No confirmed news of it yet (of course, it’s super early), but rumor has it that iOS 4.1 is coming out today. Who’s excited?
When I first heard the news, I got a little giddy, but I wasn’t sure why. GameCenter seems neat in theory, but I’m not really sure how much I’ll be using it. I have a few die-hard iPhone buddies, but even they might balk at trying to play me online all the time. Then there’s the iTunes TV show rentals which I could care less about, and Ping is a real hit-or-miss deal currently anyways. But two things got me going: HDR Photography and HD video uploads.
I’m a professional photographer (but hey, isn’t everybody?), and I’m not a fan of HDR. It’s been practiced for years, and in some cases can create pictures that look like watercolors. It’s neat in theory, but in practice, most times it sucks. At least to me. But the images that Apple is showing seem to take only the good parts of HDR. It’s weird, and ultimately I’m just going to have to try it myself to see if I like it. But if it clears up low-light pics for me, then I’m all for it.
As for the video uploads, that’s fantastic news. My kid was over at my parent’s house the other day, sitting on the ground. The dog came up and starting playing with my son, so my dad shot a video on his iPhone 4. When he sent it to me via MMS it was so compressed that it was difficult to see. It was so badly pixelated that it looked horrible. Now, albeit only via Wi-Fi, I’ll be able to get those videos in full quality. At least that’s how I understand it.
It could all be rumors, but here’s to hoping it comes out today. If not, then only a few days left.
Update: It’s live now, go get it.
The iPhone HDR solves the limited DR that the sensor has. I think Apple did a good job here. The HDR in the iPhone is exactly what it says. No funky LSD tripping colors… And no extra app needed too..
I just tried out the HDR function and it’s very cool. I took a shot in my kitchen with the computer screen in it and the computer screen was totally blown out–couldn’t see any content. The HDR photo managed to make the content visible and contrasty. I can think of an awful lot of photos where this would have made a significant improvement. In typical Apple fashion, it’s the integration into the camera that rocks. I wouldn’t use it otherwise.