Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to iOS 5.1
On Wednesday Apple unveiled its new iPad at a Press event in San Francisco. Prior to this Apple announced its iOS 5.1 an advanced operating system which will be available for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple has always provided innovative features to its devices. Reuters

Apple has finally unveiled what was one of the most anticipated gadgets of the year - the new iPad - at the Yerba Buena Centre for Arts in San Francisco on Wednesday, 7 March.

The launch of the tablet also saw the release of iOS 5.1 - an upgraded version of the iOS 5 operating system, which was launched last year. Some of the new fixes include those dealing with battery-life and enhancements to the camera.

Check out ten reasons why you need the iOS upgrade...

New Camera Lock Screen Slider

The lock screen slider will now sport a camera button. The user has only press, hold and swipe up to open the camera app directly. The feature is already present on several Android phones, including the Galaxy Nexus... and given the prices of Apple's devices, this is a fun little trick to have.

Return of 3G Toggle

Technically, the option to toggle 3G services on and off existed before the 5.0 release. However, at the latter time, Apple chose to temporarily drop it. This update - 5.1 - has reintroduced that feature. Essentially, the toggle allows users to step down to 2G network bands if they want to extend battery life and cannot get to a Wi-Fi hotspot. On the flipside though, the new iPad is 4G LTE capable but does not have a 4G toggle, at least in the beta versions.

Siri-Like Voice Dictation

The absence of Siri in the iOS 5.1 update is somewhat offset by voice-dictation options similar to Siri, which are now available. The feature allows users to speak tweets, emails and texts, instead of typing. Unfortunately, for those still interested in Siri... it could be a long wait, maybe until Apple's next major Siri update.

Battery Life Bugs

The problems that users of the iPhone 4S face with remarkably short battery-life have been well documented. It is therefore a relief for all iPhone users that this fix should solve that particular issue.

Outgoing Call Issues

Users of the iPhone can now breathe a sigh of relief, as the new update - iOS 5.1 - fixes bugs related to problems with audio levels dropping during outgoing calls.

Podcast Controls

Enhanced podcast controls have been ported to the new iPad. The user can modify playback speed and also rewind for thirty-second segments.

Face Recognition

This feature will enable the camera to recognize and highlight faces while photographs are being taken.

Delete Unwanted Photos from Photo Stream

Photo Stream is an app that allows users to wirelessly transfer photos from the iPad or the iPhone to their iCloud accounts, in real time. The problem was that previously photos, even those taken or uploaded accidentally, could not be deleted. Now, however, the user can go back and delete those photographs.

Enjoy Your Favourite Music

The new software - iOS 5.1 - allows users to enjoy the latest Genius Mixes and Genius Playlists through an iTunes Match subscription. The service matches music from a user's collection to the vast library of Apple tracks. Finally, any tracks unavailable in the library are automatically uploaded to iCloud, so that it is available to other devices as well.

Enhanced Audio Quality

The iOS 5.1 upgrade offers enhanced audio quality especially optimised for watching either television or films on the iPad.

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