Apple and Verizon Wireless may be planning over-the-air downloads for iOS 5. News reports are heralding an end to the days when users have to plug an iPhone into a computer and connect to iTunes to get the latest version of the mobile operating system.
Over-the-air downloads are nothing new. Google's Android-powered phones do it. Microsoft Windows phones do it. Hewlett-Packard's Palm phones do it. So why shouldn't Apple?
Michael Disabato, managing vice president of network and telecom at Gartner, can think of several reasons why over-the-air downloads of iOS 5 would be a bad idea.
"AT&T's network isn't reliable enough for me to want to download a 200MB file directly into the phone -- the same with Verizon," Disabato said. "Even if they are putting in the operating system, it doesn't mean that the network operators are going to let this happen -- and if they are smart, they won't. The day Apple announces they have the new iOS out, half of the iPhone population would try to download it, and it would crash the network."
Although an over-the-air download is interesting in that it eliminates the need for iTunes as part of the updating process, Disabato doesn't anticipate Apple relinquishing control. Updating apps over the air is one thing, he said, but over-the-air updates of the operating system are another.
"The iOS is a huge file. It took me 18 minutes last night to download it on a six-megabit-per-second connection. You don't get six megabits per second on over the air," Disabato said. "So you are looking for an hour download to update your phone, and it could abort in the middle and brick your phone. Then you have to plug your phone into iTunes to do the download."
As Disabato sees it, the over-the-air method would have to be...
Posted: 2011-05-05 15:38:42Author:...
