iOS 5 Features, Availability – Everything You Need To Know
iOS 5, Apple’s new mobile operating system, was shown off at WWDC. As expected, the new version includes a brand-new notifications system, and system-wide social integration. Here’s everything you need to know:
Features Notifications Center: all current iOS users know that the current notifications system was showing its age. Apple has turned that around by building a new system, which unobtrusively displays all notifications at the top of the screen, even during games, and on the Lock Screen. By sliding them down, users will be able to visualize all unread notifications, or dismiss them completely by hitting an "X" button next to them. Very straight-forward. Notification can include missed calls, voice mail messages (which can be played right from the Notifications Center and even notifications from other Apps.
This system is very similar to MobileNotifier, which isn’t surprising, since the company has recently hired its main developer.
Reminders: this feature, as the name implies, allows users to set different reminders for different times of the day, and different places. Thanks to the geolocation support present in devices, users can now configure Reminders to pop up a notification at a certain time and at a certain place, and even sync across devices using iCal. It’s really to-do lists on steroids!
Enhanced Safari: The iOS browser now looks a lot more like its desktop counterpart, with a few extra features of its own. Tabbed browsing now looks identical to the way it looks on the Windows and Mac versions, with tabs displayed across the top, at least on the iPad. The new Safari also brings the Reader feature, displaying a website’s content in an easy text only view, but unlike what happened before, users are now able to bookmark content onto a "Reading List" for later or send it to friends.
Twitter Integration: as rumored, the new iOS 5 includes deeper system-wide integration with Twitter. While there’s no support for other social networks, this feature is integrated with many apps, including the Camera App, allowing you to quickly tweet out what you’re working on. You can log into Twitter from System Preferences. It’s a single log in.
New Mail client: similarly to what happened in Lion, the iOS mail client is also receiving an upgrade. The App now supports draggable addresses, as well as the ability to flag messages and search them and dictionary lookup, by tapping on a word and selecting "Define".
iMessage: it’s like iChat for iOS users. It lets you send text messages, photos, videos and even have group conversations, similarly to any other messaging client. This application is also a great new example of how Notifications Center, since this App interacts beautifully with it. With this out the gate, I one is left to wonder what will happen to iChat.
Independence from computers: Previous versions of iOS required users to connect them to a computer in order to set them up, update them or sync them. iOS 5 will put an end to all that, by allowing users to update the device over-the-air. There’s also a new set-up wizard for new devices, allowing them to be configured for the first time without the need for a desktop computer. Can those who hate iTunes finally proclaim victory?
Tens of small additions: iOS 5 includes a number of small improvements, such as direct game downloads in the Game Center, a new optional keyboard, enhancements to the Music App on the iPad and an
enhanced Camera app. <---You can go to camera right from lockscreen as well as use volume button to take a picture http://www.redmondpie.com/ios-5-feat...-need-to-know/ iCloud Announced
After months of speculation and denial by many, iCloud was unveiled today at WWDC. The new service is Apple’s answer to cloud computing and an extension, and replacement, of its online offerings. After the failure of MobileMe, which was introduced back in 2009, Apple is attempting succeed with its new replacement: iCloud".
What About MobileMe? Your MobileMe account will no longer be available starting from June 30, 2012:
Effective June 6, 2011, if you had an active MobileMe account, your service has been automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After this, the MobileMe service will no longer be available.
What will happen to the content I have on MobileMe?
Apple has announced a new service called iCloud which will be available this fall and free for iOS 5 and OS X Lion users. When you sign up for iCloud, you’ll be able to keep your me.com or mac.com email address and move your MobileMe mail, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks to the new service.
So yes, iCloud is the replacement to MobileMe, actually it is much more than what MobileMe ever was. Here’s what you need to know.
Features
iCloud includes features that were previously available in MobileMe, as well as others we’re just finding out about now. They include:
Online Apps: many of iCloud’s features have roots in MobileMe, such as online Contacts and Mail Apps, which have been written from scratch, since according to Jobs, they the company has "learned a lot" since it built MobileMe.
Heavily Enhanced Syncing: back in the MobileMe days, syncing was merely limited to e-mail and contacts. With iCloud, important files, such as documents and pictures, can be synced across different devices. In addition, iWork users will be able to edit documents over this service and see the changes in real time, even between a Mac and an iPad, for example. That’s unheard of on other Office suites. The same happens with photos, which can be streamed to any device on the fly. Similarly to what happened before, information that’s added or modified on one device will be immediately pushed down to the remaining devices.
Backup: iCloud will allow data such as settings, books, pictures, video and even Apps to be backed up and show up across all your devices. That will eliminate the need for huge set ups during system reinstalls, for example.
iTunes in Cloud (Your Music Locker): this service allows any newly purchased content, such as songs, Apps or iBooks, to be automatically synced over the air to up to 10 devices. For already purchased content, users will have the option to download each song, App or book individually.
http://www.redmondpie.com/icloud-ann...-need-to-know/
VIDEOS:
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/
keynote speech:
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.ne...iqubf06/event/
One big thing I was hoping for was a reply-to-message-right-from-notification type of thing. Kinda like bitesms and the mobilenotifier method.
Also I think iMessage and loading the camera from lockscreen and being able to use volume button is AWESOME!