Apple yesterday announced that iCloud — a breakthrough set of free cloud services that includes iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, and Documents in the Cloud — will be available on October 12.

iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars, documents, and more, keeping them up to date across all your devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.

iCloud is the cloud the way it should be: automatic and effortless. iCloud is seamlessly integrated into your apps, so you can access your content on all your devices. And it’s free with iOS 5.

iOS 5 is the most extensive update ever for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. In addition to over 200 new features, the free update will give your IOS devices access to iCloud.

What is iCloud?

iCloud stores your music, photos, documents, and more and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices. Automatic, effortless, and seamless — it just works.

iTunes in the cloud

With iCloud, the music you purchase in iTunes appears automatically on all your devices. You can also download your past iTunes purchases. Where you want, when you want.

Photo Stream

With iCloud, when you take a photo on one device, it automatically appears on all your other devices. No syncing. No sending. Your photos are just there. Everywhere you want them.

Documents in the cloud

If you have the same iCloud-enabled apps on more than one device, iCloud automatically keep your documents up to date across all your devices. So you don’t have to.

Apps, Books and Backup

iCloud makes sure all your devices have the same apps. And books. iCloud also backs up your information. So if something happens, it can help save the day.

Calendar, Mail and Contacts

iCloud stores your calendar, mail, and contacts and automatically pushes them to all your devices. So you can switch from one device to another and still go about business as usual.

icloud.com – Your place on the web

iCloud works great with popular applications including Mail and iCal on a Mac and Microsoft Outlook on a PC. But if you happen to be away from home without your computer or one of your iOS devices, you can access your mail, contacts, calendar, and documents — ad-free — from any computer at icloud.com.

More information, pictures and videos can be found on the Apple website by clicking on the link below:

Apple – iCloud – The new way to store and access your content.

Apple announced on October 4th that new iPhone, called the iPhone 4S, will be available for pre-order on October 7 and in store on October 14th in the UK.

A summary of the iPhone 4S features are listed below:

Siri. The intelligent assistant that helps you get things done. All you have to do is ask.
Dual-core A5 chip.
The you-can’t-believe-it’s-on-a-phone camera.
Video recording. In 1080p amazing HD.
iOS 5. The world’s most advanced mobile operating system. And the easiest to use.
iCloud. Your content. On all your devices.
Retina display. Clearly remarkable.
FaceTime. It’s even better face to face.
AirPlay. From the small screen to the big screen.
AirPrint. Print everything wirelessly.
Call it better, faster and even more worldly.
Built-in apps. They do just about everything. So you can too.

For the full details click on the link below to be taken to the Apple UK iPhone features website:

Apple UK iPhone 4S Features – Pictures, Videos and more.

I’ve had my iPad for a couple of weeks and now that I’ve finished Angry Birds HD I’ve been looking to use it more as a work tool rather than just a mobile entertainment center.

One of the things that I have always found cumbersome with an iPad is transferring files to it so that I could work with them. Most file sharing apps require you to use your PC or MAC to upload files to your iPad. If you forget a file, you have to go back to your workstation and upload it.

After some extensive searching, reading reviews and further research I have now installed an iPad app called FileBrowser. This app allows me to browse my network directly from my iPad, just like you would use Mac Finder or Windows Explorer.

Using FileBrowser I can browse shared folders on all the machines in my network via Wi-Fi. Once I have located a file I can either copy it locally or work with it in situ.

If I navigate to a folder containing pictures I can view them as a slide show, if it’s a movie file then I can stream it to my iPad without having to copy it locally.

How Does FileBrowser Work?

FileBrowser connects to your computer or network accessible storage device using Windows SMB protocol which means there is no third party software or additional network configuration required. Just share your folder in the normal manner (Windows & MAC) and connect to it using FileBrowser.

Accessing files on remote machines

One of the options I had been looking for was the ability to securely connect to shares on remote networks (really useful for IT guys). To do this I merely connected to the remote network using a secure VPN and then created a connection to the network share. Once I had entered my username and password for the share I was able to access, work on and stream files from it just as easily as I had within my own network.

