Apple Inc. announced Wednesday that 1st and subsequent generation iPhones will be getting new features and software added to the devices, and that customers would not be charged for those new features. The same thing was said about Apple TV, though Apple execs were less explicit about the latter device.

The news came during the company's Q2 conference call with financial analysts, when Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced the company would be adding additional features and software to the iPhone after it was released, and that customers would get those updates for free.

"We plan to build on [iPhone's] incredible foundation by continuing to develop new software features as well as entirely new applications and incorporate them into the iPhone," said Mr. Oppenheimer during his opening statement. "And since iPhone customers will likely be our best advocates for the product, we want to get them many of these new features and applications at no additional charge as they become available."

As a consequence of this, the company also announced that it would be counting revenue from sales of the iPhone as subscription revenue over 24 months, an accounting issue that will not affect users. Apple execs also said that Apple TV revenue would be accounted for in the same manner, saying this also related to new features that would be added to Apple TV over time.

While it may seem obvious that Apple will add features to the iPhone, this is the first time that Apple has said that new features and new software would be available to purchasers of the 1st generation iPhone. A few key missing features, such as the ability to use an iPhone to connect a laptop to the Internet, have been among the only criticisms the iPhone has received.

Apple's announcement during an analyst conference call suggests that Apple not only wanted to make it clear on how the company would account for revenue, but that early adopters can expect to benefit in software advances brought to iPhone over time.

[Update: The article was updated with a quote from the conference call. - Editor]