Preparing for iOS 5 and iCloud

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Tomorrow Apple will undertake what is likely the most ambitious software launch in the company’s history. Tomorrow will see the release of iOS 5, OS X Lion 10.7.2, updates to various supporting apps, and the biggest thing since iTunes — iCloud.

It would be prudent to make some preparations for all of this. First, let’s talk iPhones, iPads, & iPods.

iOS 5

iOS 5 is Apple’s latest software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It has loads of new features that you’ll want. Best of all, it’s free.

The first thing you’ll need for putting iOS 5 on your device is iTunes 10.5, which was released earlier today. I would sync each of your devices before upgrading to iOS 5, as that will create a backup. And just for kicks, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to import your camera roll to your computer, as part of iCloud will include significant changes to how photos are handled within iOS. More on that in a bit.

Also, make sure you check for updates to your apps and install them. Apple is approving app updates like gangbusters right now because developers are adding iOS 5 compatibility. If you have an update for an app that lists fixes for iOS 5 and you don’t install them, don’t complain if the app breaks. Install the updates, okay?

Okay, after all that is done, get a good night’s sleep and plug your device in tomorrow afternoon, wait for it to show up in iTunes, then select the device in the sidebar, and click the big Check for Updates button. Then let iTunes update your device while you get a snack.

After you’re all updated, you can enjoy never having to physically plug your iPhone to your computer for syncing again, as long as you have Wi-Fi. From now on you can sync over your home Wi-Fi, backups happen wirelessly with iCloud, and future iOS updates will be pushed over the air to your device.

iCloud

Where iTunes was the digital hub for the past decade, iCloud is the hub for the next decade or so. iCloud will hold onto copies of your purchased music, TV shows, apps, & books, device backups, contacts, calendars, notes, reminders, documents, photos, and email.

You get a free @me.com email address, which is ad-free to boot. Apps that take advantage of iCloud will be able to sync their data between your devices, as well. iCloud also features location services such as being able to find and lock down a lost device, and even find family & friends that have given you permission to see their location. All in all, iCloud is Apple’s big new amazing technology that will make us feel like we live in the future.

After you update to iOS 5, you will be able to set up iCloud and all its nifty services from the Settings app.

OS X Lion 10.7.2

Ah yes, the Macintosh. The original digital hub. With the advent of iCloud, the Mac has been “demoted” to just another device, and OS X Lion 10.7.2 will bring all the advantages of iCloud with it — including that ability to find and lock down a lost Mac.

The Mac is known for its iLife suite, and part of that will see a little upgrade tomorrow, too. iPhoto 9.2 will include iCloud’s Photo Stream. Take a picture with your iPhone, it shows up in mere moments on your Mac.

A Note for MobileMe Users

If you are a MobileMe user, you’ve probably heard that iCloud is succeeding MobileMe. You’ll still get email, and syncing for calendars, contacts, & bookmarks. You still get Find my iPhone. But a few things aren’t making it. iDisk and Gallery are going away. They are sort of being replaced by Documents in the Cloud and Photo Stream, respectively. And if you’re a multi-Mac user who used MobileMe to keep dock items, Dashboard widgets, and keychains in sync — well, those are going away, too.

But honestly, things like iDisk, and the syncing for dock, Dashboard, & keychains — they never really worked well. So, when you migrate to iCloud, be prepared. On the bright side, iCloud is likely to work much more effectively, and hey, it’s free. Enjoy it.

Tomorrow is a big day. Things are about to get a lot more awesome.

¶ S

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Turns out I wasn’t too far off on my late-night predictions yesterday.

The iPhone 4S sports an A5 processor, 8MP camera with vastly improved optics, and 1080p video recording with stabilization. It also features an AI assistant called Siri. It looks exactly like the iPhone 4, which is great because the the iPhone 4 is awesome. It has an improved antenna that can handle both CDMA & GSM frequencies, and is coming to Verizon, AT&T, & newcomer Sprint on October 14.

iOS 5, iCloud, & OS X Lion 10.7.2 will be dropping on October 12. And iCloud did get one more new feature: Friends & Family. This looks like it could be kind of neat for my wife to able to see how close I am to home before calling me to tell me to stop at the store.

