Apple's iOS 4.1 ships for iPhone next week, will add HDR photos
Apple announced Wednesday that iOS 4.1 will fix proximity sensor and Bluetooth issues, and will add a new feature allowing users to take high dynamic range photographs that produce stunning pictures. The new software will ship Wednesday, Sept. 8 for the iPhone and iPod touch [Updated with HDR photos and details].
Update: Following Wednesday's keynote, the golden master of iOS 4.1 was issued to developers. The new iPod touch, which will be available next week, comes with iOS 4.1 and Game Center preinstalled.
iOS 4.1 fixes
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced that Bluetooth and proximity sensor issues that currently exist with the iPhone 4 will be addressed with next week's release of iOS 4.1. Such problems have persisted since the handset was first launched in June.
"All the bugs that we get mails on," Jobs said. "We think we've nailed a lot of them, and we think you're going to be pretty happy with it."
HDR photos
Jobs showed off the HDR photo capability at Wednesday's keynote in San Francisco, Calif.
He revealed that the new feature will take three rapid photos -- one regular, one underexposed and one overexposed. When the pictures are combined, it creates an HDR photo.
"It's pretty amazing," Jobs said. When taking an HDR photo, both it and the normal photograph will show up in the user's Photos application, so they can compare the two and choose which one they prefer.
Update 2: Included are photos of the new HDR photo feature in iOS 4.1. People familiar with the golden master indicated that the HDR feature is only available when using the Camera application. When sending a photo from the Messages application, only standard pictures can be taken.
Photo on the left taken without HDR, on the right with Apple's new Camera HDR.
HDR photo identified in the upper left corner when in the Camera Roll.
HDR options in the Settings app.
Epic Citadel
Also Wednesday, Apple highlighted GameCenter, showing how easy the application will make it for users to join a friend's game. One title running Epic Games' latest Unreal Engine was demonstrated -- Project Sword -- with a fully interactive 3D environment.
"That's on a phone," Jobs quipped after the title was shown off. "That's pretty remarkable.
Update: Following Wednesday's keynote, the golden master of iOS 4.1 was issued to developers. The new iPod touch, which will be available next week, comes with iOS 4.1 and Game Center preinstalled.
iOS 4.1 fixes
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced that Bluetooth and proximity sensor issues that currently exist with the iPhone 4 will be addressed with next week's release of iOS 4.1. Such problems have persisted since the handset was first launched in June.
"All the bugs that we get mails on," Jobs said. "We think we've nailed a lot of them, and we think you're going to be pretty happy with it."
HDR photos
Jobs showed off the HDR photo capability at Wednesday's keynote in San Francisco, Calif.
He revealed that the new feature will take three rapid photos -- one regular, one underexposed and one overexposed. When the pictures are combined, it creates an HDR photo.
"It's pretty amazing," Jobs said. When taking an HDR photo, both it and the normal photograph will show up in the user's Photos application, so they can compare the two and choose which one they prefer.
Update 2: Included are photos of the new HDR photo feature in iOS 4.1. People familiar with the golden master indicated that the HDR feature is only available when using the Camera application. When sending a photo from the Messages application, only standard pictures can be taken.
Photo on the left taken without HDR, on the right with Apple's new Camera HDR.
HDR photo identified in the upper left corner when in the Camera Roll.
HDR options in the Settings app.
Epic Citadel
Also Wednesday, Apple highlighted GameCenter, showing how easy the application will make it for users to join a friend's game. One title running Epic Games' latest Unreal Engine was demonstrated -- Project Sword -- with a fully interactive 3D environment.
"That's on a phone," Jobs quipped after the title was shown off. "That's pretty remarkable.
Comments
And will 4.1 fix all the problems with 3G iPhones as well? I noticed no mention of that at all. It's hard to get excited about new Apple products when the ones you have are causing so much grief.
He mentioned it quite explicitly. "Fixes for the proximity sensor, bluetooth fixes, and performance fixes for the iPhone 3G."
Game center is nothing I have any interest in.
I guess I will not be updating. Why bother?
