iOS 5 and iCloud: everything you need to know – The Verge

Apple confirms iOS 5 battery problems, fix coming in iOS 5.0.1

2011-11-02T17:45:43-04:00

iPhone 4S battery life

We've been wondering if the iOS 5 battery issues people have been reporting would get a clearer explanation and unfortunately that explanation isn't quite here yet. What we do have is confirmation from Apple that there are, in fact, confirmed battery life problems that need to be addressed in the new operating system:

"A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices," Apple said in a statement to AllThingsD. "We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks."

Apple didn't say exactly what the "few bugs" were, but leading …

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Siri hacked to work on iPhone 4 and iPod touch (video)

2011-10-30T06:23:18-04:00

Siri on iPod touch

Siri, the voice-based personal assistant software that Apple would only let us run on the iPhone 4S has this weekend seen itself ported to the more modestly specced iPhone 4 and fourth-gen iPod touch. Performance is identical on the older devices to what it is on the 4S, inviting the conclusion that considerations outside of pure hardware capabilities - such as the cost and scale of supporting Siri server requests from the millions of compatible devices - led to the decision to limit the service to the latest smartphone. Unfortunately, while this hack is working perfectly well for its makers, the familiar suspects of Steve Troughton-Smith and …

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iTunes Match beta accounts purged in preparation for full public launch

2011-10-28T16:00:39-04:00

iTunes in the cloud

The launch of Apple's iTunes Match should be coming any time now - yesterday, Apple deleted all iTunes Match Beta accounts that developers have been testing, in an effort to "improve the overall quality and reliability" of the service. Apple claimed at its October 4th "Let's Talk iPhone" event that iTunes Match would launch by the end of this month, and time's getting short if it is going to deliver on that promise. Fortunately for those interested in trying this new service, evidence has been mounting that the launch is imminent. There's a "coming soon" label in the iTunes application, iTunes Match setting are appearing on iOS 5 devices, and …

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iTunes Match settings pop up in iOS 5

2011-10-19T14:09:18-04:00

iCloud and iTunes Match slide from Apple's iPhone 4S event 2011

When Apple unveiled iPhone 4S early this month, it took the opportunity to let people know that iTunes Match would launch soon after iCloud - to be a little more precise, by the end of October. As of today, it looks like anyone with an iOS 5 device now has an "iTunes Match" toggle at the top of the Settings > Music window. (If it doesn't show up immediately, just give it a few minutes.) Though you can toggle Match on (and subsequently receive a new option, "Show All Music"), a pop-up prompts you to subscribe via iTunes. Given that's not yet an option, iTunes Match still isn't out just yet - but this is a pretty clear sign to us that it's due …

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Mac OS X 10.7.2 adds iCloud support, iPhoto 9.2 includes Photo Stream

2011-10-12T17:50:08-04:00

OS X iCloud

Obviously iTunes and iOS updates alone won't make iCloud sing: Apple's building iCloud features straight into OS X, with a new 10.7.2 version of Lion rolling out today. In addition to new features like iCloud email, calendar, bookmarks, and Reading List sync, iCloud is taking over existing MobileMe features like Back to My Mac and Find My Mac.
The new version of iPhoto, 9.2, adds Photo Stream support for backing up your iPhone and iPad captures over iCloud, along with some usability tweaks. There's also a new version of Safari, with some performance and stability enhancements.

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iOS 5 updates failing for many, Apple server issues to blame?

2011-10-12T16:53:28-04:00

iOS 5 Beta

It looked for a moment like Apple's massive new data center in North Carolina would withstand the deluge of traffic caused by people updating to iOS 5, iCloud, and everything in between without incident, but it's apparently not meant to be: we're now getting errors trying to update various iPhones and iPads to iOS 5, and we're seeing similar reports across Twitter. Although the error message that pops up just says "internal error," the real issue seems to be that Apple's iOS validation servers aren't responding, leaving the update process to fail out.

Making matters just slightly worse, we're also noticing that direct downloads of the iOS 5 IP …

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AirPort Utility maps your network, lets you tweak settings from iOS

2011-10-12T16:23:16-04:00

airport utility

It's tough to get excited about a new a network management tool, but Apple has taken a run at it with the new AirPort Utility for configuring and managing your AirPort devices. Available today, the iOS app lets you set up your AirPort Express, Extreme, or TimeCapsule from the comfort of your iOS device, and greets you with a simple diagram of your network and devices. You can tweak everything from file sharing and disk settings to NAT service and passwords, so there's enough here to keep any network admin satisfied for hours. It's available now from the App Store, and only runs on iOS 5 devices.

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Apple debuts alert and ringtone mini-store in iOS iTunes app

2011-10-12T15:42:21-04:00

tones

On top of today's big iOS 5 update, Apple just launched a new store with the iTunes store full of musical ringtones and custom alert tones. While you were formerly able to buy ringtones in the desktop version of iTunes, the iOS app now lets you purchase and install without a computer. The new alert tones can be used to customize your phone's blips and beeps into a veritable pop culture soundboard. For alert tones, you'll find a medley of Star Wars quotes, classical music excerpts, stock sounds, and Marlon Brando lines, while the ringtone selection is largely songs. Each alert retails for $0.99 (ringtones are $1.29), and the iTunes app will up …

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Apple TV software update 4.4 brings AirPlay mirroring, iCloud, NHL app

2011-10-12T15:38:43-04:00

Apple TV

Apple's products are getting updated left and right today alongside the launch of iOS 5 and iCloud, and few products have been left out. Apple TV's upgrade is to version 4.4 of its software, which brings AirPlay mirroring of your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 - the new feature has some seriously cool gaming implications in particular, like the ability to use your device as a gaming controller and play on the TV over AirPlay. Also new are Photo Stream, which lets you view photos you've taken on your iOS devices and stored in iCloud, on your TV; an NHL app, with live-streaming hockey games and scores, and the Wall Street Journal Live, with news and lots …

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Keynote, Pages, and Numbers suite gets an iCloud upgrade

2011-10-12T15:05:49-04:00

pages iwork keynote

The iWork suite for iOS, composed of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, just got a big iCloud functionality update today from Apple. Once installed, you'll be able to login to icloud.com, and find your documents in the iWork section. Similarly, simply drag and drop any iWork document to iCloud.com to sync it to all of your iOS devices. If you pick up an iPhone 4S later this week, you'll also be able to add text to your documents with the phone's voice dictation. All apps are free upgrades for current users, and are available from the iTunes App Store now.

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