And the iPod nano and iPod received very slight revisions. The nano no longer needs a dongle for Nike+ and has more clock faces to choose from since some people have taken to using them as watches. The touch now comes in white (seriously, I don’t think anything has changes as far as specs).

However, I was wrong about the iPod classic. It lives on for yet another year.

¶ Predictions

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It's the eve before Apple's big reveal on the new iPhone. I always like to give a few predictions, of which I am usually terribly short-sighted or flat-out wrong. So I'm going to try to be a little more conservative this year, and just give my gut feelings on the some of the rumors.

  • We will see a new iPhone, and it will be available very soon.
  • We will get a release date for iOS 5, iCloud, and OS X 10.7.2. I would wager a couple days prior to the release of the new iPhone.
  • iCloud will have one more really awesome thing to make it that much more of a big deal. I have no idea what that may be, but I have a hunch. Come on, this is Apple's baby for the next decade.
  • We'll hear some news about refreshed iPods for the holidays. Nothing major. The classic will be dispatched to its Great Reward.

AirPrint Gaining Traction

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A while back I pondered why HP had a monopoly on Apple's AirPrint wireless printing standard. Today, I was happy to see that Canon has three printers available today featuring AirPrint, and Epson has thrown in their commitment, as well.

It just so happens that my beloved Canon printer of the past half-decade is starting to show its age mechanically, so maybe I will look into one of these AirPrint-capable models in a few months.

¶ We Believe

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This is what we believe:

Technology alone is not enough.

Faster. Thinner. Lighter. Those are all good things, but when technology gets out of the way, everything becomes more delightful. Even magical.

That's when you leap forward. That's when you end up with something like this.

-Apple's iPad 2 Ad, We Believe

For my initial reaction to Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO from Apple, I made a conscious point as soon as I heard the news to read nothing else other than Steve's letter and Apple's PR statement. I wanted my reaction to be my own.

I have found that reading other writers' thoughts on a topic can sometimes sway my own, which isn't necessarily bad, but can sometimes leave me feeling as if I just regurgitated their statements with my own slight spin.

For my reaction, I focused on culture. It looks like I wasn't far off the mark from fellowwriters. The above video echoes this belief of changing the world. Technology isn't enough. It is a means to an end. And that end is to bring delight and magic to mere mortals.

John Gruber paints this culture in a fascinating way:

Apple’s products are replete with Apple-like features and details, embedded in Apple-like apps, running on Apple-like devices, which come packaged in Apple-like boxes, are promoted in Apple-like ads, and sold in Apple-like stores. The company is a fractal design. Simplicity, elegance, beauty, cleverness, humility. Directness. Truth. Zoom out enough and you can see that the same things that define Apple’s products apply to Apple as a whole. The company itself is Apple-like. The same thought, care, and painstaking attention to detail that Steve Jobs brought to questions like “How should a computer work?”, “How should a phone work?”, “How should we buy music and apps in the digital age?” he also brought to the most important question: “How should a company that creates such things function?”

Jobs’s greatest creation isn’t any Apple product. It is Apple itself.

Some get it. Others are screaming Apple will falter soon, just like it did in 1985. The big difference is last time Jobs left Apple he was forced out, exiled. He was a different man then. During his exile he learned a lot, found his footing. And when he came back he cleaned house and reshaped Apple. He surrounded himself with like-minded individuals.

Apple is not just Steve Jobs, it is the sum of the many parts of creative talent and thirst to change things for better.

This is why Apple will continue on and see its best years ahead of it. Steve is certainly one-of-a-kind, but we are Apple.

