We’re just days away from being able to get our hands on a new iPad and with that we have plenty of content planned out for you all. This week has already been full of awesomeness though, so if you missed out on anything  make sure you get yourself caught up here on the blogs. Once you’re done that, if you’re still looking for more iOS goodness then check out the iMore forums. You can register now to get started today and while you’re at it, check out some of the threads below:

• New iPad – Who’s not in a hurry to pick one up?
• How should I go about setting this up? (iCloud)
• Camera Roll sending mystery photo to Twitter
•  iOS 5.1 won’t update on my iPhone
• Provide iPad Training to Field Users via a Webinar – Can this be done?
• Apple TV shipped yet?

If you’re not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!

The best damn iOS podcast on the net returns tonight to talk all the latest news, how-tos, and app and accessory reviews. Come join us!

Want to go full screen? Head to iMore.com/live. Want to watch via iPhone or iPad? Grab the Ustream app and search for “mobilenations”!

Have you ever envisioned one of your photos looking absolutely stunning as a black and white photograph only to have it come out looking dull and boring after doing the conversion? That’s because not all black and white photo conversions are created equal and Simply B&W for iPhone and iPad understands just that.

Simply B&W holds true to its name by being extremely simple to use, yes it still produces high quality results. With each conversion, you can you choose to use a red, green, blue, yellow, or orange filter. Why would we use as colored filter when converting to black and white, you ask? Because back in the film days, photographers would put colored filters on their lenses to control how the colors in the real world looked on the black and white film.

For example, a red filter will lighten the reds that were originally in your color photo and darken the blues and greens. Simply B&W does a great job of explaining how each color will affect your images so that it’s not just a guessing game of trying all the filters and see which one looks best. Sure, you can do that if you want, but you can also train yourself to predict how each filter will change your photo. This will help you grow as a black and white photographer.

In addition to these filters, Simply B&W also lets you adjust brightness, contrast, and grain as well as add a black or white vignette and border. When you’re done perfecting your image, you can save to your Camera Roll, email it, or share it to Twitter.

The Good

• Easy to use
• Includes 5 color filters: red, green, blue, yellow, orange
• Each filter clearly explains the affect it has on your photo
• Provides basic editing tool: brightness, contrast, grain, vignette, border
• Universal for iPhone and iPad

The Bad

• The only social sharing is with Twitter
• More in-depth editing tools would be nice

The Conclusion

Simply B&W is a great app for getting started with black and white photography and provides information that has the potential to help you envision what your photos will look like when converted to black and white. It’s very easy to use and doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of features. Simply B&W has just the perfect amount of features to produce amazing results.

$0.99 for iPhone and iPad – Download Now

If you’re having issues with the proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, or earpiece speaker on your iPhone 3GS or iPhone 3G, the proximity sensor cable may just be the actual culprit. Luckily, a proximity sensor cable is inexpensive and relatively easy to replace.

Symptoms

• Your earpiece speaker cuts in and out or you can’t hear unless you have speakerphone activated (this can also be caused by a broken earpiece speaker)
• Your ambient light sensor doesn’t work – in other words, even if you have auto-brightness enabled your iPhone still isn’t adjusting by itself given different lighting scenarios
• Your proximity sensor isn’t working – this is the sensor that turns your screen off when in range of your face so you don’t hit buttons while on a call

Disclaimer: As with any repair, iMore nor PXLFIX can be held responsible for any damage you may do to your device. It's also worth considering that opening up your device to perform any repair or modification can and will void your Apple warranty. If you don't feel comfortable opening your device, don't. Use extreme care and caution when performing a repair on any device.

What you need for a DIY proximity sensor cable replacement

PXLFIX recommends using only quality and genuine parts from a reputable supplier like eTech Parts. They have quality parts, tools, and much more for all your repair needs.

• A sad iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS
• A replacement proximity sensor cable – iPhone 3G & 3GS prox sensor cable – As a side note, some parts suppliers may refer to this part as an induction flex cable. So if you can’t find a proximity sensor cable, try looking for an induction flex cable. They are one in the same.
• A #00 Phillips screwdriver
• A suction cup
• A plastic pry tool or spudger

This repair will be performed in exactly the same manner regardless whether you have an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.

Power off your iPhone

Before performing any repair or removing any screws or parts, always power off your device.

Remove the dock connector screws

Using your #00 Phillips screwdriver, remove the 2 screws located on each side of the dock connector.

Remove the digitizer & LCD assembly

This part can be a bit tricky so please do this with extreme care so you don’t tear any cables during the process.

The easiest way to remove the digitizer assembly is by using a suction cup.

1. Position the suction cup on the screen directly above the home button.
2. Using your other hand, hold down the frame while gently pulling up on the suction cup.
3. The goal is to get the bottom of the digitizer loose. Do not pull directly up. There are 3 cables attached in the top right of your iPhone. You do not want to tear these. Just pull up until the bottom of the assembly pops out.
4. After you have the bottom up you can remove the suction cup.

