iPhone Software

The iPhone has already surpassed other cameras on photo-sharing sites like Flickr, and iOS 5 and the next generation Apple iPhone are sure to accelerate this trend in the fall. Many improvements are in the works for iPhone photography in the next generation firmware.

Not only this, but the iPhone 5 hardware will likely include an 8 megapixel sensor from suppliers OmniVision and Sony. So what improvements have already been seen in the beta versions of iOS 5? Read on for a complete list.

Sure the iPhone already has voice control commands, just hold down the home button and tell your device to call someone or play a tune. iOS 5 could bring voice control to a whole new level of integration if recent reports from 9to5Mac come true.

Apple has driven speculation that it is bringing improved speech-to-text technology or even voice navigation to iOS 5 since its 2010 acquisition of Siri and recent partnership with Nuance. Both companies currently have free applications in the App Store that heavily utilize voice recognition technology.

Many iPhone owners are wondering whether they should follow the iTunes prompt and update to iOS 4.3.4 or not. There are a few questions you might ask yourself before making this decision to help determine if the 4.3.4 (4.2.9 on Verizon) firmware update is for you. Skipping the update leaves your device at iOS 4.3.3 or earlier, which could be useful down the line.

First it's important to understand what Apple is trying to accomplish with the iOS 4.3.4 update. The primary purpose is to fix a PDF security vulnerability on your iPhone. This may sound bad, but read on for more details. This vulnerability is the same weakness that makes the remarkably easy and fast JailbreakMe 3.0 procedure possible.

Those iPhone users lucky enough to have received an invite to Google's new social networking service can now connect to its 10 million users with a free iPhone app. Google+ is the latest App Store offering by Google, and the software is available now for users running iOS 4.0 or later on their iPhone 3G, 3GS or iPhone 4.

Google+ has been described as Google's answer to Facebook and is expected to launch to the general public in the coming weeks. Currently a member of Google+ must invite you to participate, however this hasn't stopped the web-based service from rapidly taking off. It remains to be seen if Google+ can dent the popularity of social networking giant Facebook.

Two patents filed by Apple suggest that the company is ready to test the waters of stylus type devices. The first product is a digital pen with a conductive heated tip for better interaction with the capacitive-sensors in Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad. It features a rechargeable battery and docking station that can connect to an iOS device.

The second, more interesting digital pen is the “communicating stylus,” a wireless pen that allows the user to send handwritten notes to an iPhone or iPad from across the room. The communicating stylus features accelerometers and wireless transmitters for sending position data to an iOS device. Users can doodle or take notes on their iPhone or iPad by writing in the air or using a whiteboard. Some speculate that Apple plans to introduce these new devices as an attempt to make their hardware more useful to students and teachers.