iPhone Updates

Two months from now Apple will release iOS firmware 4.2 for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and 3G. The new operating system unifies the iOS mobile operating system and iPhones and iPads (with the exception of the original iPhone) will finally be running the same version. Several new features are coming to the iPhone with the iOS 4.2 release.

The beta version was released to developers by Apple today. One new application is the multitasking Print Center. Print Center will allow the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS to print wirelessly with AirPrint. As long as a Wi-Fi network and a compatible networked printer are available, photos and other documents can be printed directly from the iPhone.

Apple released the first major update to its iOS 4 operating system today. The iOS 4.1 firmware is available free using iTunes and features several highly anticipated additions to the iPhone and iPod touch. Several important bug fixes are also included in the release (build 8B117).

iPhone 4 owners will be happy that proximity sensor issues experienced under iOS 4 should be improved. Speed and performance issues should also see improvement for those with older iPhone 3G hardware. Bluetooth connectivity problems have also been addressed by iOS 4.1.

Many iPhone 3G owners have complained of poor performance and other issues after installing iOS 4 on their devices. The new operating system limits features such as multitasking on the older hardware to keep an acceptable level of performance. Unfortunately something went wrong and Apple has been investigating why iOS 4 brought so many iPhone 3G units to a crawl.

Fortunately, the company is poised to release iOS 4.1, a major update that's already in beta 3 with developers. Joel Evans over at ZDNet has confirmed a vast improvement in iPhone 3G performance with the iOS 4.1 firmware update. In fact, he reports that some functions on the iPhone 3G are faster with iOS 4.1 that they were using 3.1.3. This is welcome news for iPhone 3G owners, whose problems were overshadowed by reception issues on the iPhone 4 antenna.

According to an email from Steve Jobs himself, the latest and greatest iOS firmware version 4.1 will be publicly released soon. Already in beta 3, many features and bug fixes have been revealed by developers and are on their way to iPhone users across the planet. Apple has some finishing touches to add to the firmware before release, which is expected in September.

In the meantime, here's a rundown of what's coming in the iOS 4.1 update. First of all, iPhone 3G users will be happy to hear that iOS 4.1 will improve performance on their devices. Many have complained about sluggish performance and other issues after installing iOS 4.0 on this model iPhone. Subsequent fixes iOS 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 have failed to address the issues.

Apple has released a security fix for iOS 4 and users now have to decide whether or not to install the update. There are pros and cons to installing the update, mostly revolving around whether or not you're interested in jailbreaking your device. The security problem was first discovered and used by the Dev-Team to hack iOS 4 and provide a simple way to jailbreak through the Safari browser.

Now that Apple has released a fix, the developer responsible for the JailbreakMe 2.0 in-browser jailbreak software has made the source code of his exploit public. Let's be clear, the iOS 4.0.2 update will make jailbreaking with JailbreakMe 2.0 impossible, however now that the source code of the jailbreak is public, security threats are bound to multiply.