I have included below some screenshots (from the vendors website) so that you can see what the interface looks like when being used on the iPad:

The FileBrowser For iPad App can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store by clicking on the button below:

Or by clicking here >>> FileBrowser For iPad App

Do you have an iDevice (iPhone or iPad) with iOS 4.2 and want to print web pages, emails, photo’s etc. to an existing printer on a Windows network?

I was looking for a method to print from my iPhone & iPad using my existing printers and without having to buy a new AirPrint compatible printer. After a little research this is the solution that worked for me.

On the computer that the printer was physically attached to and shared from:

1 – Install Bonjour

Firstly I downloaded Apple’s Bonjour Print Services For Windows from their website and installed it.

You can download Apple’s Bonjour Print Services For Windows from here.

If the computer had iTunes installed on it then I could of skipped this step as Bonjour is installed along with iTunes.

2 – Download AirPrint

I downloaded a file called AirPrint.zip to my desktop.

You can download Airprint.zip from here.

If you are using Windows 64 bit scroll down the page for the instructions

For Windows 32 Bit

3 – Create a new folder in C:Program Files called AirPrint

4 – Extract AirPrint.zip to C:Program FilesAirPrint

5 – Install the AirPrint service by following the instructions below:

• Start
• All Programs
• Accessories
• For Windows 2000 / XP left click Command Prompt.
• For Windows Vista / 7 right click Command Prompt and left click Run As Administrator

In the Command Line copy and paste the following command:

sc.exe create AirPrint binPath= “C:Program FilesAirPrintairprint.exe -s” depend= “Bonjour Service” start= auto

Now you should see a response like the one below:

Now go to step 6 below the Windows 64 bit instructions

For Windows 64 Bit

3 – Create a new folder in C:Program Files (x86) called AirPrint

4 – Extract AirPrint.zip to C:Program Files (x86)AirPrint

5 – Install the AirPrint service by following the instructions below:

• Start
• All Programs
• Accessories
• For Windows XP 64 bit left click Command Prompt.
• For Windows Vista / 7 64 bit right click Command Prompt and left click Run As Administrator

In the Command Line copy and paste the following command:

sc.exe create AirPrint binPath= “C:Program Files (x86)AirPrintairprint.exe -s” depend= “Bonjour Service” start= auto

Now you should see a response like the one below:

For All Versions Of Windows (32 and 64 bit)

6 – Start the AirPrint Service

In the Command Line copy and paste the following command:

sc.exe start AirPrint

Now you should see a response like the one below:

7 – Check to make sure you are sharing your printer in Windows.

8 – On your iDevice (iPhone or iPad) open Safari and try to print something. If you have followed the instructions above then you should be able to configure your printer as per the image below:

The printers I set-up using this method appeared with a small lock on the right and when I tried printing it asked me for the username and password of my account on that machine. Once I put it in then it sent the document to the printer. I know it is a little bit of a pain to put the username and password but it works.

If you have successfully followed these instructions then please feel free to share the knowledge or comment about your experience below.

By Erik Eckel of Tech Republic

Long the debate has raged: do Macs need antivirus? The technical, politically correct answer is yes, business Mac users should load antivirus software. Apple officially began recommending Mac users to load antivirus as far back as 2002. Today Apple’s website publicly encourages Mac antivirus adoption, too:

Security Advice

The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box. However, since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, antivirus software may offer additional protection.

That said, I’ve loaded antivirus on Macs exactly twice, and both times because the client specifically requested the additional security software be loaded on their Mac OS X systems. Often, Mac antivirus might simply be overkill.

A tighter architecture

Mac OS X runs on UNIX. The underlying code base is inherently more secure. It’s more difficult to hack. That’s not to say it can’t be done; it can. But cracking UNIX security is more difficult than some other operating systems. As Apple states, “Mac OS X doesn’t get PC viruses.”

Sandboxing is built in

Macs also boast built-in sandboxing, a security-conscious environment in which applications and processes are separated. Mac OS X restricts the actions programs can execute. Mac OS X ‘s sandboxing technique also restricts file access and program execution. The result is a more secure system less vulnerable to malware infection and exploitation.

