Finally after lots of speculations for Augmented reality coming to iPhone, it’s Official.

Apple today promised that the upcoming iPhone firmware 3.1 will be the first one to officially support Augmented Reality Apps that support the iPhone 3GS’ camera.

What we are not sure of at this moment is whether Apple meant just 3GS or all of them. But I guess it would be just 3GS as Augmented Reality demands more processing power and good camera. If you are new to Augmented Reality, check the related stuff here.

Why Augmented Reality is needed on iPhone

AR can take the virtual life into Real life. AR is believed to be much better and tougher than Virtual reality. iPhone developers and users excited by the prospect of augmented reality apps, which overlay information and controls on top of real-world objects seen through a camera, have been told to sit tight until the next release of the iPhone OS exits beta.

Although iPhone 3.1 has so far only been known to expose some video camera controls for developers, third-party producer Acrossair was told by Apple that the future release would be needed for its Nearest Tube and future Nearest Subway apps to work properly.

The apps are already highly dependent on the built-in compass and auto-focusing camera of the iPhone 3GS, both of which are needed to alternately recognize the direction the iPhone is facing as well as to get a detailed enough look at a subject to tag it with information. As a demonstration of the technology, Acrossair’s software can show the subway stops visible in a particular direction and their distance relative to the user.

Unofficially, iPhone 3.1 is anticipated to be ready by early September.

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