Apple details iOS 4.1, revamps TV offering with rentals

During a press event, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs detailed a range of announcements, including a new version of the company's iOS platform, an upgraded line of iPods, a new version of the company's iTunes program and a revamped Apple TV product that supports movie and TV show rentals.

"We think it's going to be very popular," Jobs said of the products.

Many of Jobs' announcements have been rumored since the company scheduled its press event last week, but the scope of Apple's announcements show the company continues to invest in a variety of areas, including media distribution, TV technology, tablets, cell phones and digital music players.

Among Apple's announcements:

iOS 4.1

Jobs said next week Apple will release version 4.1 of its iOS platform for iPhones. The new an upgrade addresses a number of bugs, and introduces new features including improved photography processing, TV show rentals and the ability to upload HD video over WiFi.

"We couldn't be happier about the progress of iOS," Jobs said. Specifically, he added that "a lot of bugs are fixed" with iOS 4.1, including fixes to the iPhone's proximity sensor, Bluetooth capabilities and the performance of the iPhone 3G. Users have complained that iOS 4 slowed iPhone 3G devices.

Jobs said iOS 4.1 introduces High Dynamic Range photo capabilities, which he said can combine several different photos, taken quickly together, to produce clearer photographs. He said the platform also will allow users to upload HD video over WiFi, rather than requiring users to plug their gadget into a computer to do so.

Jobs said iOS 4.1 will launch Apple's previously announced Game Center offering, which will be available to developers through APIs as well as to users via a stand-alone application. The offering will support multiplayer gaming across different applications from supporting developers. Jobs said Apple's iOS devices outsell the mobile gaming offerings from Sony and Nintendo.

Finally, Jobs said iOS 4.2, to be released in November, will target the iPad, and will add multitasking and folders to the gadget.

Interestingly, Jobs sought to highlight the momentum behind the company's iOS products. He said Apple has shipped 120 million iOS devices, and that the company activates 230,000 iOS devices every day, a figure that he said doesn't include upgrades. The number is notable considering Google executives recently touted the number of daily Android activations. As of July that figure was 160,000 per day.

"We think we're ahead of everybody," Jobs said.

Interestingly, Google responded to Jobs' veiled jab at Android.

"The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services," Google told Fortune.

Jobs also said Apple has recorded 6.5 billion application downloads from its App Store, and counts 250,000 total apps.

Apple TV

As expected, Jobs introduced a new version of Apple's TV product. The gadget, which is about the size of a large wallet, works on a streaming, rental model, whereby users rent content and stream it to their TV. Jobs said movies can be rented for $4.99 and--as rumored--TV shows from ABC and Fox can be rented for 99 cents.

"Not all of them (the TV studios) wanted to take this step with us," Jobs said, explaining why only ABC and Fox TV shows are available on the product.

Further, Netflix content also will be available through Apple TV, as well as Internet radio stations, YouTube content, Flickr photos and users' own computer content, accessed through a streaming Internet connection.

iTunes 10

Jobs announced the latest version of Apple's media distribution system, iTunes 10, and said the company will add a social-networking component to the platform, dubbed Ping.

"It's a social network for music. It's sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes," Jobs said. "It's a social network all about music."

The service will allow users to follow musicians as well as each other, and will list users' favorite tunes and recently downloaded tracks. As for privacy, "you can get as private or as public as you want," Jobs said, noting that Ping's privacy functions are easy to understand and implement--a possible nod to the privacy troubles Facebook has had to deal with.

Interestingly, according to AllThingsD, Jobs said Apple had discussions with Facebook over linking Ping with Facebook, but Facebook offered "onerous terms that we could not agree to."

Jobs said Ping will be available immediately on iTunes, and will work on iPhones and iPod touches.

"iTunes is an amazing thing," Jobs said, noting that users have downloaded 11.7 billion songs on iTunes, as well as 450 million TV episodes and 100 million movies. Jobs said Apple counts fully 160 million iTunes accounts, complete with credit cards for payment.

New iPods

As for the company's digital music player business, Jobs announced Apple will refresh its lineup of iPod devices, including its iOS-powered iPod touch. The new iPod touch will feature many of the advances introduced by Apple's iPhone 4, including an improved display, gyroscope and front-facing camera for FaceTime video calling.

Apple also announced its new iPod nano will sport a multi-touch display, rather than click wheel. However, the iPod nano doesn't appear to be able to tap into the third-party applications supported by iOS products such as the iPhone and iPod touch.

"This is Apple's most impressive fall lineup that I've seen," wrote Michael Gartenberg with Altimeter Group. "Overall, it's an important refresh to the lineup and at the same time sets the stage for a number of interesting directions for the future."

For more:
- see this Engadget live blog
- see this WSJ live blog
- see this Fortune article
- see this AllThingsD article

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