The era of buy once, access anywhere begins. Read on for more on this and all the iOS updates...
iCloud was the big story among a whole raft of announcements made by Apple at the start of its WWDC conference.
Other key developments included the launch of iOS 5 with wireless syncing, improved browsing, new notifications, an instant messaging client called iMessage and a new e-magazine management suite named Newsstand.
Apple also revealed 200 million iOS devices sold to date, plus more than 15bn songs and 130m ebooks. It's shifted 25m iPads in 14 months too.
On the apps front, it confirmed more than 14bn apps have been downloaded to date. That equates to a $2.5bn cheque to developers.
Everyone expected iCloud, and there was no doubt it was the climax of proceedings.
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Apple put the emphasis on its invisible nature, updating and uploading in the background every time new content is purchased and thus undoing the need to sync multiple times across multiple devices.
Users just enter their Apple ID and password and iCloud seamlessly integrates apps, mail, contacts, calendars, photos, apps, books, music and more. It therefore provides up-to-date across all devices without having to connect to a computer.
It's free too.
But in the case of music, there's a $24.99 flat fee for legally ripped songs. This compares with up to $200 on Amazon and who knows what on Google's to be launched service.
Meanwhile Apple stressed there are 200 updates to iOS, but the biggies are as follows:
* Notification Center. This owes a debt to Android, providing iOS 5 users with one drag down menu to access text messages, missed calls, calendar alerts, app alerts and more – from the top of the screen.
*Newsstand. A bookshelf displaying the covers of all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions in one place.
* Browsing. New features include Safari Reader, which re-formats stories for easier reading; Reading List – save articles to read later on anyiOS device; Tabbed Browsing, to flip between multiple web pages on iPad.
* Twitter integration. Sign in once and then tweet directly from all Twitter-enabled apps.
* iMessage. IM client to send text messages, photos, videos or contact information to a person or a group on other iOS 5 devices over Wi-Fi or 3G.
* Reminders. An app helps manage tasks; create and group related tasks together; and set time or location-based reminder alerts.
* Camera. Access from the lock screen; use the volume-up button to snap a photo; crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye from the camera; pinch and zoom.
* Wireless sync. No more sideloading, and iOS software updates delivered over the air and installed with just a tap.
* Game Center. Add photos to profiles, purchase new games from within the Game Center app.
The iOS 5 beta software and SDK are available to developers now, and iOS 5 will be available as a free software update for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch (fourth generation) and iPod touch (third generation) this autumn.
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