And will 4.1 fix all the problems with 3G iPhones as well? I noticed no mention of that at all. It's hard to get excited about new Apple products when the ones you have are causing so much grief.
Must not have seen the same one as I did - the Steve Jobs I saw said (quite clearly in fact) that it "fix performance issues with 3G" as well as an number of other things.
IHTH.
I noticed he said the iPad would get HDR photos too in 4.2, which will come later this year. Guess the iPad will get a FF camera for facetime. The iPod Touch will only have a FF camera too. Can't imagine too many people taking photos with the iPod Touch and the iPad if they only have FF cameras...
Did you not watch the commercials (the slide was a bit unclear but the commercials showed it clearly) - FaceTime WILL use BOTH cameras in the Touch just like in the iPhone.
I wonder how it would really work in real life because you need a tripod to shot the 3 photos --- otherwise they don't line up.
Remember, it's going to take 3 pictures in a fraction of a second. For the level of quality people tend to accept from cell phones they won't even notice the slight crop which will occur at the edges from misalignment when the images are put together.
HDR looks good, but aren't there already tons of apps for that?
Game center is nothing I have any interest in.
I guess I will not be updating. Why bother?
The beauty is it happens instantly and you don't need to launch an app to do it.
HDR looks good, but aren't there already tons of apps for that?
Game center is nothing I have any interest in.
I guess I will not be updating. Why bother?
Plus...
iTunes TV rentals
"Ping"
There's also some back-end changes that you can sign up for a free development account, sign an NDA, and read about.
It's also free. Why WOULDN'T you upgrade?
I noticed he said the iPad would get HDR photos too in 4.2, which will come later this year. Guess the iPad will get a FF camera for facetime. The iPod Touch will only have a FF camera too. Can't imagine too many people taking photos with the iPod Touch and the iPad if they only have FF cameras...
Did you NOT watch the presentation? iPod touch get front AND rear camera's....sheesh! Keep up
Did you not watch the commercials (the slide was a bit unclear but the commercials showed it clearly) - FaceTime WILL use BOTH cameras in the Touch just like in the iPhone.
Ah, you are right. I see that in the pics at Apple.com now. I wonder if the iPad will get 2? It would make sense if it only had the FF.
I wonder how it would really work in real life because you need a tripod to shot the 3 photos --- otherwise they don't line up.
Don't hold me to it, but I believe it's all handled as a series of rapid shots in succession, with automatic adjustments to the exposure. So, it might take 3 shots in a small fraction of a second.
Did you NOT watch the presentation? iPod touch get front AND rear camera's....sheesh! Keep up
Of course the iPod Touch's camera is still limited to 960x720, a far cry from the quality of the iPhone 4's phone. I was pondering an iPod Touch if I didn't get get an iPhone soon (or an Android phone), but the piss-poor photo quality on some phones, such as the EVO, has made me really wary. I'd rather have 1 device (iPhone) than 3 (cell phone, camera, iPod Touch)
Did you NOT watch the presentation? iPod touch get front AND rear camera's....sheesh! Keep up
Unfortunately, having a job, I was only able to partially pay attention and either missed something or misheard something. Sorry to have offended thee.
Apple announced Wednesday that iOS 4.1 ...
"All the bugs that we get mails on," Jobs said. "We think we've nailed a lot of them, and we think you're going to be pretty happy with it."
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Yeah, right. How about using actual heirarchical folders in Mail? I have hundreds of mail folders and they are in a neat compact heirarchy, except on my iPhone, where it is needed the most. On my phone, the folders are all laid out in a hokey expanded fashion, just horrible. I have to scroll to the ends of the earth to find a given mail folder. It's been years with this bug. I have zero faith that it was fixed, as there is maybe one Mail.app developer at Apple as far as I can tell, and he exists just to add stupid things like a To do list implemented as a mail folder. Wow, just like Microsoft Exchange! Make everything a mail folder!
Barf!
The beauty is it happens instantly and you don't need to launch an app to do it.
sorry for being obtuse (and i admit i didn't watch the entire presentation) but isn't "camera" an app that needs to be launched? or is all i have to do now is think about it to make it happen?