Just remember, Steve Jobs hand-picked Tim Cook to succeed him. Michael Grothaus shared his personal story of Tim Cook, in which he says:

No one can ever replace Steve Jobs, the man, the genius. But Apple is not only Steve Jobs, no matter what anyone thinks. Apple is the interns and executive assistants; it's the retail employees and the designers; it's the marketing and PR departments, it's Scott Forstall and Jonathan Ive; Bob Mansfield and Phil Schiller; it's the dozens of other names you see on all those Apple patents that we talk about every week. Apple is not any single one of these people. It is the sum of them all, run by a leader who possesses enough wisdom to know that everyone in the company matters, that everyone's concerns are valid and deserve attention. Tim Cook is such a leader.

Culture is one of the most important things for people. It defines who we are, and guides us on our future paths. Tim Cook believes in the culture Steve Jobs inspired. The people who create wonderful things at Apple believe it. We who use these tools believe it. I believe it.

We are Apple, and our greatest days are yet ahead of us.

¶ To The Crazy One

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Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Apple's Think Different ad campaign from so long ago captures not only the culture of Apple and its community, but clearly paints a picture of the man who planted the seed, nurtured the initial growth of ideas, and even restored health to a withering orchard — Steve Jobs.

Today Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple.

I'm not even quite sure what to say yet.

How about we start with Steve's words:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Perhaps, a letter of my own is fitting.

Steve,

I'd be lying if I said that you hadn't changed my life. The fruits of your labor have been a near-daily part of my life since I was a small boy. The last decade has been a heck of a ride. I went from just being an enthusiast to being a believer in everything Apple stands for.

Some call me irrational, but I know that Apple is much more than a simple corporation. Apple is a forum where some of the most talented minds of this modern Earth gather in conference under the belief that we can change this world for the better. And that is something that transcends the walls of 1 Infinite Loop and into the hearts of those who use these artisan tools to create beauty in words and code and pixels and bits.

Everyone I've met that works for Apple believes this. Everyone I've met who sees more than a product in your tools believes this. It's an honor to be a part of this creative culture.

What Apple stands for is a part of me. It is one of the essential pillars of my identity. Ask my friends and family. There is rarely a day that goes by that I am not using these tools before me to make someone's day a little better, whether that is through words on this site, an encouraging note to someone, or connecting eye-to-eye with my parents so they can see their grandson from hundreds of miles away.

To put this simply — thank you. I wish you many years of health and enjoyment with your family.

-Chris

"Guess I'm Never Buying Anything from Apple Again"

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I've been seeing a lot of stink being raised over a new patent from Apple by the media and especially by folks on Twitter.

The patent covers an idea for an camera system that includes an infrared receiver that can accept data. To sum up some of the uses of this new system, Patently Apple states:

On one side, the new system would go a long way in assisting the music and movie industries by automatically disabling camera functions when trying to photograph or film a movie or concert. On the other hand, the new system could turn your iOS device into a kind of automated tour guide for museums or cityscapes as well as eventually being an auto retail clerk providing customers with price, availability and product information. The technology behind Apple's patent application holds a lot of potential.

And of course, everyone latches onto that first sentence. And only that sentence.

I've seen tweets (well, mostly retweets) in my feed saying things along the lines of "Guess I'm never buying anything from Apple again".

Grow up, people.

It's a patent. Do you have any idea how many patents Apple files in a year? Enough to keep a site like Patently Apple in business. Now, with that scale in mind, how many of those patents make it into an actual shipping product? Not many.

With this in mind, let's save the outrage for if this system is ever implemented, and in an evil way. Otherwise, knock it off.

The New Mothership

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Last night at the Cupertino City Council meeting, a handful of mere mortals were granted an audience with Steve Jobs. Apple has always referred to its campus as the mothership, and this new one they plan to have completed by 2015 certainly fits that. The entire video is worth watching.

If you ask me, from above it kind of looks like a Stargate.

[via TechCrunch]

WWDC11

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Yesterday Apple announced a lot of new things at WWDC. Frankly, it has been a lot to process and figure out what the highlights worthy of discussion are. So I thought I'd share some (hopefully) brief thoughts on OS X Lion, iOS 5, & iCloud.

