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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) released operating system updates for both the iPhone and the iPad on Thursday, on the eve of its emergency press conference about the iPhone's antenna debacle.
The iPad 3.2.1 update addresses, among other issues, a problem with WiFi connectivity that surfaced in May.
The iPhone update -- to iOS 4.0.1 -- is targeted directly at the snarled reception problems and how signal strength is displayed. Apple likely will have specific comments to make on the hardware portion of that dilemma at its Friday press event.
For now, though, sales appear to continue apace despite the media maelstrom surrounding the iPhone, according to Josh Martin, senior analyst with Strategy Analytics. "These devices continue to fly off the shelves," he told MacNewsWorld.
Staying Connected
The most important fix in the iPad operating system update is a set of improvements to the WiFi connectivity features. Less than a month after the iPad was launched, users -- especially those in educational institutions -- began reporting spotty connection drops in areas where WiFi hotspots were putting out strong and reliable signals.
"I'm almost surprised that it took as long as it did for the update," Martin said. "Apple's been aware of this problem for a while now."
Since Apple's positioning for the iPad has included its use for educational purposes, this was an important problem to fix. The device is competing among educational users with the likes of Kindle's high-end model, which is aimed directly at college students as a replacement for hard-copy textbooks.
It's in the Apps
The increasing use of streaming multimedia apps on both the iPad and iPhone makes reliable WiFi connectivity a must-have, Martin explained. Unstable connectivity could hinder the momentum of development of all sorts of apps -- for example, multiplayer games that depend on social networking tools.
In addition to the WiFi issue, Apple addressed problems with copying and pasting of PDF documents on the iPad OS update, and a video playback issue was resolved. According to the release notes, 3.2.1. features "improved reliability of video-out when using iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter." The issue of video output likely will gain increasing prominence as users seek to connect their mobile devices to large screens to view video content such as Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) movies and YouTube offerings.
The Bars Have It
The iPhone update appears primarily to address the display of signal bars on the unit's screen. However, users on a wide range of discussion boards and blogs continue to complain that Apple is not being forthcoming either with the problems with the iPhone reception or the fixes it's rolling out.
Either way, it seems clear now that the iPhone's antenna issue is twofold, involving both hardware and software elements. This update addresses the software portion and aligns how much signal actually is reaching the device with how much signal is displayed in the handset's bars.
Although there has been talk of recalls and consumer protection action, another camp argues that the reception issues with the iPhone are nothing more than the idiosyncrasies of this particular device and that all smartphones have them.
"There's another place on the iPhone that a user can touch to accidentially end a call," Howe told MacNewsWorld. "It's called the 'End' button."
Users have learned to work around that "bug," Howe pointed out.
In fact, all smartphone handsets experience some degradation in signal when held in particular ways, he noted.
Those users who don't want to work around that can solve the problem by making sure their device is enclosed in a case, he stressed, which is what most users choose to do to protect their expensive smartphones anyway.
