Changes include

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

Notifications
◦ Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Centre
◦ New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
◦ View notifications from lock screen
◦ Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

iMessage
◦ Send and receive unlimited text, photo and video messages with other iOS 5 users
◦ Track messages with delivery and read receipts
◦ Group messaging and secure encryption
◦ Works over mobile networks and Wi-Fi*

Newsstand
◦ Automatically organises magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
◦ Displays the cover of the latest issue
◦ Background downloads of new issues

Reminders for managing to-do lists
◦ Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
◦ Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

Built-in support for Twitter
◦ Sign in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
◦ Add location to any tweet
◦ View Twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

Camera improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Double-click the Home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
◦ Volume Up button to take a picture
◦ Optional grid lines to line up shots
◦ Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
◦ Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
◦ Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure; iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

Photo improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Crop and rotate
◦ Red-eye removal
◦ One-tap enhance
◦ Organise photos into albums

Mail improvements
◦ Format text using bold, italic or underlined fonts
◦ Indentation control
◦ Drag to rearrange names in address fields
◦ Flag messages
◦ Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Customise mail alert sounds
◦ S/MIME

Calendar improvements
◦ Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
◦ Tap to create an event
◦ View and add event attachments

Game Center improvements
◦ Use personal photos for your Game Center account
◦ Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
◦ Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
◦ Discover new games with custom game recommendations

AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S

Multitasking Gestures for iPad
◦ Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
◦ Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
◦ Swipe left or right to switch between apps

On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant

Software updates available over the air without tethering

iCloud support
◦ iTunes in the Cloud
◦ Photo Stream
◦ Documents in the Cloud
◦ Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
◦ Backup
◦ Contacts, Calendar and Mail
◦ Find My iPhone

Redesigned Music app for iPad

Hourly weather forecast

Real-time stock quotes

Wireless sync to iTunes

Keyboard improvements
◦ Split keyboard for iPad
◦ Improved auto-correction accuracy
◦ Improved Chinese and Japanese input
◦ New Emoji keyboard
◦ Personal dictionary for auto-correction
◦ Optionally create keyboard shortcuts for frequently used words

Accessibility improvements
◦ Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
◦ Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
◦ New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
◦ Option to speak a selection of text
◦ Custom element labelling for VoiceOver

Exchange ActiveSync improvements
◦ Wirelessly sync tasks
◦ Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Improved offline support
◦ Save a new contact from a GAL service

More than 1,500 new developer APIs

Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)

* Normal carrier data rates may apply. Messages will be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable; carrier messaging fees apply.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The iPod player on the iPhone 4 works much better and does remember your position until you decide that you need to power cycle the iPhone and then….guess what? It forgets where you were before you restarted.

The audible.com app which is free on the iPhone came out a while ago and I did take a brief look at it when it was released, but either I failed to see at the time or a new feature has been added, but now the Audible app allows you to pick up audio books that you purchased through iTunes. Not only that but also to allow you to bookmark them….hooorah!

No more scanning through chapters of an audio book trying to work out where you finished listening.

Now to be quite honest (and to defend the purchases/money spent) this includes apps for the iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad over several years. It also includes some magazine subscriptions although mostly not as most of mine are through Zinio and don’t go through the iTunes AppStore.

When you look at the price of what you’ve spent so far it really does hit home. Maybe this year I should start pulling back on how much I spend on the AppStore in 2011.

Apple and Facebook had talked about incorporating the social network into iTunes new Ping service but couldn’t come to terms, according to Steve Jobs. So shortly after release the Facebook integration was pulled from iTunes 10 and Ping.

The new Ping Social Network on iTunes allows anyone using iTunes to recommend music to your friends and family and also see what others are recommending.

Let’s hope that Facebook and later Twitter intergration could eventually make it into Ping in iTunes 10.

Steve Wozniak was also at the Apple Special Event in the audience and Steve asked his old friend to take a stand whilst everyone applauded.

Apple Stores

• Apple have been opening some great stores lately, recently opened store in Paris.
• Apple also really excited about our 2nd store in China in Shanghai, 40ft high glass cylinder, fanstastic store
• In London we opened another store in Covent Garden (2nd really large store in London), beautiful old building we restored
• Apple now have 300 Apple Retail Stores (Covent Garden, London was the 300th store), now in 10 countries
• Apple opening first Apple store in Spain shortly, that makes 11 countries
• 1 million visitors some days (one to one = 80,000 / week), 50% buying their first Mac

