Apple seeds iPhone 3.1 beta 2 to developers

[AppleInsider]

Apple on Tuesday evening provided iPhone developers with a second beta of iPhone 3.1, the first update to its third-generation mobile operating system, while Mac developers saw a new incremental build of Snow Leopard.

iPhone Software 3.1 beta 2

Beta 2 is only accessible to those with an existing developer account. Released to developers Tuesday evening, the latest beta provides a number of fixes and features, including the ability to connect to and work with a system wirelessly, without the tether of a USB cable.

Developers who spoke with ArsTechnica confirmed the new WiFi connection feature, with one unnamed developer calling the addition “huge.”

No official information is available regarding the upcoming iPhone OS 3.1 as developers are currently under a non-disclosure agreement. The second beta is available at the iPhone Dev Center Web site.

Though the new feature does free up a USB port and allows more flexibility for developers, Apple has reportedly warned that physically tethering is still the preferred method, as it is faster and consumes less power.

As revealed with the first release, 3.1 also adds Bluetooth and video features. Users can now invoke Voice Control using a Bluetooth headset rather than a wired headset or the built-in microphone. When editing video clips, users can save a copy of the trimmed video instead of permanently losing the discarded ends.

ArsTechnica reports that developers cannot install applications from Xcode or debug them via WiFi.

Further additions appear to improve battery life, greater access to video recording features for developers, and possible preparation for adding MMS support for AT&T subscribers.

First seeded to developers at the end of June, the first beta and SDK reportedly included roughly a dozen new extensions for the OpenGL ES graphics library, allowing developers to improve graphics on the iPhone 3GS. Beta 2 reportedly includes fixes for the OS Xcode, as well as other facets of the software.

Mac OS X 10.6 build 10A411

Separately, developers testing Snow Leopard received build 10A411 of the operating system over the next-gen system's Software Update mechanism.

"This Snow Leopard Developer Preview Update is recommended for all users running the Snow Leopard Developer Preview Build 10A402 or later," Apple reportedly told developers. "This update includes general operating system fixes for stability, compatibility, and security."

The latest update weighs in at roughly 730 MB, about half the size of build 10A402a distributed last week.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[scoodog]

Does it fix any of the major problems that many of us have been having with dropped calls on the iPhone 3G since the 3.0 software release?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....readID=2053488

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple has given developers a second beta for iPhone 3.1, the first update to its third-generation mobile operating system.

Beta 2 is only accessible to those with an existing developer account and, on first check, doesn't include any major new features. It appears exactly two weeks after the first beta was released.

As revealed with the first release, 3.1 primarily adds Bluetooth and video features. Users can now invoke Voice Control using a Bluetooth headset rather than a wired headset or the built-in microphone. When editing video clips, users can save a copy of the trimmed video instead of permanently losing the discarded ends.

Further additions appear to improve battery life, greater access to video recording features for developers, and possible preparation for adding MMS support for AT&T subscribers..

[OC4Theo]

My iPhone 3G has been lagging from one application to another. It takes longer time to open applications. Despite full restore, it's still not working at it once did before 3.0.

I hope any update addresses this issue. I don't want to pay for a new 3GS when my 3G is less than a year old. It used to run like a charm, now it is slow.

[iphoniac]

Originally Posted by OC4Theo

My iPhone 3G has been lagging from one application to another. It takes longer time to open applications. Despite full restore, it's still not working at it once did before 3.0.

I hope any update addresses this issue. I don't want to pay for a new 3GS when my 3G is less than a year old. It used to run like a charm, now it is slow.

Well, think about it...Apple would love to get you to buy the 3GS, even if you don't get the discounted price. I believe the term is planned obsolescence or something like that.

[MTO]

I see absolutely no visual changes to SL. It's just as fast as ever though.

[elliots11]

Originally Posted by iphoniac

Well, think about it...Apple would love to get you to buy the 3GS, even if you don't get the discounted price. I believe the term is planned obsolescence or something like that.

That sort of makes sense, but with the iPhone it's a little trickier for everybody to go out and upgrade due to pricing and contracts (not everyone was given the early upgrade deal), so it's really just reflecting poorly on Apple rather than making anyone want to buy the new one.

I've been noticing sluggishness on my 3G as well. It's better than when it was running 2.0, but it's still very noticeable, and it needs more reboots. The 2.1 update fixed the sluggishness and hangs before, here's hoping 3.1 will be a repeat performance.

[arfore]

I had some initial sluggishness as well when I was testing the Beta of 3.0. What seemed to help immensely was to do a complete factory restore, DO NOT RESTORE backup, then reinstall all the apps from scratch.

This should reasonably insure that you have no "left over" files from the 2.x release.

While testing 3.1 Beta I am just doing an "update". At the time of the GM release of 3.1 I will again do a factory restore to insure I have a clean installation.

Andy Fore
http://arfore.com/

[melgross]

Originally Posted by OC4Theo

My iPhone 3G has been lagging from one application to another. It takes longer time to open applications. Despite full restore, it's still not working at it once did before 3.0.

I hope any update addresses this issue. I don't want to pay for a new 3GS when my 3G is less than a year old. It used to run like a charm, now it is slow.

Which apps? I haven't seen this problem on mine.

[alectheking]

Im running Beta 2 on my 3GS and cannot locate that WIFI connecting AI mentioned? Although it does update the carrier settings again (4.5) and also modem firmware to 05.10.01

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by iphoniac

Well, think about it...Apple would love to get you to buy the 3GS, even if you don't get the discounted price. I believe the term is planned obsolescence or something like that.

