iOS 5.0.1

Siri still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve. According to the German website Macerkopf.de, iOS 5.1 will enable Siri to control your iPhone's hardware by the end of this year. This should allow Siri to do more than tell you where the nearest coffee shop is located by giving the voice assistant more control over your device.

If true, iPhone 4S users will be able to ask Siri to do things like shoot video, or turn off their Bluetooth when they get home from the office. Macerkopf.de isn't known for the most accurate iPhone predictions, but Apple needs to do something to make Siri more useful. I know the novelty of the voice assistant has worn off for some.

Even after Apple released iOS 5.0.1 to address complaints about iPhone battery life issues, people are still experiencing unexpected battery drain. What originally seemed like a few isolated incidents on Friday, has grown into a pile of new complaints on the Apple support forums. Some iPhone 4S owners are claiming iOS 5.0.1 did nothing to fix their battery problems.

Apple responded to the new complaints by releasing a brief statement to AllThingsD.

“The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices. We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.”

Those looking forward to an untethered jailbreak solution on the iPhone 4S should heed the words of developer pod2g, who warns that the iOS 5.0.1 update should be avoided for now. The reason is because security exploits found in iOS 5 have been closed by Apple in iOS 5.0.1. These security flaws, publicized by security expert Charlie Miller, will simplify the untethered jailbreak process on the iPhone 4S.

If you're concerned about the security flaws, there are no reports of any malicious software actually using these exploits to do harm. Regardless, after the iPhone 4S is fully jailbroken developers will patch iOS 5 on their own with updates available through the Cydia jailbreak app store. The point is that if you plan to jailbreak your iPhone 4S untethered in the near future, the iOS 5.0.1 update should be avoided until further information is available.

Apple has recently admitted its devices running iOS 5 are experiencing battery life issues, and the company is planning to launch a fix in the next iOS firmware update. iOS 5.0.1 beta has been released to developers and promises to correct several issues affecting battery life in the mobile operating system. Several iPhone 4S owners have reported less than expected battery life and are awaiting the public release of the fix.

After a period of silence, Apple has finally announced they have found a few bugs responsible for the short battery life and expect to release iOS 5.0.1 to the public within a few weeks. In the meantime, iPhone 4S users and others running iOS 5 have looked to temporary fixes to improve iPhone battery life until the official fix is released.

Last week, Apple engineers were reportedly looking into complaints about unexplained iPhone 4S battery drain. On Wednesday, the company officially acknowledged the problem and said they are currently working on a fix.

Apple told Jim Dalrymple of The Loop:

“A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”