The SXSW festival will kick off next week, meaning that the iTunes Festival is just around the corner. During the iTunes Festival, Apple plans to update the iOS system to provide a live stream of the concert during the festival. In order to accomplish that, the iOS 7.1 update will be issued to iPad and iPhone users. According to some reports, iOS 7.1 is expected to be ready any day now to those who have already placed their requests. Apple has ensured that before the festival kicks off everything will be ready. Since November of last year, iOS 7 had already been supplied to various developers for testing and had undergone a very length beta period.

When iOS 7 was launched last year, it was met by several criticisms. There were several bugs reported which so far have yet to be fixed. There were also several crashes experienced especially during the use of the new multitasking interface. The Safari browser is also prone to crashes.

To date, there have been a total of 5 beta releases of the upgraded iOS version. The last one arrived in February. It has a new feature which includes more natural-sounding Siri voices available for international users, specifically in the U.K., Japan and Australia. There are also reports that Apple is currently preparing an update to enhance the Touch ID feature. This will eventually resolve the "fade" issue experienced by many iPhone 5s users. However, it is still unclear whether or not it will be part of the iOS 7.1 upgrade. It could also be released separately.

Before the expected release of the iOS 7.1 version next week, Apple has already given out deployment tools. These tools allow IT professionals to launch a massive amount of iOS devices in different educational or industrial settings. The release of the upgraded version in time for the festival is something many users can look forward to.