More and more musicians are using iPad as their tool for production and recording. Many are churning out entire songs solely on iPad. If you have doubt if iPad can produce anything decent, check out the videos.
With the introduction of iOS 5 and iCloud, it is possible to use your iPhone and iPad without owning a Mac or PC. In iOS 5, a number of features are introduced to fulfill the “Post PC” era of iDevices.
Activate from within device. Instead of having to plug your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into an iTunes running Mac or PC to activate the device, iOS 5 allows you to activate directly from within the device.
OTA (Over-The-Air) Software Update. OTA Software Update will make it possible to update iOS system software wirelessly. When Apple release a new update let say iOS 5.1, just go to Settings > Software Update to upgrade. No iTunes and Mac/PC required. Apple implements delta update mechanism. Instead of the whole iOS, you only download what’s changed, which significantly reduced the size of the update.
Purchased apps, music and books in the cloud. Apps, music and books that you purchased from the iTunes store are now in iCloud. You can re-download them into your iDevice without relying on iTunes backup.
Backup to iCloud. When you enable backup to iCloud, it backs up daily over Wi-Fi your photos and video in the camera roll, device settings, app data, home screen and app organization, ringtones and text/MMS messages. This backup can be used to restore your phone data and settings such as when changing a new phone.
Apple probably just had its greatest software updates in its history. For the past 2 days, Apple software relating to iOS 5 and iCloud are updated, together with few new apps. Here are the list:
With iCloud enabled, you can store your data such as mail, contacts, calendar, iTunes music, movie, books and apps on iCloud, bypassing the need to use iTunes on your Mac/PC to sync to your iOS devices. There are however contents on your Mac that you still need to sync to your iDevices, such as your movie, music, PDFs collection. iTunes 10.5 together with iOS 5 make it easy with wireless sync over Wi-Fi without the need of a USB cable.
To enable wireless sync, connect your iDevice using USB cable to the Mac. Under iTunes, on the “Summary” page for your iDevice, tick the option “Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi”.
You can now unplug your USB cable. Then click the Sync on iTunes to start data sync wirelessly.
You can also initiate the sync directly from your iDevice. From the Settings app, navigate to General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync. Tap the “Sync Now” button to start wireless sync.
Apple has released iTunes 10.5 ahead of tomorrow’s iOS 5 and iCloud launch. iTunes 10.5 is required for the upgrade to iOS 5. Include in this new release is also the ability to sync your iOS 5 devices wireless to iTunes. Missing in iTunes 10.5 is iTunes Match, which is part of iCloud. Apple has mentioned in its iPhone 4S launch that iTunes Match will be released end October. Guess we will receive another iTunes update for the launch of iTunes Match.
Apple has canceled TV show rental on iTunes and Apple TV, as “iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows”.
“iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said. “iTunes in the Cloud lets customers download and watch their past TV purchases from their iOS devices, Apple TV, Mac or PC allowing them to enjoy their programming whenever and however they choose.”
Priced mostly at 99-cent per episode, TV rental debuted as an option when Apple launched its second generation Apple TV last September. With only ABC and Fox joining the program, Apple has not been able to get other studios such as Warner, NBC and Viacom to offer their programming on TV rental.
iTunes 10.4.1 with bug fixes is now available via Software Update.
- Fixes a problem where the media keys on some third-party keyboards work inconsistently with iTunes
- Addresses issues with adding artwork to songs and videos
- Resolves an issue which may cause iTunes to become unresponsive when purchasing an HD movie
- Fixes a problem where iTunes may take longer than expected to open after waking your Mac from sleep
- Addresses issues with VoiceOver support
Apple has pushed out a new version 4.3 firmware update to Apple TV. New in this update is the ability to purchase TV shows. This is a shift in direction as 99 cents rental-only approach is the only option when Apple released second-generation Apple TV back in September 2010.
You can now buy TV episodes directly from Apple TV and your purchase will appear under the “Purchased” section of iTunes on both desktop and iOS devices. You can redownload and restream the purchased shows for repeat viewing.
TV shows is generally $2.99 a pop but most will welcome there is such an option. Fox and ABC remains the only two major networks offered in Apple TV, with CBS and NBC missing. With the offering for purchase option, lets hope more studio willl offer their contents in Apple TV.
The new update also adds Vimeo as a service accessible directly from Apple TV. A strong endorsement for Vimeo video site.
Apple has released iTunes 10.4 which supports full-screen mode and 64-bit cocoa under Mac OS X Lion. iTunes however remains 32-bit under Snow Leopard.
You can now use iTunes with OS X Lion’s new Full-Screen App capability, which allows you to use iTunes and other apps without distractions. Navigate between your full-screen apps with a simple gesture.
Note: iTunes is now a 64-bit Cocoa application on OS X Lion and includes a number of important stability and performance improvements. Some iTunes plug-ins may no longer be compatible with this version of iTunes. Please contact the plug-in developer for an updated plug-in compatible with iTunes 10.4.
Apple also releases iWork Update 6 which adds support for Mac OS X Lion’s Full Screen Mode, Resume, Auto Save and Versions features.
Apple released iTunes 10.3 which includes support for iTunes in the Cloud. Music you purchase from iTunes now can be pushed to your other iOS devices, and you can download past purchases as well. The full iCloud is set to release this fall with iTunes 10.5. Meanwhile you can update iTunes to version 10.3 to get a taste of things to come.
Introducing iTunes in the Cloud beta. The music you purchase in iTunes appears automatically on all your devices. You can also download your past iTunes purchases. Where you want, when you want.
• Automatic Downloads. Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your Mac and iOS devices.
• Download Previous Purchases. Download your past music purchases again at no additional cost. Your purchases are available in the iTunes Store on your Mac or in the iTunes app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store.
iTunes 10.3 also adds Books to the iTunes Store, where you can discover and buy your favorite books on your computer and automatically download them to iBooks on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. This version also allows you to use Automatic Downloads with apps and books or download previously purchased apps and books from your computer or iOS device.
Updated: Apple has pushed out iTunes 10.3.1, a day after releasing 10.3. This is likely to solve the device sync problems reported by users in Apple forums.
