iPhone/Touch 2.1 Firmware Coming This Friday

Rejoice, iPhone users. Steve Jobs announced on Tuesday morning an upcoming iPhone software update that promises to make things better.

It’s unquestionable that when the iPhone 3G launched, the version 2.0 software that arrived alongside it brought to the entire ‘touchscreen’ family a whole new world of capability thanks to official Apps and the App Store.

With the expanded capabilities and the added hardware complexity of the iPhone 3G, version 2.0 software wasn’t quite as stable or snappy as the first-generation releases. Apple hopes to fix all present iPhone issues found in firmware 2.02 with the release of 2.1, set for release this Friday.

“This is a big update, it fixes lots of bugs,” said Steve Jobs during the Apple event on Tuesday morning, according to Engadget’s liveblog. “Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster.”

Jobs’ listing of the improvements contained in the new software appear to address all the major complaints that iPhone users have with the current device.

For one, fewer dropped calls hints at improved 3G reception, which has been a particular sore spot for those using the iPhone 3G – and expecting it to live up to the 3G part of its name. Those who do get to use 3G, however, find that battery life becomes abysmal when on the faster network.

Apps crashing has been a particularly annoying bug, and one that Steve Jobs personally promised in an email would be fixed in September. Users who have had to sit through iPhone backups to iTunes that would often last hours will also be pleased to learn that the process should be faster, but just how much faster is unknown.

Software version 2.1 will launch this Friday to all iPhone owners and iPod Touch users already on version 2.0. iPod Touch owners who are still running version 1.x will have to pay $9.95 for the new software.