iOS 5.1 Release Date: Top 10 Features in New Update

Apple has released iOS 5.1, along with the debut of the new iPad. Users can now update their iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices to iOS 5.1. The update is available at iTunes Store. Users can also update from their Apple device by navigating to Settings -> General -> Software Update and following further instructions there. The new OS is more than just a bug-fix update. Here are top 10 reasons for updating to iOS 5.1.

Camera shortcut

With the new update comes a new lockscreen with a shortcut to directly launch camera without the need to access the phone. This new feature will give quick access for rapid-fire photography.

Face recognition

Along with the new lockscreen camera shortcut, the camera app also becomes beefier. The earlier camera app was able to detect one face only. Now with improved face recognition, the camera app can highlight all faces in the photo.

Battery life improvement

iOS 5.0 on iPhone 4S has a bad rep for battery drain bugs. Apple even tried fix the bugs with iOS 5.0.1 update, but failed to bring any notable change. Thanks to iOS 5.1, the battery drain problem is now fixed. Apple has addressed number of bugs for battery stamina improvement.

Multi-linguist Siri

Our virtual friend – Siri – is now more powerful and smart. It can now speak total of 6 languages. Siri now knows English (U.S., UK, Australia) French, Japanese and German.

Voice Dictation

It was rumored that the new iPad will feature Siri. Somehow we missed the feature in the new release. Instead another similar feature was introduced called Voice Dictation which dictates messages, e-mails and more. On iPhone 4S, Siri will also be able to do voice dictation with iOS 5.1 update.

Updated Photo Stream

The Photo Stream app has received a major update. Users can directly delete any individual image from the album, which will remove it from other shared devices too.

Toggle 3G On/Off

The age-old toggle feature is back once again, after being removed by iOS 5.0 update. It will allow users to toggle between 3G and 2G data connectivity to preserve more juice in battery.

iPhone 4S shows 4G icon

AT&T iPhone 4S now shows 4G connection icon in place of 3G whenever inside a LTE network. But it is not exactly what we think. iPhone 4S cannot deliver 4G internet speeds. But it shows a noticeable improvement in bandwidth whenever in a 4G LTE network. The AT&T iPhone 4S showing 4G connectivity reflect HSPA+ data connection, which is faster than regular 3G network.

New Mail Keyboard

The keyboard in the mail app has been slightly improved. It now includes @ button for entering e-mail address quickly.

iTunes Match improvements

There are several much-wanted improvements to iTunes Match. Users will find Genius Mixes and Genius playlists on their iOS 5.1 device, even after subscribing to iTunes Match. In previous iOS version, the Genuine Twins used to disappear after subscribing to iTunes Match. iOS 5.1 also allows updates over 3G or 4G data connection.

(reported by Johnny Wills, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)

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