Additional guidelines

Apple lists numerous security recommendations on its website. Its online Mac OS 10.6 Help page states that users should “run an antivirus program if you find any suspicious files or applications, or if you notice any suspicious behavior on your computer.”

To help protect systems, Apple also recommends Mac users avoid downloading or installing unlicensed or pirated software, accept applications only from known and trusted sources, disable unnecessary root accounts and remove unneeded administrative permissions from commonly used everyday user accounts. With such good security habits in place, it’s unlikely a third-party antivirus application is required. But when sensitive information is in question, or when patient data is at risk, best business practices require that businesses load and maintain professional antimalware software, regardless whether the computers in use are Windows-, Linux- or UNIX-powered.

Many Mac antimalware choices

A few years ago, there weren’t that many prominent software manufacturers producing antimalware software for the Mac. Now almost every antivirus provider, including Symantec/Norton, Eset, Intego, Bit Defender and Avast, produce Mac-specific antimalware platforms.

Many choices exist. Unfortunately the debate is seemingly no longer whether Macs require antivirus, but which platform to load. That is, if Mac enthusiasts are subscribing to the technical, politically correct answer. Which, knowing Mac personalities, most are likely not buying.

By Mary Anne Potts

When the first iPad came out just over a year ago, we were sure it would transform travel: Apple’s tablet computer married work and play utilities so well, it rendered a laptop excess weight on a vacation. Thirteen months later, our computing behaviour has already evolved drastically. Everyone from VPs to restaurant sommeliers to preschoolers are using iPads everywhere. It did not take long for the tablet to find a place in our lives.

Since the second generation iPad was released a month ago, much has been said about the new lighter, smaller, faster model. And the fact that Apple has added significant new features to iPad 2—such as the front- and back-facing cameras—without raising the price. Let’s consider what the iPad 2 does to further transform travel with its smaller size, new cameras, innovative new travel apps, and iMovie travel videos.

iPad 2 For Travel

1. Packable Size, Speed

Yes, the iPad 2 is light (33 percent lighter than iPad 1) and thin (thinner than the iPhone 4). It’s so fast—two times faster thanks to the A5 chip—that the graphics seem to fly across the screen as you use it. The sleek, skinny iPad 2 disappears in your handbag, tote, or backpack. And at the airport, iPads do not have to be screened separately in the security line.

2. Ample Battery Life

The ten-hour battery life means you can literally not worry about charging your iPad for days. Battery life is simply not an issue. The iPad also has its own voltage converter, so you just need to find a power adapter for your host country and you are all set.

Here are three ways to maximize your iPad’s battery life:

• Turn down the brightness of the screen.
• Limit the apps in your multitasking. Each open app is using a bit of battery. Close out of the apps you aren’t using.
• Turn off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings when you are not using them. They soak up battery power.

3. Cameras for Video Chatting, Hi-Def Video, Photos

The much anticipated front- and back-facing cameras enable FaceTime chats from wherever you have a Wi-Fi signal—airport layovers, coffee shop chats, Madrid’s Plaza de Santo Domingo. More and more cities are publishing maps of their free Wi-Fi hotspots. 

Though the cameras’ video is hi-def, the photos are less sharp than photos taken with the iPhone 4. But in reality, shooting photos and video on the iPad is a little strange. For my iMove travel video, I used my iPhone 4 to shoot photos and video, then synced to my computer, then to my iPad. You can also use the USB adapter to sync iPhone 4 photos directly to iPad.

4. Top Travel App Innovations

With the addition of the new gyroscope and cameras, and the existing GPS, the world of travel apps is about to take off. The gyroscope and GPS could enable some very cool virtual tour guides of favourite travel sites—say an iPad tour of Machu Picchu where you point your iPad at a feature and it tells you historical facts. Here are some of the more impressive new iPad travel apps out there:


• iMovie

Optimized for the iPad, this app could transform you into a filmmaker. For travel videos, it’s amazing. It makes editing videos simple—little kids could do it. See the section below to read the full review.

• National Geographic National Parks Maps HD App

This app pairs hi-res images of points-of-interest within National Geographic HD topo trail maps for 15 parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, and ten others). The iPad’s Digital Compass will locate you within the park when you are ready to start exploring.

