iOS 4.1, Game Centre for next week

iOS 4.1 is to be released next week, Apple has announced.

Alongside bug fixes for proximity issues, Bluetooth and iPhone 3G devices, it will offer support for HD video uploading over WiFi and TV show rentals.

iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4 devices can take High Dynamic Range photos, which combine under-exposed and over-exposed snapshots into a single image with greater clarity and colour range.

It will introduce Game Centre, which will exist as a separate App and can be integrated into games for leaderboards, achievements and friend lists.

Users can assign multiple e-mail addresses to an Apple ID for easy friend identification, and new games can be downloaded directly from browsing a friend's profile.

The firmware update will also add Ping to iTunes, a social networking tool for artist updates and music recommendations to be shared between friends.

iOS 4.2 for iPad was also unveiled, which will add multi-tasking, folder creation and other features introduced in iOS4 for iPhones earlier this year, and will be available from November.

The device was part of a new iPod, Apple TV and iTunes lineup introduced at this year's Apple iPod Conference.