Everything You Need to Know About Apple's Free iOS 4.1 Update

Apple’s iOS4.1 will be beaming out to iDevices everywhere this week and landing in the hands of eager new buyers pre-installed on the new iPod touch. The completely free update hasn’t received quite as much attention as the new Apple TV, iPod touch or iPod nano, but most of you probably heard about the major features.

Game Center will finally enter primetime and the iPhone 4 camera can snap HDR photographs with 4.1. Some  smaller features and bug fixes are also right around the corner: head past the break for a comprehensive list, including a few things Apple didn’t harp on during last week’s press event.
 
Game Center and Ping will both be available on iOS4.1, bringing social gaming and iTunes-based social networking to the iPhone. People will probably love the games, but how much ground will Ping gain on a platform that already makes mobile Twitter and Facebook access a cinch?

High Dynamic Range Photography: This iPhone 4-only feature snaps three photos and merges them for max prettiness. It’s a simple toggle option built into the camera app. Tap it on and shoot like a pro!*
*note: will not actually make you shoot like a pro.

Landscape controls: The camera interface has also gone though a bit of tweaking and is now more landscape-friendly. FaceTime has received a similar nip and tuck job.

FaceTime all the time: Apple’s video calling feature has earned a dedicated spot on the Favorites menu and an iPod touch solution. Since phone numbers have no place on the iPod touch, Apple’s using email addresses for FaceTime requests.

iPhone 4 and 4th gen touch users will now be able to upload and publish their HD videos over Wi-Fi, including those edited with the iMovie app.

iTunes TV show rentals and purchases will, naturally, work with the iPhone and iPod touch for mobile TV watching.

Parental controls: FaceTime and online gaming join the list of optional iOS restrictions.

Spell like a champ: If you’re brave enough, you can turn off Apple’s built-in spell-check and then try to spell schadenfreude. Or Czechoslovakia. You get the idea.

AVRCP Bluetooth: iOS 4.1 will catch Apple up on Bluetooth standards, and make their devices fully compatible with the Bluetooth interfaces of cars, headsets and the like. If you own a fancy car, this should be a nice perk.

Pesky bugs: Apple promises they’ve fixed iOS 4’s poor performance on the iPhone 3G and corrected its proximity sensor issues.

Apple has updated to AT&T Carrier firmware 8.0. Dropped calls? Still probably going to happen. Sorry.

Last--and perhaps least--Nike+ data can finally be uploaded over the air. Hooray?
 
One other thing we can expect is that the 4.1 update will block current jailbreak methods. Are these bug fixes and new features worth it for you if you're hooked on Cydia? 

Image credits: 9to5mac, Apple