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Always playing detective, those of us watching closely have noticed that some operator profiles sent out to the various iPhone carriers (ensuring that iPhone hardware will continue to operate properly after the update) indicate a launch date of March 9 for the iOS 5.1 upgrade. This is exciting of course because iOS 5.1 promises to bring a few much anticipated and desired updates to Apple’s flagship operating mobile system but also because it is expected that this news may coincide the launch of the iPad 3.
If Apple does release iOS 5.1 simultaneous to the iPad 3 it likely means there will be a tie-in. It is a reasonable guess at this stage that it might be related to Siri expanding beyond the iPhone 4S and becoming available for the iPad, a move that would make a lot of us very excited.
Now, Apple does have a well-establish tendency to release a product or update and then have it become available a week (or so) after the event. This paves the way for some speculation that the actual release date will be February 29 (which is a little closer to the anniversary of the iPad 2 as that device was released on March 2, 2011) and that the March 9 date is just a delivery date. The charm in having a leap year release is of course the marketing potential. One writer from The Verge thought a cute tie-in may be the branding of letting you know that “it’s time to leap ahead.” A part of me thinks that it might just be a little too cheesy for Apple.
One thing is for certain, Apple fans and critics alike will be looking closely at Apple during these big releases. Jobs was still alive in the moments surrounding the release of the iPhone 4S leaving this as the first major hardware and software delivery that Cook is responsible for on his own (with the help of his highly-capable executive team, of course). Nonetheless, the ability to cultivate considerable expectations and anticipation was a trademark that Jobs established and would want carried forward… can Cook pull it off?
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