Apple iOS 4.1 and 4.2 features and availability announced

Apple just showed iOS 4.1 (available next week) and iOS 4.2 (available in November). The new iOS 4.2 brings a number of bug fixes to the table (proximity sensor, Bluetooth, iPhone 3G issues). It also features GameCenter, a service and API that lets you invite friends to multiplayer games. You can also opt to play against random players that are connected. Epic Games showed a great demo of their Project Swords, which has awesome graphics (just as we predicted when OGL ES 2.0 came on the 3GS). Finally, Apple showed an “HDR” photo app, which basically makes photos shot in broad daily to be “washed out”. It works by taking 3 pictures with different exposures and combining them to create a “better” photo.

iOS 4.2 is “All about iPad”, says Apple. It introduced wireless printing, which seems easy. It’s possible to print, cancel a print but Apple didn’t say if the printer needed to be connected to a Mac, or if it works with WIFI printers. this update will have AirPlay, which seems to be an equivalent of DLNA, a protocol to stream media over WIFI. And of course, the iPad will finally get all the multitasking features that the iPhone 4 has today. It comes out in November and will be a free upgrade.