• JetSetter

This visually stunning, content-driven travel app lets you discover travel destinations through a gorgeous layout and photography. The stories and editorial reviews will tantalize you to take a trip—and the app even allows you to book a hotel stay with a cool calendar feature. It also has “Flash Sale” limited-time travel deals.

• Word Lens

This app utilizes the camera to photograph and translate text. Right now it only works for English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Still it’s a remarkable service on the iPad. It’s not perfect. I tried it on my friend Mark Adam’s new book title, Turn Right at Machu Picchu. It came up with “Turno Correcto a Machu Picchu,” which is a little off, but the possibilities are exciting.

• TripAdvisor

Thanks to the iPad’s digital compass, TripAdvisor’s vast database of user reviews are made available on Google Street maps. Simply locate yourself via the GPS, then read reviews of nearby restaurants and hotels positioned on a Google Street View map. What’s surprising is all the local information. I always considered TripAdvisor to be best for international hotels. But with the app, I located myself in my apartment in Brooklyn and it showed me all the restaurants and businesses on my street with contact info and user reviews. 

• Fotopedia Heritage

Brilliant photos illustrate the world’s UNESCO World Heritage sites in this app. The Machu Picchu slide show alone has 59 images.

• FlightBoard

This app quite simply lets you see the Arrivals and Departures flight boards in any airport. Pretty handy if you are dealing with weather delays.

• AllSubway HD

This is the first collection of subway maps from the world’s great cities, from Moscow to Munich to Perth. You don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to use it, so subterranean navigation is possible.

5. iMovie: Geo-Referenced Travel Videos

iMovie, which we loved for the iPhone 4, is now optimized for iPad and so easy to use. The added screen real estate allows for great control and precision while editing your trip video. You can trim video clips before you add them to your edited material, and then re-edit the cuts throughout the process with multiple video editing tracks. The app is so superior, it gives you the confidence to actually cut together a video you could be proud of.

I tested the process on a morning run to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., last week. In my case the early morning light on an overcast and rainy day didn’t really show off the scenery as much as I’d hoped. I used my iPhone 4, then synced the images to my computer, and then to my iPad. You can also use the USB adapter to sync directly to your iPad. Because the photos and videos are geo-referenced, I easily tagged locations in iMovie. This would be particularly handy if, post trip, you couldn’t remember where you snapped the shot.

I did all my video editing on the go, mostly on my subway commute.

If I had more time, I would have attempted to compose my own cherry blossoms run soundtrack in the new GarageBand, now optimized for iPad. In the same way that iMovie makes you feel like a capable filmmaker, GarageBand makes you feel like a diamond-in-the-rough musician. And they are both so fun to use. Apple’s creativity-developing apps encourage us to document, record, and present our lives in a personal way. The resulting videos or even music compositions may not win an Oscar or Grammy, but they contribute to focusing on some of life’s best moments—our vacations with family and friends.

Apple have introduced the iPad 2, featuring an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad while maintaining the same 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen and up to 10 hours of battery life. iPad 2 also features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for blazing-fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras — a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video. iPad 2 is available in black or white and introduces the innovative iPad 2 Smart Cover in a range of colors.

Apple has announced that the Apple iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March 2011, two weeks behind the US launch date of March 11th 2011.

For further information on the Apple iPad 2 please use the links below:

Apple iPad 2 Features

Apple iPad 2 Built-in Apps

Apple iPad 2 Tech Specs

Apple have just released the iOS 4.2 update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

I have listed below some of the new features of this latest version of this mobile operating system.

Multitasking on the iPad – iOS 4.2 brings multitasking from iPhone and iPod touch to iPad. So you can be more productive as you work, have more fun as you play, or do a little of both

Folders on the iPad – Move apps into folders with drag-and-drop simplicity to declutter your Home screens

AirPrint – AirPrint makes it simple to print email, photos, web pages, and documents right from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. A few taps is all it takes to go from viewing it onscreen to holding a printed copy.

Find My iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch – is now free on any iPhone 4, iPad, or fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 4.2.

Even better Mail – See messages from all your accounts in a unified inbox, organize messages by threads, and open attachments in third-party apps.

