Yes , Tuesday ’s Apple upshot will almost for sure center around iOS 5 and the iPhone , asboth rumor and facthave intimated . But what about Apple’sotherplanned fall unveiling , iCloud ?
At this summer ’s Worldwide Developers Conference , Apple show thatiCloud — its young on-line storehouse and sync religious service — would be arrive in the fall , presumably alongside iOS 5 . And , as iOS ’s developer betas have progress , so has iCloud : There ’s little dubiousness that the servicing will be formally unveiled at Tuesday ’s event , with an prescribed debut date near to — or the same as — Io 5 ’s .
Before all that hap , however , we want to make certain you ’ve been the right way catch up on the late and greatest goodies that await you when the service hits the public prospect . You may have already seen our guide onwhat to expect from iOS 5(and if not , what are you waiting for?)—so to company that , here ’s a ready primer on iCloud and its already - announce feature of speech . ( For even more information , you could always revisitour iCloud FAQfrom June . )
The facts of the cloud
While the name “ iCloud ” presents a lovely image , sample to discern what the service actuallydoesfrom that moniker alone is a tad unclear . In a nutshell , the service aims to synchronise up your devices — both iOS and background — no matter which one you ’re using at any break mo . It does so by providing a fundamental on-line depository for your mail , contact , calendars , purchase , picture , documents , and backup ; your gadget collectively sync and pull in information from this central server , thus keeping everything up - to - date .
“ Great ! ” You say . “ But how much is this all go to cost me ? ” As Steve Jobs mentioned during the WWDC keynote , any user will be able-bodied to sign on up for their own niggling piece of the iCloud forfree . They ’ll get 5 GB and a innocent Me.com email reference with which to stack away backups , documents , and mail archive . You ’ll also be able to purchase 10 , 20 , and 50 GB ofadditional storagefor $ 20 , $ 40 , and $ 100 a year , respectively . Any purchased mental object from iTunes ( euphony , apps , and volume ) as well as your Photo Stream photos wo n’t weigh toward this storage limit ; they ’re stashed separately .
Like iCloud ’s predecessor , MobileMe , your post , calendar , and contact accounting will be accessible from all your machine and on the Web ( aticloud.com ) . You ’ll also be able to get at your iWork documents , if you have one of the iWork apps on your iOS equipment .
Ubiquitous syncing
As mentioned above , with iCloud you ’ll be able to wirelessly sync your contacts , calendars , and ring armor with all your devices . you’re able to also synchronize reminders ( from iOS 5 ’s unexampled Reminders app ) , Safari and iBooks bookmarker , and any notes you ’ve made in the Notes app . In addition , your iOS machine will be able-bodied to synchronise any app datum and document and back up all life-sustaining information online .
Document & Data sync allows you to wirelessly work on the same projection from multiple machine . Say you start a Keynote projection on your iPad ; you could add together a few slides , save that undertaking , and then open up it up on your iPhone to do some last - minute tweaking — no file sharing or e-mail copies to yourself necessary . Currently , the only apps that work with Document & Data sync are Pages , Keynote , and Numbers ( Apple ’s iWork suite ) ; however , the company has release an API for any third - political party developer who want to implement this in their own apps , so we ’ll hopefully see more compatibility in the future .
If you ’ve owned an iOS machine before , you ’ll find iCloud backups very interchangeable to affiliated iTunes backups . Like iTunes , iCloud will back up any purchase content ( music , apps , and book ) , your Camera Roll , gimmick mount , data , Home screen , messages , and ringtones , but or else of saving that information in a single file on your computer , the service will alternatively store it online . This way , if you buy a new iOS gadget , you could mechanically copy your options and information to it without ever needing to stop up into your Mac or PC .
Photo Stream
iCloud is n’t bound to your apps , documents , and mail information , though : It ’ll also aid keep all your latterly acquire persona in sync . Apple’sPhoto Streamprovides all your iOS gadget , Macs , PCs , and second - multiplication Apple TVs with photographs you ’ve snapped or uploaded in the last 30 days . Your iPhone , iPod touch , and iPad will only sync the last 1000 images you ’ve take aim due to space constraints ( your computing equipment , however , will stack away everything ) , though you could deliver a photo from the flow at any point by moving them to your library .
iTunes in the Cloud
Apple ’s iCloud pièce de résistance , however , may very well beiTunes in the Cloud . For liberal , you ’ll be able-bodied to get at a staring track record of all your purchase iTunes content ; download unexampled music , apps , and record book mechanically ; and redownload anything for free . Pay a annual fee , and you ’ll be able to access your entire music program library ( up to 25,000 songs ) across multiple gadget , whether they be buy iTunes song or not .
Automatic downloads and retiring purchases are automatically included as part of iCloud ’s free service . Like its name imply , the automatic downloads characteristic allows you to mechanically download any novel music , telecasting show , apps , and books you ’ve bought , regardless of the equipment you originally bought it on . Using past leverage , you could get at older purchases from the iTunes , iBooks , or App Store apps through their Purchased menu , and redownload any of them for barren . ( This latter option has been available for everyone to try in genus Beta since June . )
If you need even more , however , there ’s iTunes Match . For $ 25 a yr , the Robert William Service will give you access to every Song dynasty you own across any gimmick you employ ( up to ten of them ) . Itching for your iMac ’s classic rock accumulation on a cross - country drive ? With iTunes Match , you could download and playThe undecomposed of Kansasas you pass through Kansas . If you have any non - iTunes entrepot content , the divine service will first undertake to match it with a 256kbps - quality iTunes file ; if that song is n’t available in the catalog , Match will upload it to the cloud so that you’re able to still play it on your devices .
In its current ( developer - only genus Beta ) soma , iTunes Match is only available to those in the United States , and prohibits users with bombastic libraries ( more than 25,000 call ) from ratify up ( possibly due to space constraints ) ; we ’ll have to wait and see if either alter when the service officially launches to the populace .
Farewell, MobileMe
When iCloud launch , it will replace Apple ’s former sync service , MobileMe , and undervalue several features — namely , iWeb publication , Gallery , and iDisk , though they wo n’t sail off into the sundown for good until June 30 , 2012 . Current users have had their service extended to that same engagement , and , make out iCloud ’s launch , they ’ll be capable to migrate their data to an iCloud write up . ( Apple has publisheda detailed FAQfor current MobileMe contributor that have any additional question . )
What’s next?
Of course , this is just what Apple has told us about iCloud so far : There ’s a bonny probability the companionship could pull an extra rabbit out of its lid during the proclamation Tuesday . Expanding iTunes Match outside the U.S. , perhaps ? written document sharing between iOS apps and OS X Lion course of study ? An iPhone made out ofliteral clouds ?
We ’ll have to expect and see .
