Apple tackles iPhone glitches

Apple claims to have solved widespread hardware faults ranging from sluggish performance to unreliable proximity sensors that have infuriated many of its iPhone users in recent months.

The fault lies with version 4.0 of the operating system, which came pre-installed in the iPhone 4 and was also widely adopted by users of previous models.

Technical problems ranged from a sharp dip in the performance of the iPhone 3G to a failure in the proximity sensors in the iPhone 4 which caused phone calls to terminate suddenly while the user was talking.

Last week Apple chief executive Steve Jobs flagged that iOS 4.1 would soon be released this week to fix the iPhone 4 proximity sensor problems, sluggish iPhone 3G performance, and some Bluetooth connectivity issues.

The early signs are that the proximity problem have been fixed, said Anthony Agius, editor of the MacTalk.com.au forum.

"People [in the MacTalk forum] who have said had problems are saying it doesn't happen any more," he said.

The iPhone 3G performance issue also appears to have been resolved with many users on Apple's own user forum reporting improved performance in their handsets following the upgrade.

"Not sure if it's faster than 3.x but MAN, it's a pleasure to use this 3G again with 4.1," wrote one.

However some others were taking a more cautious approach.

"I'm still fearful to try 4.1. I've been tempted to smash my iPhone into a wall more than once since switching to 4.0.1. The keyboard is so slow sometimes it's ridiculous. Safari takes FOREVER to load. Apps crash pretty much every time. Especially if I've used them longer than two minutes," wrote another.

Apple has also bundled a bunch of new features into the upgrade, bringing additional functions to iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPod touch (second generation and above).

"It will give user access to Game Centre, high dynamic range (HDR) photos on iPhone 4, the ability to upload HD video to YouTube and Mobile Me over Wi-Fi on iPhone 4, additional support for AVRCP-supported accessories including next and previous track control and FaceTime calling direct from Favourites," Apple said.

- © Fairfax NZ News