Apple to launch iOS 5 and iCloud today
Apple is due to release the latest version of its operating system for iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch, iOS 5, later today along with its new iCloud service.
It has already released an upgrade to v10.5 for iTunes, to make it compatibile with iCloud.
iOS 5 has more than 200 new features, according to Apple. It's compatible with the iPhone 3G S, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S (being launched on Friday), iPad 1 and 2, and the 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch.
Owners of iOS 5 devices will be able to sync them wirelessly to a Mac or PC over a shared wi-fi network, so you'll no longer need a wired connection to a computer.
And every time you connect any iDevice to the mains, it will automatically back up any new content to iTunes. Users will be able to seamlessly share documents, emails and photos between devices, including Apple's Mac computers and laptops.
Additonal features on iOS 5 include:
• AirPlay video mirroring: wirelessly stream video on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S to your HD TV via Apple TV.
• Notfication Centre: just swipe down from the top of the screen to see new emails, texts, friend requests and so on. They won't interrup what you're doing.
• iMessage: send unlimited text messages via wi-fi or 3G from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to anyone else with a similar device. You can send text, photos, videos, locations and contacts.
• Newsstand: just like iBooks, this will organise all your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in one place. They'll appear on the Newsstand shelves.
• Better integration of Twitter: iOS 5 makes it even easier to tweet from your iDevice. Sign in once in Settings, then you can Tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube and Maps.
• New camera app: allows you to open the app straight from the lock screen by tapping the camera icon.
• Photo enhancements: crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye without leaving the Photos app.
But by far the biggest upgrade is the inclusion of iCloud. This enables you to store your music, photos, documents and more 'in the cloud', and wirelessly pushes content to all your Apple devices.
So you can access your content on whatever device your using, be it a Mac, PC or an Apple portable/phone. Sign up for iCloud and you'll get 5GB of storage for free, and you can pay for more if you need it.
There's more about iOS 5 and iCloud in our coverage of the launch in America earlier this year. Click here and here for more info.
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Comments
Further clarification on the wireless syncing from Infoworld:
iOS 5 provides automatic wireless syncing and backup to your choice of your computer's iTunes or your iCloud account. You can manually sync to both, and your iTunes purchases can sync to all devices tied to your Apple ID over the Internet, rather than through iTunes. iTunes Wi-Fi syncing requires iTunes 10.5 on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, or Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion. iCloud requires Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion.
So Windows requires Vista and above from the look of it.
In case anyone is having issues, on a Mac, wireless syncing of your iDevice with iTunes 10.5 only works on Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or above. So if you're doing this with a Mac, you must be using this version otherwise the Sync with this iDevice over Wi-Fi tick box will not be present on the Summary tab.
I'm not aware of any such restrictions when running iTunes 10.5 on Windows.
Veeerrry slowwlly...
It's out - downloading now!