iPhone update improves camera, Wi-Fi
updated 01:45 pm EDT, Thu August 23, 2007
iPhone update surprises
Apple's latest iPhone software update appears to repair camera issues and improve wireless performance, according to various owners of the cellular handset. Apple said the update included unspecified bug fixes, but those fixes are making some iPhone owners extremely happy. "My Wi-Fi reception is definitely better," said one forum poster cited by Computerworld. "While in my office, I have never been able to connect to the wifi hub in the conference room down the hall [but after the update] I was surprised that the Edge connection seemed faster, until I realized I was connected to the wifi hub with two bars."
"For me, this is a huge issue, as I was preparing to try to deal with whatever hassle it would take to get the wifi connection extended to my office area," the user wrote.
"Wifi reception and connection is much improved," said another forum poster on the same message board thread. "The phone works better. Some places I had problems with before now work like a charm."
Other users suggest the update could boost Web surfing performance via Safari on the iPhone, and others say cellular phone reception has also improved. Many iPhone users insist that the camera has undergone drastic improvement, no longer blurring the live video preview with the sweep of a hand across the camera lens.
"Before even small hand movements would blur the screen really easily," said a different forum poster. "But now it seems to have much higher refresh rate or some kind of stability enacted."
No difference in refresh.
08/23, 03:00pm reply
I happen to have two iPhones here - one updated and one not. I don't see a difference - but I made a video so that you can check yourself. The one on the right is the 1.0.1 phon.
http://iphreak.com/iphonecam1.mov http://iphreak.com/iphonecam2.mov
- Pat
patniemeyer
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2003
oh yeah
08/23, 06:30pm reply
My phone is soooo much better. The earpiece is louder and I can pic up wireless where I couldn't in my apartment. The camera thing, yeah not so much.
drole.homme
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2007
Secure Wireless
08/23, 06:39pm reply
I have been thinking about getting the iPhone ever since it came out and I guess I was wondering if anyone could answer whether or not it can connect to secure wireless connections that require a password. I am a college student and we have wireless throughout campus but it requires my student id and password to be typed in if it were used on a computer. Thanks for any information.
DRuth086
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2005
re:secure wireless
08/23, 09:56pm reply
Had no problem connecting an iPhone to our WPA-protected network in the office. I've heard some express issues with WEP-protected networks, though. I would hope your campus would use WPA, as WEP is fairly trivial to crack.
lockhartt
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2000
no campus access
08/23, 11:20pm reply
@druth
The short answer is no :( Unfortunately, Apple dropped the ball on this one. Most campuses use EAP, LEAP or PEAP which were developed by Cisco to use 802.1X authentication over WiFi. If your campus is like mine, you normally log in with your private id and password and it authenticates you that way there is no generic campus wide password. Numerous bug reports have been filed with Apple because this is the way large corporate wifi works as well. It was a huge oversight considering every other WIFI device out there supports 802.1X authentication.
mjs975s
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2001
Campus Access
08/23, 11:27pm reply
The only problem is that I hear that you have to also authenticate the device with the security tool that we use to verify that our computers are up to date and virus free, which the iphone can't do because it can't install software of this type.
DRuth086
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2005
iPhone update 1.0.2
08/24, 12:14am reply
They must have optimized the code and cut some out because mine must be a few ounces lighter now!
Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
Audio attachments
08/24, 11:08am reply
You still cannot play audio attachments in mail, which is disappointing.
hayesk
Professional Poster
Joined: Sep 1999