iOS

• iOS powers our mobile devices, revolution in both touch and apps, 120 million iOS devices now shipped!
• 230,000 new activations a day, iOS appstore over 6.5 Billion apps, 200 apps downloaded every second
• Today Apple are releasing iOS 4.1, bugs fixed – Proximity, Bluetooth, iPhone 3G
• Secondly Apple have added HDR photos to iOS 4.1, standard in iOS 4.1.
• Ability to upload HDR videos over WiFi, TV show rentals
• HDR photo taking will take 3x photos on iPhone 4.1 and bracket to provide a higher contrast more realistic photo
• Game Center also built into iOS 4.1, it’s a game center right on the phone with multiplayer games with API’s
• Challenge your friends or have your friends challenge you with iOS 4.1 Game Center
• Today Project Sword announced (action packed RPG) aka Unreal engine but gorgeous 3D world from Epic Games
• The Project Sword RPG from #epicgames looks awesome with really fast FPS rate iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad release autumn
• iOS 4.1 available next week for iPhone and iPod Touch (free download via iTunes)
• Sneak peak at iOS 4.2 release (a little later this year) – all about iPad
• iOS 4.2 bringing everything to iPad, HDR photos, Game Center, multitasking wireless printing, EVERYTHING brought to iPad!
• iOS 4.2 also adding AirPlay to iPad
• AirTunes – streaming music over WiFi to an Airport Express base station to your mobile device.
• Apple changing name from AirTunes to AirPlay – streaming music, photos and videos!
• iPad 4.2 coming out in November – Will be a free update for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. So no iOS 4.1 yet for iPad

iPods

• Apple have sold 275 million iPods sold
• All new design for every single model of iPod!!!
• iPod Shuffle – now comes with buttons and voice over play lists and smaller than 2nd generation
• iPod Shuffle – Small and wearable, easy to use with buttons, speak playlists, Genius mixes, voiceover, 15 hours of music
• iPod Shuffle – Packing small and looks really cute, comes in 5 colours and sells for $49
• New iPod Nano – smaller, removed click wheel and now it’s touch based with multitouch! 46% smaller, 24hrs music playback
• New iPod Nano – has built-in clock, size of your watch face, could be used as a music player watch with an armband
• New iPod Nano – comes in 6x colours, $149 = 8gb, $179 = 16gb available for holiday season
• iPod Touch – 1.5 Billion games and entertainment titles already downloaded to iPod Touch
• New iPod Touch – Thinner still, amazing RETINA display, 4x pixels 326 ppi, 24-bit colour LED backlit, best display
• New iPod Touch – Apple A4 chip included, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1 with Game Center, Facetime (WiFi) with Front facing camera
• New iPod Touch – Rear camera added aswell with HD video recording! 40 hours of music playback!
• New iPod Touch – Pricing – 8gb = $229, 32gb = $299. 64gb = $399, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Touch shipping next week
• New iPod Touch – Pre-order available for iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch later today
• Steve Jobs showing new video adverts for the new iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch

iTunes

• iTunes 11.7 Billion songs, 450 Million TV episodes downloaded
• New logo for iTunes 10 (musical note in a blue background in a circle)
• iTunes 10 – New feature – Ping (Social network meets iTunes) – it’s not Facebook, not Twitter, Social Network about music
• iTunes 10 – Ping – follow your favourite artist and what your friends are listening to, all built into iTunes 10
• iTunes 10 – Social Media meets iTunes, basically Twitter for iTunes to find out about the latest songs and artists
• iTunes 10 – Ping (Social Network for iTunes) is open to 160 million iTunes users in 23 countries IMMEDIATELY
• iTunes 10 – no mention of wirelessly syncing iPod, iPhone and iPad yet to iTunes
• iTunes 10 – Ping dubbed the first Social Network all about music by Steve Jobs
• iTunes 10 – Ping (Social Network for Music) is also available on your iPhone and iPod Touch (right in the iTunes store)
• iTunes 10 – Available today for 160 million people in 23 countries, download to start today at apple.com
• iTunes 10 not quite yet available, will be available later today after keynote

Apple TV

• Apple TV 2nd generation is a quarter of the size of the 1st generation Apple TV! Steve holds in palm of his hand, so tiny
• Apple TV – PSU built in, 1x HDMI connector and 1x Ethernet, built-in WiFi 802.11n, really simple, plug in and go
• New Apple TV – About music, TV shows and streaming, all about HD when available, no purchases available, you rent shows
• New Apple TV – No storage problem, you rent them, it streams them over the air, still cheaper than if you bought it
• New Apple TV – You can stream music, photos, videos from your computer to Apple TV
• New Apple TV – Silent, cool and tiny, no storage required. Rent $4.99 First run HD movies when come out on DVD
• New Apple TV – First run HD movies $4.99 but get cheaper over time
• New Apple TV – To rent HD TV Shows, 99 cents for Apple TV, some are commercially free
• New Apple TV – ABC and Fox offering shows for 99 cents for rental on Apple TV
• New Apple TV – Hollywood (Netflix customers) can stream from Netflix library to Apple TV, YouTube support, Flickr
• New Apple TV – No need to sync to iTunes to a PC or Mac, just plug and go
• New Apple TV – To rent a TV show, click the $0.99 button, bang you’re now watching it whilst streaming to Apple TV
• New Apple TV – $99!!!! Available later this month (about 4 weeks, pre-order today)

Steve Jobs also managed to get Chris Martin from Coldplay to play the piano and sing live with various Coldplay songs.  Unfortunately the rest of the band couldn’t make it – Chris said they were just too lazy to attend

Agnes has hit singles on this album including “Release Me”, “I Need You Now” and other great songs like “You Rain” and “Love Me Senseless”. Check out the iTunes Store for the full album as this really is a great album!