It makes no sense to even build v3.x for the original and 3G iPhones if what you propose is true, muchless purposely releasing a version that will slow down your system to convince you to upgrade to a new iPhone.

Originally Posted by alectheking

Im running Beta 2 on my 3GS and cannot locate that WIFI connecting AI mentioned? Although it does update the carrier settings again (4.5) and also modem firmware to 05.10.01

Neither can I. I figure it was becase I am on AT&T.

[alectheking]

Neither can I. I figure it was becase I am on AT&T.[/QUOTE]

I suppose so, this network really brings me down.

[ascii]

Quicktime X sucks *even for playback*. This thing has failed experiment written all over it. Hopefully by 10.7 it will be gone and they will be back to incrementally enhancing the real Quicktime.

[ajprice]

Have they fixed the AVRCP bug and enabled it on 3.1 yet?

[solipsism]

Safari in this new SL build is Version 4.0.3 (6531.4). While it’s a whole 0.0.1 higher than the latest Leopard build doing the Acid3 test fails. It gets a 100/100 but tests number 26 and 69 fail by, respectively, taking too long to complete and requiring too many attempts to complete. In Activity Monitor, kernel_task and usbmuxd are now my only native processes that are still in 32-bit. In reference to the kernel, I have the Nvidia 9400M chipset.

edit: I just read that the machines with only the Nvidia 9400M chipsets will have the 32-bit kernel. The CPU is still 64-bit, of course, the RAM can still address 64-bit, the apps can still be run in 64-bit, but the kernel will be 32-bit.

Originally Posted by ascii

Quicktime X sucks *even for playback*. This thing has failed experiment written all over it. Hopefully by 10.7 it will be gone and they will be back to incrementally enhancing the real Quicktime.

I quite like the look and feel of QTX. I have only two gripes. First, I have lost the usefulness of QT Pro in v7.6. I read that it will be available in Snow Leopard but I have yet to see the option and trying to install it as a separate install as not gone well. Second, the CPU usage seems quite high. VLC uses considerably less CPU and RAM, though while it’s now up to v1.0 it still feels awful to use, so I’ll have to stick with QTX.

edit2: The QTX control bar overlay now has a new look. It’s a little more refined than before. Still needs some work and there needs to be some options for QTX, but it’s getting better. I really just want the option for the video to auto-play when double-clicked, instead of me having to then press Play. VLC is now only slightly ahead of QTX is CPU consumption but a couple percent.

Also, Stacks in the dock now have a simple back arrow to press if you are digging into folders within Stacks, instead of have the back arrow being named the folder you are in. The folder you are in is at the top of the Stacks window in an off white font in the charcoal overlay.

[solipsism]

I won’t be installing iPhone OS X v3.1 Beta 2 right away. Even if you are on WiFi the option to tether does not appear. I don’t mind paying the additional fee for tethering as it’s above and beyond the contract that I agreed too, but I like the option and if they aren’t going to supply it then I’ll find a way to get it.

[alectheking]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I won’t be installing iPhone OS X v3.1 Beta 2 right away. Even if you are on WiFi the option to tether does not appear. I don’t mind paying the additional fee for tethering as it’s above and beyond the contract that I agreed too, but I like the option and if they aren’t going to supply it then I’ll find a way to get it.

Its AT&T they are the greediest and most ridiculous network in the world.

[Trajectory]

Originally Posted by OC4Theo

My iPhone 3G has been lagging from one application to another. It takes longer time to open applications. Despite full restore, it's still not working at it once did before 3.0.

Same here. There's a lot of sluggishness when going between apps in 3.0 that wasn't there in 2.1. In 2.1, Safari never crashed on me, however, in 3.0, Safari has crashed at least a dozen times. My iPhone 3G has also rebooted itself twice since 3.0.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by alectheking

Its AT&T they are the greediest and most ridiculous network in the world.

Next to all the others.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Trajectory

Same here. There's a lot of sluggishness when going between apps in 3.0 that wasn't there in 2.1. In 2.1, Safari never crashed on me, however, in 3.0, Safari has crashed at least a dozen times. My iPhone 3G has also rebooted itself twice since 3.0.

This is interesting. It's like when Apple comes out with upgrades to it's computer OS. Some people have a lot of problems, some have a few problems, but most have none.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by alectheking

Its AT&T they are the greediest and most ridiculous network in the world.

Just like T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon qho all charge for tethering, too. There are also many other mobile carriers throughout the world that do the same thing.

[Trajectory]

Originally Posted by melgross

This is interesting. It's like when Apple comes out with upgrades to it's computer OS. Some people have a lot of problems, some have a few problems, but most have none.

Yes, it's never fun to be in the minority. I don't even have that many apps installed and do not jailbreak or any of that stuff. Rarely have problems with OSX updates, but, the iPhone 3.0 update made my phone more unstable.

[melgross]

By the way, has anyone seen a post by "MTO" here at about 2:27 Eastern Standard time, just before "Trajectory's post?

Did anyone get an e-mail with this post?

I have the email, and it lead me to here, which is the proper thread, but his post isn't here. It's now 3:13 EST.

[Amorya]

Originally Posted by ascii

Quicktime X sucks *even for playback*. This thing has failed experiment written all over it. Hopefully by 10.7 it will be gone and they will be back to incrementally enhancing the real Quicktime.

Are you talking about Quicktime X, or Quicktime X Player? The former is the actual code that gets the video onto the screen (that any developer can use in their app), and the latter is the app that Apple bundle with MacOS for users to use to play videos.

I can see how someone might think that Quicktime X Player is a step backwards, but not Quicktime X itself...

Amorya