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New Features and Software to be Added to iPhone & Apple TV

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 7:15 PM - by

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]

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 1018 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:25 pm

New feature: Tracking your Apple stock as it skyrockets.

But only if you own any.

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DaiMac said:

member since 29 Jun 2001 with 952 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:46 am

I know its speculation, but does anybody have an opinion on how we'll get these updates? Unlike the iPods, which are 100% tethered to their host computers for receiving updates, both the AppleTV and iPhone could theoretically update themselves over the net, the way that game consoles like the Wii and Xbox360 do. I'm especially interested in the AppleTV side of that question because I've already hacked my AppleTV, and as such want to judiciously control Apple's access to the box, just to make sure the hacks don't conflict or duplicate the features they're adding if nothing else. I'l probably just do a factory restore to the device before installing the updates, then reapply the hacks if necessary, but either way I can't wait to see what the new features are.

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Biff said:

member since 08 Apr 2004 with 1479 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:41 am

Seeing as it's an iPod, I would assume it would update in the same way. When you dock it, iTunes will prompt you to install the update. From a design standpoint, I don't see them wanting to over-complicate things by having certain iPods update themselves in a completely different manner from the rest.

Now the Apple TV is a different story. It doesn't really matter if you Mac downloads the update and pushes it to the Apple TV or if the Apple TV just downloads the update itself. I guess it just comes down to which user experience Apple wants you to have. Is there alot of Apple TV related activity/management that occurs on your Mac, or is it more of a set it and forget it type thing? Either way, probably a good idea to restore it before running any updates if you've hacked it!

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DaiMac said:

member since 29 Jun 2001 with 952 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:17 pm

Biff wrote:
Is there alot of Apple TV related activity/management that occurs on your Mac, or is it more of a set it and forget it type thing?

Pre-hack, its completely centered on iTunes, and even once you get ATVFiles and additional codecs on it you still need a computer to transfer files. It basically works like an HD iPod.

The reason I'm not convinced it won't have an internet update channel is because its capable of internet content updates (trailers, etc) right now, and its also possible the new features will be aimed at expanding that capability by adding Safari and other such internet connection features. I'm not too concerned about it bricking my box either way, I have a backup of my original drive to fall back on worst case and do a clean update from there.

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