1. Release Me
2. I Need You Now
3. On & On
4. Secret Love
5. Sometimes I Forget
6. You Rain
7. Big Blue Wall
8. Love, Love, Love
9. How Do You Know
10.Love Me Senseless
11.If I Could Build My Whole World Around You
12.Release Me (Acoustic Version)
13.I Need You Now (Original Mix)
14.On & On (Acoustic Version
15.Big Blue Wall (Original Version
16.On & On (Album Version)
17.Big Blue Wall (Cahill Radio Edit)

I use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts and download the latest episodes because it’s SUPPOSED to also mark as read the podcasts once you’ve listened to them on the iPhone (which it does) then remove them from your iPhone when you sync to iTunes (which it doesn’t) and most of the time I find it then shows them as not listened to once I’ve re-synced my iPhone.

This is really infuriating because I have a lot of podcasts, and I don’t remember which ones I’ve listened to. I started to delete them after listening to them to only find iTunes re-instate them again on the iPhone.

I watched with great intent after listening to several podcasts last night and syncing my iPhone this morning that with iTunes open on Windows Vista, connecting the iPhone to the sync cradle, immediately the iPhone says it’s Syncing the iPhone (which it’s not). I have manual sync setup on iTunes so I have to click the SYNC button manually for the iPhone to actually sync. I waited 30 seconds and the Sync message disappeared on the iPhone, at this point I decided to go back into iPod player and look at the last two podcasts I had listened to. Previously these were marked as listened to, now they have the blue dot next to them to say I haven’t listened to them….UGH!

Why is the iPhone doing this very quick sync and allowing iTunes on the PC to overwrite your listened too settings on the iPhone ? Essentially doing a one-way sync before you actually sync the iPhone rather than a proper two-way sync.

Now I know what the problem is, I seriously have to decide whether to continue using iTunes for podcasts. I use it mainly because I want to listen to podcasts when I’m driving or doing other things on the iPhone and with the lack of proper multi-tasking on the iPhone, I’m left with very little choice. Hopefully this will change more when using iPhone OS 4 but time will tell…..

Now bring into the equation the Official Apple Desktop Charger stand and plug the same Official Apple Sync cable into this and plug the iPhone into it, then Sync through iTunes on the PC and now you receive the message “Charging is not supported with this accessory”

Seeing that there really isn’t anything else the charging stand will do for the iPhone other than Charge and Sync, you would think that the Charging stand/dock would still be able to support both.

If you plug the charging/sync cable into a mains adapter then it will charge the iPhone through that. The iPhone is obviously capable of both Charging and Syncing to a PC because it can do that via the cable directly, just not when you bring the iPhone desktop stand into the equation.

The woes of technology and accessories. This is the main reason why I usually purchase ‘Official’ accessories as you can understand why some third party clone accessory won’t work or will for a time then stop working, but you really don’t expect this from Apple seeing that they made the stand and the iPhone.

Here’s just a few errors I’ve seen lately when the store starts to creak or vent steam under load.

The iTunes store is a great place, but it does take a real knocking and a beating when it comes to people connecting and downloading. Many times I’ve connected recently to find the images for apps to not load fully, or even the screenshots within the app description not loading.

It’s probably unfair to blame the iTunes store on it’s own, I’ve also seen failures with other in-app iPhone services, so it’s not just Apple that are taking a hit, App Developers servers are too and also network providers like O2, AT&T etc.

There’s also the dreaded “something went wrong, just download it on your desktop computer” message that Apple enforce on you from time to time.

I guess it’s to be expected with the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch’s. Be prepared for a few glitches over the Christmas period with tons more iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s making it into the Santa sleigh this Christmas!

Following the release of iTunes 9, a number of iLounge readers have reported problems with their iPods not being recognized by iTunes, extremely slow syncs and iTunes crashing during sync.

Although iPod classic users seem to be most affected by these issues, it appears that iPod nano users have also experienced similar problems. Apple had previously provided no comment, but has now confirmed that it is “aware of the issue and are investigating.”

More information can be found at Electric Pig.

The album called iTunes Holiday Sampler features 21 songs from various popular artists including Amy Grant, Toby Keith, Barry Manilow and Weezer all in the Christmas spirit. The Holiday Sampler also features the new iTunes LP format.

The Holiday Sampler is free for one week only so grab it now whilst you still can!

You can also still access them on the iPhone by using Spotlight, but those grayed-out homescreens only serve as a buffer to hold your overflow apps while you’re organizing them.

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While Apple were at it, they also killed Palm’s webOS Media Sync dead (yet again). I’m sure that Palm will react and find a way of syncing again to iTunes but Apple will again stop them dead in their tracks in a future update.

For Mac OS X users iTunes 9.0.2 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later to install and run.

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The application even provides your viewers with a shortened URL so they can go and check out the song or album you are listening to.

More information available at Mobile Music Messenger

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