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iOS 5 now available for download
As of 1:00 PM EDT today, iOS 5 is available for download and installation on your compatible iOS device. The update provides a host of new features, most of which we will cover in detail today on TUAW.com. Note that the update, according to the iTunes warning message shown above, may take quite a long time to complete; it forces a full restore of all your device apps and media.
iOS 5 and OS X 10.7.2 available for download: get your iCloud and iMessage on
Even if you were one of those Apple fans who was less than impressed by the iPhone 4S, there is still reason for excitement -- and that reason's name is iOS 5. If you've got an iPhone 3GS, 4, third- or fourth-gen iPod touch, or either of the iPads you can download Apple's latest and greatest mobile OS right now. That's right, all the fun new features like pull-down notifications, iCloud, iMessage, Find my Friends, Twitter integration and lock screen access to your camera will be at your disposal. Sadly you will not be getting a taste of Siri, which appears to a 4S only feature for now. Still, there's more than enough here to make it a worthy upgrade to your device. So, what are you waiting for? Go hit that update button now. Update: Just so you're aware, you'll need iTunes 10.5 installed to get the latest iOS. There's also an update to OS X coming down the pipes -- version 10.7.2 -- which officially delivers iCloud to your Mac. Huzzah! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Find My Friends: Fun, useful and secure
With the release of iOS 5 comes another fun and useful app: Find My Friends (free). The app allows you to share your location with friends, who can then use the app on their iOS devices to figure out exactly where you are. While this may seem like a cyber-stalker's dream, you need to invite friends to share your position information and you can remove that right at any time. There are some very good uses for Find My Friends, like keeping track of a teenage child's location or finding directions to a friend's location at a coffee shop. Find My Friends uses a leather-like skeumorphic design, creating a warm and friendly look. The interface is designed with four main screens: All, which shows all of your friends who are using the app and have given you permission to see their location; Temporary, used to invite friends to temporarily share their locations; Me, which lets you hide from followers and set labels for various locations; and Requests, an inbox for all incoming friend requests. Once a friend has allowed you to find his or her location, their name appears on the All page along with a small green "mileage sign" that shows approximately how far away they are. A tap on their name brings up the Info page, showing their current location, their address, and other contact information. At the bottom of the page are buttons for sending an iMessage to your friend or getting directions to their location. %Gallery-136375% Asking for directions launches the Maps app, which pre-fills the Start and End fields with the current locations of you and your friend. It then provides you with turn-by-turn directions to that person's location, which can be a lot of fun if they're out of state. I'm personally excited about using this app with Siri. It will be nice to say "Where's Brett?" and have it tell me where my colleague currently is. If Siri can read the turn-by-turn directions to me, then I can take a navigation app or two off of my iPhone. The app has a few flaws -- Erica Sadun was looking at the help pages, found at Me > Account > Find My Friends Help > Find > Find Friends, and noticed that some of the pages had placeholders instead of actual help. Ooops. It looks like the app was rushed to get out concurrent with the release of iOS 5 and iCloud. On the other hand, the app is so easy to use, you won't need to use the help pages. Be sure to check out the gallery for screenshots of Find My Friends in action.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me iMessage my wife
Dear Aunt TUAW, One iMessage "feature" is that messaging can be started on one device and picked up from another device, like from iPhone to iPad. My wife and I share an iTunes account so that we don't have to pay for apps twice, or worry about signing into different accounts. Will sharing an iTunes account across two iPhones mess with our ability to text to each other with iMessage? Thanks! Your loving nephew, Toby Dear Toby, Fear not. Your store account is distinct from your iMessages account. You can create separate Apple IDs for iMessage so you and your wife can pseudo-text back and forth. You will, however, require two email addresses. Select Settings > Messages > Receive At and create a new Apple ID specific to those addresses. Hugs, Auntie T.
Sprint and Verizon confirm iPhone 4S Micro SIM unlock for international travel (update: Sprint remains locked?)
