Premature release
At its recent iPad launch event Apple alluded to iOS 4.1 - the latest version of its increasingly wide-spread mobile operating system - without really dwelling on it. Apple has also recently started promoting the OS on its website without revealing precisely when it will be released, although this week was alluded to.
But not all its global operations seem to be singing from the same hymn-sheet. Eagle-eyed Gizmodo noticed the UK site had published a date - 8 September - which it subsequently changed to ‘coming soon', implying the date wasn't supposed to be up there.
Why Apple would bother to conceal the precise release date is a mystery as it was already known it would come out this week. But such is its marketing department's addiction to secrecy and surprises that it presumably just can't help itself.
There don't seem to be many earth-shattering features in the new OS, but Apple has highlighted the following as worthy of note:
- Game Center - Apple's social gaming network
- iTunes Ping - the new iTunes-based social network
- HD video uploads - self explanatory
- HDR photography - photos capture a wider range of light intensities
Apple had also addressed a few bugs, including one affecting the proximity sensor. iOS 4 only works with the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4.
