Today Apple announced iOS 4.1, addressing many bugs (like iPhone 3G performance) as well as bringing new features like HDR photography, HD video upload and TV show rentals. Additionally, Apple previewed iOS 4.2, bringing this and more to the iPad.

Apple’s targeted many bugs in the new iOS 4.1, primarily aiming to fix issues with the proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and the iPhone 3G’s sluggish performance. On top of these fixes, a few new features made it into the mix. Additionally, Apple’s releasing iOS 4.2 which will bring these updates, plus a few extras, to the iPad. Here’s what to expect when it’s released next week:

iOS 4.1

What You Can Expect from iOS 4.1 and the Upcoming iOS 4.2

The iOS 4.1 update focuses on photos, videos, and games, bringing automatic HDR photography, TV show rentals, the new Game Center, and HD Video upload to your iPhone.

• HDR Photos – Creating high dynamic range photos has been a popular photographic technique that combines three exposures to create a single image with a greater amount of detail in the highlights and shadows. Apple’s added HDR photography to the iPhone’s camera in 4.1, letting you create HDR images automatically without any of the hard work in post.

• HD Video Upload Over Wi-Fi – Previously, apps were required to upload HD video from the iPhone. Apple’s made the change in iOS 4.1 to allow HD video uploading over Wi-Fi, removing the annoying cap that required sending your HD video in standard definition.

• TV Show Rentals – TV shows have always been available for purchase in iOS devices, but now you can rent them to save a little money and storage space on your device.

• Game Center – Like the XBOX Live of iOS, Game Center provides APIs for developers but is also a new app on the iPhone (available soon via the App Store). You can play with friends, inviting them with a push notification, or be randomly assigned to other players when your friends aren’t available.

iOS 4.2

What You Can Expect from iOS 4.1 and the Upcoming iOS 4.2

Apple is finally bringing the features of iOS 4 to the iPad. Multitasking, app folders, and other features iPhone users have been enjoying for months will be available in November. iOS 4.2 brings a few new features as well. Here’s what to expect:

• Wireless Printing – While there are a few third-party apps that bring printing functionality to iOS devices, Apple’s building printing functionality into iOS itself. Print Center will live in the multitasking drawer and let you choose printers and manage print jobs wirelessly from your iPad.

• AirPlay – Formerly AirTunes, AirPlay is taking over wireless streaming on iDevices and will let you stream audio, video, and photos over Wi-Fi. Along with the new Apple TV, you’ll also be able to shift streams between your devices so you can, for example, finish watching a TV show or movie on the go.

via Lifehacker.

Although Steve Jobs said it was rude to post ‘intimate’ emails with customers, this one could use some spreading. For those who are stuck with an iPhone 3G running iOS, there is some good news:

The new email came in response to feedback sent by a customer who expressed frustration over the performance of his iPhone 3G, calling it “dog slow” and pointing to problems with system responsiveness when scrolling, zooming, and typing.

I’ve waited patiently through 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, looking for a fix that will make my phone work again. I’ve read the forums that advise me to jailbreak my phone or use some other method so I can downgrade back to a version of iPhone 3, however I’m not prepared to use a method that is not supported by Apple.

Jobs’ response was unsurprisingly terse:

Software update coming soon.

Sent from my iPhone

iOS 4.1 Betas on iPhone 3G devices have shown steady speed improvements, though there are limitations with older hardware. Apple was selling the iPhone 3G up until a few months ago ($99 option) so getting a fix in place is important.

Source – 9 to 5 Mac

The network is expecting customers to pay a full £495 up front for the cheaper, 16GB model of the iPhone 4, or alternatively opting to pay £595 for the more premium 32GB iPhone 4 offering. Now, to put that in to some sort of perspective, you can buy the device direct from Apple for only £4 more than that for either model, so hoping for any real subsidisation would ultimately be all but futile.

The pricing nightmare doesn’t end there either, with O2’s pair of price plans weighing in at £15 and £25 more expensive than Vodafone’s offerings, for example. However, for that you do get twice as much data allowance, 500mb. Plus, the added benefit of 1GB of BT Openzone WiFi usage to boot.

The other factor on O2’s side of the fence is the fact that they, along with Vodafone, are the only networks to sell the iPhone 4 directly on a PAYG basis. The others: Orange, Three and T-Mobile, vary in their stance on PAYG deals, with T-Mobile saying it is ‘coming soon’ and others offering micro-sim deals for current iPhone owners.

So, while they may be going in to direct competition with Vodafone on the PAYG front, they do hold an apparent advantage in that the iPhone 4, both 16GB and 32GB, is in stock on the O2 site, contrary to anything you will find on the Vodafone site, for now at least.

Source – Zath