If you own an iPhone 4 on AT&T, using the device while traveling internationally means paying sky-high roaming fees, jailbreaking or limiting data use to when you're on a WiFi network, either with a public hotspot or through a service like Xcom Global. Verizon iPhone 4 owners, however, don't have the option of GSM roaming at all, and can only make calls and use cellular data in countries that support CDMA. All that changes with the iPhone 4S, however -- Macworld has confirmed that Sprint will sell its version of the device with the Micro SIM slot unlocked, with Verizon offering free unlocking to customers after the first 60 days of service. iPhone 4S owners will then be able to purchase a Micro SIM overseas, allowing them to access data and make calls at local rates, for a fraction of what it would cost to roam. AT&T iPhone 4S owners won't have this option, however, so if you make frequent trips overseas, this benefit alone may be enough to justify purchasing the phone through Sprint or Verizon, saving some users hundreds or thousands of dollars in international roaming fees. Update: A Sprint spokesperson has said that our source article was incorrect, telling us that its SIM will not be unlocked and adding that the card will not even be removable: "Our SIM does not come out of the device - I believe the same is true of Verizon's iPhone but you would need to confirm that with them. Customers can sign up for one of our international rate plans and use this phone all over the world. When traveling internationally, there is a setting that must be turned on within the device to connect to GSM. The phone will work with a SIM that is provided within the device out of the box. International voice and data charges are on a pay-as-you-go basis and vary based on the country where the customer is using their phone; a list of rates is available at www.sprint.com/international." Update 2: We heard from Sprint a second time, which redacted part of its previous statement. The carrier further explained "the SIM is removable and is not affixed to the device," which as you may notice directly contradicts the statement made earlier today. We've reached out to Apple twice and are awaiting further clarification. Update 3: A Verizon spokesperson has confirmed that the original version of the article is in fact correct: "The iPhone 4S works like all of our global phones. The phone comes in box with a SIM locked to our network and the network of our roaming partners including Vodafone, one of our parent companies. Customers sign up for a Verizon Wireless voice plan (beginning at $39.99 for 450 min.) and a data plan beginning at 2GB for $30. When they choose to go out of the country, they should call Verizon Wireless and sign up for a global plan. The customer can also request to have the SIM unlocked if they want to use a local service while out of the country. The request needs to be made prior to leaving the country, their bill must be current and the phone must be active on the account for 60 days before we will unlock the SIM." [Thanks, Julio]
AirPort Utility for iOS is a network admin's dream
Over the years, I've run the AirPort Utility on my Mac more times than I've wanted to. Usually I'm at a client's office, trying to troubleshoot a network issue. Now life has just gotten a bit easier for network admins -- the AirPort Utility for iOS (free) is now available on the App Store. The app is designed to manage all Apple Wi-Fi network base stations, including the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule. If you're used to using the AirPort Utility for Mac, then you'll have no issues at all with the new iOS utility. The design is extremely simple and easy to understand. When you launch the app, you're immediately greeted with a diagram depicting the Internet and any base stations on your network. Tap any specific base station to begin; you must enter any passwords that you're using to protect the device (you DO have passwords set up, don't you?). Once you've done that, life is good. As you'll see in the gallery, there's a ton of information you can view and edit. I won't go into too many details about the utility, but be sure to take a look at the gallery to see everything that you can accomplish. Basically, it's everything you can do with the Mac app, neatly distilled into a very usable and comprehensive tool. Well done, Apple! %Gallery-136365%
Apple's Find My Friends app now available
In advance of iOS 5, Apple has released Find My Friends, a location sharing app similar to Glympse. As the name implies, Find My Friends will let you locate your friends on a map. It'll also let you share your location so your friends can find you. For those concerned about privacy, the location sharing feature can be turned on permanently or only temporarily which is great for when you want your friends to meet you while you're eating dinner at a local restaurant, but not when you go home. It's also conveniently integrated with the built-in contact and map applications so you can find your friends and generate a route to meet up with them. You can install Find My Friends by visiting iCloud.com on an iPhone running iOS 5. You can also download it from the App Store. [Via Macstories]
iCloud opens to the masses, iOS 5 lurks near
Desktop or mobile access to Apple's iCloud will still require the absolute latest versions of OS X Lion and iOS 5 that haven't been officially released just yet, but you can get into the website right now. Line jumpers may have noticed the site opened up to all a few hours ago, and now the design has changed, dropping the beta tag for this more inviting storefront. Hit the source link below to check it out for yourself (we've got the full breakdown here), but have your Apple ID and password handy. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
OmniFocus gets iOS 5 location-based reminders
OmniFocus has updated its popular OmniFocus for iPhone and OmniFocus for iPad apps. The updates bring iOS 5 compatibility and the usual bug fixes, but they also bring a very cool new feature OmniFocus users are sure to love: Location Reminders. Using iOS 5′s geo-fencing APIs, both the iPad and iPhone OmniFocus apps will now alert you to a reminder when you are in the appropriate area. This is the same feature found in Apple's Reminders app, included with iOS 5. However, OmniFocus doesn't just duplicate the features already found in Apple's Reminders app. It's added some more of its own; as noted by MacStories, OmniFocus offers more options than Reminders, including more granular control over your location settings. Though the OmniFocus updates are available now, users will have to wait until they have iOS 5 up and running on their devices to take advantage of them. OmniFocus for iPhone is US$19.99 in the App Store, and OmniFocus for iPad is $39.99.
