then shuffle off to Jupiter, Saturn and beyond. The program beautifully renders the starry background accurately, as well as presenting the Milky Way.

The app is loaded with information about the planets and moons, and with a flick of your finger you can rotate the planets and see their relationship to the sun and their satellites in real time. You can also speed up or reverse time, illustrating the orbits of the planets and their smaller companions.

Another nice touch is when you look at the earth, the images of the clouds are in real time (updated every 3 hours) so you are pretty much seeing the real thing in the palm of your hand.

Considering that it’s turned out to be one of the most successful products in consumer electronics history, the volume of nay-saying on the iPhone has been constant and ongoing — many dismissed the phone when it came out, when it was announced, and even when it was just a glimmer of a hint of a rumor. Now the New York Times Sunday Magazine (and the accompanying blog The Medium) is featuring Virginia Heffernan’s tale of hesitancy, anomie and frustration under the surely-not-meant to-draw-online-traffic headline “I Hate My iPhone.” Interestingly, just pages away, the paper profiles several successful iPhone developers in a story about the App Store gold rush.

Heffernan’s criticisms of the iPhone swing between the rational (the challenge of adapting to the on-screen keyboard, AT&T’s mediocre coverage) and the surreal (dislike of the device’s “tarty little face” and how it “kept aloof from the animal warmth of my leather wallet”). In fairness, she does admit that she’s not thinking particularly clearly. In the end, she returns to the AT&T store where the sales rep seemed to know that she was a troublesome case, and swapped out her iPhone for a Blackberry.

It may be heretical to admit it here, but it’s true: the iPhone is not for everyone… excuse me, they’ve come to take away my fanboy badge, this will take just a second. There, all done; I’m back.