Find text on web pages – In Safari, you can do a quick text search to find and highlight specific words and phrases on even the longest web pages.

Messaging with text tones – Know who’s texting without looking at your screen. Choose from 17 new alerts and assign custom tones for people in your contact list.

Reply to calendar invitations – Reply to event invitations from friends using calendar services like Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft Exchange — right from the built-in Calendar app.

AirPlay – lets you stream digital media wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to your Apple TV and AirPlay-enabled speakers. So you can watch movies and photos on your widescreen TV and play music through the best speakers in the house.

For all the details click on the link below:

http://www.apple.com/ios/

Specifications:

OS: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Processor: 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (11 inch model)
RAM: 2GB SDRAM
Storage: 64GB of flash memory integrated into the motherboard
Display: 11.6-inch LCD with LED backlight; 1366×768 resolution
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU with 256MB of shared SDRAM
Battery: 35-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
Ports: 2 USB ports, Mini DisplayPort, headphone jack
Weight: 2.3 pounds
Dimensions: 0.11-0.68(h) x 11.6(w) x 7.56(d) inches
Camera: FaceTime-compatible webcam
Keyboard: 78-key full-size keyboard with 12 function keys
Mouse: Multi-touch trackpad
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Price: £849 (64GB hard drive) and £999 (128GB)

Target Audience

The MacBook Air 11-inch is a good fit for road warriors who want a top quality laptop in a small, light, and super-thin package.

Small Form Factor – Large Form Feel

Netbooks typically have had one good feature: small form factor. Meanwhile, the screens and keyboards are too small to be useful and the underpowered processors made them sluggish and frustrating to use.

The 11-inch MacBook Air is first real exception to the rule. Its 11-inch LCD screen has a 1366×768 resolution that is usable (even if it’s not super-roomy). It has a full-sized keyboard that’s almost identical to the standard Mac chicklet keyboards and the performance of the MacBook Air is surprisingly strong — faster than many full-sized laptops — due primarily to the fact that it uses flash storage integrated directly into the motherboard.

Standout features

Form factor – Apple has certainly stretched the boundaries of what’s possible with the 11-inch MacBook Air. It is amazingly thin and light while maintaining a high build-quality and feeling as sturdy of its industrial-strength MacBook Pro line.

Performance – The most surprising aspect of the 11-inch MacBook Air is how fast it open programs and web pages. It performed respectably in Macworld’s benchmarks comparing it to other Macs, but in real world tests it felt faster than most of the computers used on a regular basic (PCs, Macs, desktops, laptops, etc.). That can mostly be attributed to the Air having flash-based storage that is integrated into the system at a deeper level than the standard flash-based hard discs.

Portability – At just over one kilogram in weight and less than an inch thick, the 11-inch MacBook Air is a minimalist machine that you can slip into your padfolio, purse, or briefcase and you’ll barely notice it. The thing could lost between a magazine and a piece of paper.

What’s wrong?

Price – The biggest problem with the 11-inch MacBook Air is its price. The base model will cost you £850. The one with the bigger hard drive and the faster processor is £999.

Software compatibility – Mac OS X is a respectable operating system and known for being easy to approach for non-technical users. However, business users have to make sure that all of the software they use for their everyday tasks will work from a Mac (and, let’s face it, a lot of business software still runs on Windows).

One workaround for this would be to run an instance of Windows using virtualization software or Bootcamp but that would add at least another £450 or so in software licenses to the cost of an already expensive laptop.

Another workaround, in the larger corporate environment, would be to use Remote Desktop for MAC to connect to a terminal server within your organization where all the Windows applications you use on a daily basis are installed and configured for use. However £850 for what will essentially become a “dumb terminal” might be considered rather excessive.

Further information about the Apple MacBook Air can be found at the following webpage:

Apple MacBook Air

Mac OS X Lion – The Power of Mac OS X. The Magic of iPad.
Apple took their best thinking from Mac OS X and brought it to the iPhone. Then they took their best thinking from the iPhone and brought it to iPad. And now they’re bringing it all back to the Mac with the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Mac OS X Lion arrives in summer 2011. Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of its features.