Twitter for iOS adds improved sign-ups, redesigned iPad DM feature
Twitter's official iOS app has been updated with a few nice new features. First off, it now offers an "enhanced sign up experience." iOS 5's built-in Twitter integration now allows apps to query the Settings app for sign-in credentials (if they've been set up to do so). This greatly streamlines the process of using an app with Twitter features for the first time, because you don't have to manually enter your account information or password when you first launch the app. Instead, you simply tap "OK" on a modal dialog popup that asks if the app can access your Twitter accounts. Tweetbot is the first third-party app I know of that's also integrated this functionality. Also new to this version of Twitter is a redesigned direct messaging interface on the app's iPad version. DM conversations are now threaded and organized chronologically, and overall the design aesthetic is quite reminiscent of iMessages or iChat on the Mac. The iPad has also gained the ability to show nearby tweets by tapping on a location. Overall this is a nice update to the official app, and I definitely hope more third-party apps implement the "enhanced sign up experience" that's debuted today in both Twitter and Tweetbot.
Apple issues another minor iBooks update
Just two weeks after Apple pushed out a minor update to iBooks, it has done so again. Apple says iBooks version 1.3.2 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements. We've heard that it fixes numerous bugs that were present in the iOS 5 gold master, including the broken Dictionary look-up feature. iBooks is a universal app and a free download. You'll find version 1.3.2 in the App Store today.
iTunes 10.5 is live (Updated)
Apple has released iTunes 10.5 via software update, the first release in a series leading up to the expected public release of iOS 5 on Wednesday. iTunes 10.5 introduces iCloud to the software along with automatic downloads. You can also download previous music, TV, app and book purchases again at no additional cost. Some previous purchases might not be available because they are no longer available through iTunes. It also adds Wi-Fi syncing, which automatically syncs an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iTunes any time they're both on the same Wi-Fi network, one of the key features of iOS 5. iTunes 10.5 is required to sync an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 5. iTunes 10.5 is a 60.9 MB download and is available through with Software Update or a direct download from Apple. Update: iTunes 10.5 is now available from Apple's site.
Benchmarks clock iPhone 4S' A5 CPU at 800MHz, show major GPU upgrade over iPhone 4
Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S only began shipping this week, but a handful of early owners have already taken Apple's first A5-based smartphone for a test run, and they've got the benchmarks to prove it. The results, obtained by AnandTech, are hardly what we'd call shocking. In terms of Javascript performance (pictured above), the 4S measures up rather nicely against the Tegra 2-based Honeycomb competition, while out-dueling the iPhone 4 in overall CPU muscle. Geekbench results, meanwhile, clock the 4S at around 800MHz, with a score of 623. That's about 25 percent lower than the A5-based iPad 2, but notably higher than the iPhone 4 (see graphic, after the break). When it comes to GPU performance, GLBenchmark 2.1 tests in 1280 x 720, off-screen render mode place Apple's new handset well above the Galaxy S II, with scores of 122.7 and 67.1, respectively. It still trails the iPad 2, not surprisingly, but the 4S' scores show a major advantage over the iPhone 4, which registered a score of 15.3. For more statistics and graphics, check out the source link below.
