Apple hasn't been successful at the social network scene. There was Game Center (Do people still use that?). And there was the diaster known as Ping.
Apple hasn't gained traction with social network integration in iTunes, but the Cupertino company looks to be stepping up its game in iOS 5. It's already been announced that there will be Twitter integration in iOS 5, and recent findings point towards a new social network from Apple dubbed "Find My Friends."
Today, in Apple Stores everywhere, Apple began iOS 5 and iCloud training for employees. The training is done through the Daily Download application, which was part of the Apple Store 2.0 upgrade.
What's the significance of this? Apple only launches a new OS with a new iPhone, therefore hinting that the iPhone 5 launch is right around the corner...
Soon after the iTunes Match beta went live earlier this week, reports started flooding in that the service did indeed support the streaming of music, a feature that wasn't advertised by Apple during the iCloud announcement. Many were originally disappointed that streaming was not included in iTunes Match, so the news that it was actually there was met with glee and happiness all around.
What people had discovered was that if you tapped on a song stored in iCloud, it started playing. If you started a new one and then went back after turning on Airplane Mode, the original song hadn't cached, which led people to believe it was streaming. But after Apple denied that streaming was included in iCloud, more questions starting being asked...
Last night, we reported that Apple opened up a beta version of its upcoming iTunes Match service to developers. iTunes Match is a music-mirroring utility that allows you to store music in Apple's iCloud without needing to upload all of your tracks.
In our exclusive video demo of iTunes Match, we showed you how the service seems to allow you to "stream" your music from the cloud, without needing to download the files. But Apple just told AllThingsD that that's not necessarily the case...
Apple just sent out an email to developers signifying that iTunes Match is now available to developers.
As you know, iTunes Match is the matching service that allows you to stream the tunes that you already own without uploading all of your music. The service works by "matching" the music contained on your local computer with what's already available in the Cloud via iTunes.
For those more obscure songs that iTunes doesn't already have, you can still upload your music for streaming. As usual, we have a video of iTunes Match in action, so be sure to check inside to see how it works!
Before WWDC, all the buzz about iCloud was that it would bring a music subscription model to iTunes. As it turned out, iCloud is nothing of the sort, with syncing being the main feature of iCloud.
While hope springs eternal that Jobs and co. will see the good sense and offer a Spotify clone sooner rather than later, it seems one of the Cupertino outfit's smartphone competitors could be about offer a somewhat new take on the music sharing situation, and it's an interesting one...
iCloud for Windows Beta 4 was released alongside iOS 5 Beta 5 and iTunes 10.5 Beta 5 last week. Here’s a quick look at some of the features.
The installation process is pretty straight forward and standard for Apple. I installed iCloud on two of my PCs running Windows 7. One thing I found awkward about this process was that one of my computers needed restarting before using iCloud, while the other was set to go right away...
If you've had enough of those iPhone 5 rumors, you might see this news coming from AppleNApps as entertaining, or even intriguing, depending how you look at it.
According to the site, Apple is set to release a free, iCloud-based iPhone along with the iPhone 5 release, sometimes next month...
Apple has always limited users to a certain number of devices for authorization with a specific Apple ID. The rules and terms of multiple device syncing with an Apple ID have always been a little confusing, with the introduction of iCloud posing an even bigger problem for how purchased content can be distributed and synced across multiple devices.
Apparently, the system of Apple ID authorization isn't as smooth as we all thought it was. You're actually limited to 10 total devices for one Apple ID...
Apple's replacement for MobileMe, iCloud, is set for a public launch this Fall. iCloud keeps all of your data wirelessly synced across all of your devices, and most of the service's features will be available for free to all Apple customers.
If you're eager to get your hands on iCloud, you'll have to wait until Apple opens it up to the public next month. In the meantime, you can show your excitement for iCloud by downloading this awesome wallpaper pack for iOS and the Mac...
Apple's iPhone and iPad advertisements totally set them apart from the competition. While TV ads for Android devices spout off specs like "it has a 1.5 GHZ processor and 512 MB of RAM," Apple's commercials use more familiar words like "fast" and "magical."
It's likely that the simplistic strategy is what continues to drive hoards of customers into Apple stores to snatch up their latest gadgets. That being said, for a company known for its oversimplified approach, does their upcoming cloud service seem a bit too complicated?
This Fall season is going to be huge for a certain Cupertino company. With several product refreshes expected along with a new mobile OS and cloud storage system launch, it's safe to say that Apple has a big couple of months ahead of them.
Apple hit a couple of semi-major milestones yesterday in their march for September. They released version 5 of their iOS 5 Beta, and they also gave the green light for developers to start migrating their MobileMe accounts over to iCloud...