Apple opens up iOS 4.1 to developers

iPhone OS

Apple has released the next version of its iPhone operating system iOS 4.1 to developers this week.

The new version is likely to be the update the company promised two weeks ago when it addressed ongoing antenna issues in its latest incarnation of its flagship smartphone, the iPhone 4.

An open letter from Apple, discussing what became known as the "deathgrip" flaw, whereby signal was dropping from iPhone 4s if held in a certain way, put the problem down to a software malfunction which had been present in all its iPhones to date.

Apple claimed the wrong algorithm had been used to display signal, meaning iPhones would show two or three more bars of signal than a user actually had, often meaning the user had no signal at all.

Yet critics believe this software explanation was a PR exercise, with the real problem residing in the hardware itself.

Rumours have been circulating that the phone would be recalled by Apple, fuelled further by the company calling a press conference about the iPhone 4 for tomorrow evening.

But we will have to wait until 6pm to find out what is really going on behind the scenes of the dominant company.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.