OS X Lion

Apple showed off a lot of the same things it did during the first preview months ago and also on its website since. Chief among those are things like Multi-Touch Gestures, Full-Screen Apps, Mission Control, Launchpad, Auto-Save and Versions.

The Lion part of the keynote was really just a recap to show off some polish, and give details on its release. I was very happy to see the price tag of $29.99, and that it will be distributed via the Mac App Store in July. I honestly was a little surprised to see Apple killing off the optical disc this aggressively. I knew it would happen sooner rather than later, but I expected it for the next iteration of OS X.

My only curiosity with the whole thing revolves around whether or not we'll be able to make some sort of bootable recovery, whether on disc or USB drive. I mean, what if your hard drive goes kaput? We'll find out in July.

I do highly recommend you peruse Apple's extensive information about OS X.

iOS 5

There were two things I have been wanting built into iOS recently, and those have been a better notification system and a ToDo List that would sync over the air with my Mac and iPad. I had bought a few apps to accomplish the latter, but none work as seamlessly as I expect out of my Apple devices.

Thankfully both of those items and more came to fruition.

Notification Center

Notifications have, honestly, taken a cue from Android. They pop in briefly from the top while you are doing something and quietly disappear for later inspection within the Notification Center, which can be accessed by dragging a finger down from the top of the screen. Here, notifications can be acted upon, left alone, or dismissed. Another nice touch regarding notifications is how they stack on the lock screen, and can be acted upon straight from there by sliding your finger across a particular notification, which unlocks the device and pops you into that app.

Reminders

Reminders is your regular old task list, with a twist. It has the ability to use geolocation as a way to alert you to a task, when you either arrive somewhere, or leave. For instance, you could set a reminder pick up dinner when you leave your office. As you are walking to your car, your iPhone alerts you. It looks like everything I could want and more.

Camera

The improvements to the Camera app have me fairly excited. There will be a software button you can tap from the lock screen to jump immediately into the camera. From there, you can now pinch to zoom, tap & hold to lock auto-exposure and auto-focus, and even use the volume up button as a shutter release.

After you take a shot, you can also do basic editing, such as rotation, cropping, red-eye correction, and an automatic touch-up process.

iMessage

iMessage is a new, free service, that allows you to send text, pictures, video, contacts, location data, etc to another iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It will be the default system in the Messages app, with SMS/MMS being a fallback if the recipient isn't an iOS user. This is definitely huge and I am sure the carriers aren't happy about Apple sucking away their precious overpriced texting plans.

Independence from Computers

By far the biggest announcement for iOS is tethering via USB will no longer be needed to sync and make backups. Heck, iTunes isn't even needed to set up your iDevice out of the box anymore. Just take it out, run through a set-up dialog, and you're on your way. This will be great for upgrading to a new device, and even more so, those buying an iPad as their only device.

Another perk is iOS updates will now occur over the air, and as delta updates. Delta updates are just the changes. Up until now, iOS updates have been the entire OS, which is kicking around 600+ MB these days.

iOS 5 is set for release this fall (I'd guess September). Check out the new features and a video.

iCloud

iCloud is a new service from Apple that moves the focus of syncing off of iTunes and onto a server. Jobs said, "The cloud is the truth", meaning that all your devices — Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod touch, & iPad — will be communicating with iCloud as their main source of information.

iCloud will store email, contacts, calendars, iTunes, App Store, & iBookstores purchases, documents, photos, and backups. The idea is that you make a change on one device, and it uploads to iCloud, and then is pushed to the other devices.

For example, take a picture on your iPhone, and it is on your iPad and within iPhoto on your Mac in mere moments.

iCloud looks to be a big deal, and it will be available this fall alongside iOS 5, free for everyone.

I was very glad to see iCloud is free, and MobileMe accounts are being rolled into it.

Like I said, it's a lot of information to absorb. The implications of iCloud are staggering, something I'll expound on in a later post. I am excited to get Lion in a month's time, and find myself impatient, as always, for the next version of iOS.