Apple plans to launch a new software update for its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices soon – this we know. What we don’t know is what the update will bring to our iDevices, but thanks to a leak we may now know the key features.
In the past 24 hours somebody has leaked what many believe to be the GM (General Master) copy of iOS 5.1, which has led many to scramble to download it and install it to see what’s inside. Tech news site BGR has successfully installed the software onto an iPhone 4S and has kindly shared Apple’s secrets.
The first big update is the inclusion of Japanese language support for Siri. See the gallery below for images of Siri working in Japanese, along with the language menu showing Japanese clearly. It’s been heavily rumoured that iOS 5.1 would include support for both Japanese and Russian languages, though perhaps Apple is saving Russian and other languages for another main update. Japanese support is the logical move, what with the huge success Apple has seen since launching the iPhone 4S there recently.
iOS 5.1 will also include an updated lockscreen, now offering the camera button at all times. The camera button can currently be used from the lockscreen in iOS 5, but you have to double click the home button to get it to appear. With the new lockscreen you’ll be able to swipe to unlock as normal, or place your finger on the camera icon and swipe up to head straight into Camera.
With rival operating systems such as Android offering a simple slide to unlock or slide to open the camera app, a permanent icon on the lockscreen is much needed for Apple.
Apple always announces an iOS software update along with new products, so you can bet your boots we’ll see iOS 5.1 unveiled along with the iPad 3. When will that be? Rumours are pointing towards March 7th.
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Source: BGR