AirPort Utility app for iOS about to debut
While iOS 5 includes a new feature that allows for initial setup of an AirPort device from an iPad or iPhone, any future tweaking of settings still has to be done from a Mac or PC. However, Twitter user Sonny Dickson found references to an AirPort Utility app in iOS 5's Settings app. Without going into too much NDA-licious detail, I'll just say that I've independently confirmed what he's found, although the relevant link currently goes nowhere and does nothing. iOS 5 will go live to the public on October 12, and it's highly probable this AirPort Utility app will as well. Its release will address one of the last remaining feature gaps that has prevented "normal" users from going PC-free with iOS devices. Once the app comes out, we'll take a look at it and report on what we find. [via MacStories]
5 iOS features that OS X needs
iOS 5 is set to launch this Wednesday and the beta testers I've talked to say it's a monumental leap forward. iOS 5 adds over 200 features to an already polished mobile operating system, which is arguably the best on the planet. As many Mac users know, Mac OS X Lion is no slouch either. Features like Mission Control, Launchpad, and full-screen apps make Lion the most powerful, intuitive OS Apple has ever released. However, that's not to say that Lion can't be improved. Apple only needs to look to iOS for further inspiration. Below is my list of five iOS features that I hope will migrate to OS X. Feel free to leave your requests in the comments. 5. iBooks I actually just added this one in because I know a lot of people have asked for it. Even paperback fans can't deny that ebooks are the future. Though they may not be quite up in Kindle territory, iBooks and the iBookstore are growing more popular by the day. While users can access their iBooks on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, there's no way to get them on the Mac...yet. This is one area where Apple needs to take a play from Amazon. Kindle owners can read their books on the Kindle, the iPhone, iPad and Android phones, as well as with Mac and Windows apps and a web browser. While reading an iBook on a desktop might not be the platform of choice, it would be nice if iBooks users had the option. This is especially true for people who buy research or school books through iBooks and want to reference the book on the same screen as an assignment in progress. 4. Notification Center The Notification Center is one of the big new features of iOS 5. It allows users to see all their texts, emails, news alerts -- nearly every kind of notification -- all in one place. Currently OS X relies on numbered icon badges to show users notifications on a per-app basis. And while there are third-party apps like Growl that do a good job at alerting users to notifications, a dedicated Notification Center would further solidify the link between iOS and OS X and make it easier for users to see the things they need to attend to all in one place. 3. Reminders The great thing about OS X's and iOS's Mail and Notes app is that a user's email messages and notes sync between iPhone and Mac. However, iOS 5 offers a dedicated Reminders app that allows users to set reminders with an impressive array of notification options. While a dedicated Reminders app makes infinitely more sense on a mobile device, OS X Reminders integration would be a welcome feature. After all, many of us will use the app to set reminders for tasks to be completed at our desks. Why not be reminded by the computer we are working on? I'm not suggesting a dedicated Reminders OS X app. But what I would like to see is the Reminders app features and UI built into OS X's Mail app, much like Notes is today. [Note: Many readers have rightly pointed out that Reminders.app reminders are synced with iCal on your Mac. However, my take on it is that the array of ways to set reminders in the iOS app and the app's UI should be integrated better with OS X.] 2. iMessage FaceTime was perhaps the coolest feature of iOS 4. When it first came out it allowed iPhone 4 users to video chat with each other. Then Apple added iPod touch support and iPad 2 support. But, for me, FaceTime didn't become really useful until Apple released the FaceTime app for OS X. When they did, FaceTime brought unity to the entire Apple ecosystem (which, incidentally, is the common theme of all my feature suggestions in this article). iMessage in iOS 5 is arguably cooler than FaceTime because many people text a heck of a lot more than video chat. iMessage is great because it allows free texting among iPhone owners. But what's even more impressive is that it also allows iOS users to text people on Wi-Fi-only iPod touches and iPads. Like FaceTime before it, the last piece of the puzzle is adding iMessages to OS X. It's a lot easier for me to reply to a text from my iMac while I'm working on it than to stop and pick up my iPhone. Of course, the arrival of iMessage and FaceTime presents somewhat of a problem. I've had a lot of people who aren't the most Mac-savvy users say they are confused about the differences between FaceTime and iChat's video conferencing. If Apple would add an OS X iMessage app, that would probably only broaden the confusion ("Is an iMessage the same thing as an AOL IM?"). While I think Apple needs to absolutely add iMessage functionality to OS X, it needs to do so without adding more clutter and confusion to its messaging (be it IM, video, or texting) apps. Do they scrap iChat in favor of an iMessage app? Or do they add iMessage support to iChat? Dedicated apps are simpler, but all-in-one apps are more convenient. It's a tough call. 1. Siri Siri, iOS 5's AI personal assistant, is the start of the future for smart phones. It takes dictation, and lets you do dozens of other things using only your voice. But it's not just voice recognition software. It's powerful AI that knows what you want based on syntax, history, and context. There are no rigid voice commands needed. You can talk to it like you do to a human being and it figures out what you want it to do. Right now Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S. That's because it requires quite a bit of horsepower under the hood to accomplish its tasks. Or, quite a bit of horsepower for a phone. Every Mac sold today has more than enough memory and processing power to support Siri integration. And when Apple adds Siri to OS X it will be the start of a revolution in personal computing. Indeed it may one day even lead to the elimination of (or drastic reduction of) the keyboard and mouse. And don't get me started (yet) on a Siri-integrated Apple television set. Goodbye remote control. But first, let's get Siri into OS X. Imagine being able to talk to your Mac like you do a person, saying things like: "Pull up the Keynote for my April meeting." "Take me to Apple's website." "Revert to the Version that I was working on last week." "Show me all the photos from my trip to Berlin." "Organize all my Word files into a folder and then sort them into sub-folders based on month created." The possibilities are almost endless. Hello OS X 10.8.
Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders exceed one million in first 24 hours (updated)
Last year's iPhone 4 launch brought more than 600,000 pre-orders within the first 24 hours. This year, that number nearly doubled, topping one million within one day of the device's pre-order availability through AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Those that haven't pre-ordered the iPhone 4S can line up at Apple stores beginning at 8 a.m. on October 14th, or you can try your luck at pre-ordering now, though you may need to wait an extra week or two to get your hands on Apple's new iOS smartphone. Jump past the break for Apple's PR. Update: Maybe not a huge surprise considering the numbers Apple announced earlier today, but Sprint has just let us know that it has sold out of the 16GB iPhone 4S in both black and white for pre-orders, and that it's not taking backorders. 32GB and 64GB models are still available in both colors, however, as is the 8GB iPhone 4.
Switched On: The four Ses of the iPhone 4S
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The most surprising thing about the iPhone 4S is that people were surprised by the iPhone 4S, for there is ample precedent to the company both confining upgrades largely to a speed bump and to saying no to a host of potential new features. As to the former, the iPhone 4S is straight out of the playbook of Apple's successful upgrade of the Apple 3G to the 3GS, although the competition wasn't as strong as it is today. Similarly, when Apple first lowered the price of the iPod touch below $200 in 2009 amidst widespread speculation that it would add a front-facing camera for FaceTime (which it did in the next generation), the company noted that it didn't think the product needed any more "stuff." So, what, then, defines the iPhone 4S? The differentiators can be thought of as four "Ses."
Apple iPhone 4S now shipping in 'one to two' weeks, over 200,000 AT&T pre-orders in first 12 hours
If there was any question of how hot a tamale Apple's iPhone 4S would be, the answer's edging toward muy caliente. AT&T's stated that the iPhone 4S has ushered in its best iPhone launch to date, receiving over 200,000 pre-orders for the device during the first 12 hours of availability (crediting its success to having the only US version operating over 14.4Mb/s HSPA+, aka FauxG). While that's good news for Ma Bell, as of today, you'll be looking at a wait time of "one to two weeks" after placing an order for this latest iThing (Sprint and Verizon included). We've yet to hear how the latter two telecoms have fared, but we'd imagine it won't be a secret for too long -- the iPhone 4S is officially available on October 14th, after all. Full AT&T PR just past the break. [Image from Skyline/Shutterstock]
How much will the iPhone 4S really cost on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint?
As Apple unleashes the iPhone 4S on AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint, the biggest question on everyone's mind is how much will the phone really cost? As the third US carrier to sell the iPhone, Sprint has confirmed it will offer the device with the same unlimited plans as the other handsets in its lineup -- much to the relief of loyal customers hoping to make a belated switch to iOS. But we're betting those of you willing to swap providers are just a little curious as to how the plans stack up. Fortunately, we've crunched the numbers for you, so all you need to do is meet us after the break for that bottom line.
Poll: Will you be getting an iPhone 4S?
Needless to say, opinions of Cupertino's latest product have poured down on the internet like acid rain. Tim Cook's inaugural turn behind the wheel came with the awesome responsibility of unveiling the iPhone 4S, Apple's first addition to the iPhone family tree in 16 months. The good news: the 4S received a healthy upgrade in CPU and camera, threw in Siri voice recognition and added Sprint to its growing list of supporters in the US. The unsettling news (for many, anyways): it's basically an iPhone 4 with new internal parts -- there was no change in design or screen size, no LTE to flaunt, no iPhone 5 to accompany it. Naturally, expectations were incredibly high prior to the keynote, so we're anxious to find out how you feel about the outcome. Do you feel the design is still current? Are you relieved to see it available on Sprint? Were you hoping for a larger Retina Display? Rise up to the occasion and let us know -- is the iPhone 4S going to be your next handset purchase? Sound off after the break.