iOS 4.1 -- new features include HDR photos

At last week's event Steve Jobs gave previews of iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2. The former updates the software for the iPhone and iPod touch, and the latter, to be available in November, will upgrade the iPad, and the three devices (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad) will use the same software. TidBITs has a helpful short article on the new update, and describes new features such as high dynamic range photos (HDR) and Game Center. HDR sounds pretty amazing. Instead of taking one photo, your iPhone actually takes three photos very quickly in succession. One is, as usual, the phone's best guess in regard to proper exposure. But it also takes a shot that's underexposed and one that's overexposed. And then combines the three into a high-quality photo. The advantage is, as the article explains, sometimes over- or underexposure allows certain qualities to come out, such as a blue sky that appears white under normal exposure but comes out blue in an underexposed photo.