Remove the cables that attach the digitizer assembly to the logic board:

Once you have the bottom of your digitizer assembly popped up we can remove the cables attaching it to the logic board.

1. Gently lift up your digitizer enough to have a clear view of the 3 cables in the top right of your iPhone.
2. With your plastic spudger or pry tool, you’ll need to pry up the first two cables that attach the digitizer and LCD. They should be labeled with orange stickers numbered 1 and 2. Simply pop them off the logic board gently.

3. Underneath these cables you’ll see one other labeled as cable 3. This one is a bit trickier as it is clipped down. You’ll need to gently pop up the clasp holding it into the fastener. It is a tiny white clip. Simply pop it upwards and the number 3 cable should then slide right out.
4. Remove the digitizer & LCD assembly.

At this point you can set the body of your iPhone aside and flip over the front screen assembly, which is what we’ll be removing and replacing the proximity sensor cable on.

Remove the LCD assembly

This step is optional and not required but I recommend it. Removing the LCD will allow you to get a better view of the induction flex you’ll need to remove. It’ll also give you more room to maneuver your pry tool around. If you don’t remove the LCD, make sure you don’t apply any pressure to it when removing the induction flex and speaker assembly.

1. There are 6 screws holding the LCD in place. They are all the same size. Three on the left side of the frame, 2 on the right side of the frame, and 1 on the top right holding down the induction flex. Remove all 6 screws with your #00 Phillips screwdriver and set them aside.

2. Next use your pry tool to slowly work the LCD out of the old assembly on the left and right sides. It should come out fairly easily. Just take special care not to scratch it while removing it. The LCD and back plate will remove in one piece as they are glued together.

Remove the bad proximity sensor cable

We will need to remove the proximity sensor cable from the front assembly in order to put in the new one.

1. Use your #00 screwdriver to remove the one screw in the top right that’s holding down the flex cable and your LCD. (If you removed your LCD, you will have already removed this screw.)

2. Next, use your pry tool or spudger tool to gently pry the cable on the right side. You don’t want to try and pry it all the way off as it is still clipped on at the top. We just want to loosen it.

3. Next take the pointed end of your spudger (or you can use another plastic pointed object if you don’t have a spudger) and pry up the 2 clips at the top holding the cable down. It should now easily lift from the assembly to reveal your earpiece speaker.

Replace the proximity sensor cable

You’ll notice that the proximity sensor cable is attached with some adhesive to the metal clip that holds it in place. To remove it, gently peel the cable off the metal clip. You’ll notice dotted lines that are printed onto the cable to assist you in lining it up correctly when placing the new one onto the clip. If you need to, you may apply more adhesive. Your replacement cable may have come with adhesive pre-installed already.

Reassemble your iPhone

Once you’ve replaced the proximity sensor cable, you’ll just need to reassemble your iPhone by following these directions in exact reverse order. You can also watch the video above as it contains re-assembly instructions as well. As a side tip, take care to snap in the induction flex cable carefully. There’s a clip towards the bottom you’ll need to make sure snaps in all the way or you’ll have issues putting the assembly back together.

And… done!

That’s it! You probably saved quite a bit compared to what it would cost to buy a new iPhone. While the cable name may sound scary, the process to fix it wasn’t that bad, now was it?

If you do run into problems, make sure to check out our DIY and mod forums below. If you don’t feel comfortable opening your device on your own, you can always contact PXLFIX about mail-in repairs as well.

Additional resources:

• How to remove an iPhone 3G or 3G earpiece speaker
• iMore Mod and DIY forums
• Even more DIY repairs and mods

Right now, one (1) share of Apple costs roughly the same as a new iPad, and Apple CEO Tim Cook just traded in 37,500 shares for a grand total of $11.1 million. Yeah.

For the last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been holding onto a bunch of restricted Apple stock awarded to him when he first took up day-to-day leadership duties when Steve Jobs left on medical leave. On March 10, the restriction was lifted on a bunch of that stock, which allowed him to sell. 17,322 of those shares were surrendered for taxes, but the other 20,178 were all sold yesterday over the span of five separate sales throughout the day.

Cook recieved another million shares when he signed on as CEO that he’ll be able to sell in 2016 and 2021, and no doubt he’s holding even more stock beyond that; Cook’s definitely in it for the long haul. The street doesn’t seem to mind the sale — in fact, prices have climbed from $556 this morning to $568.

Source: [SEC](http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000118143112016500/xslF345X03/rrd337933.xml”>are available over here) via iPhoneInCanada

While some handset manufacturers strive for celebrity endorsements, giving out pre-release devices to build up hype like (John Mayer and the BlackBerry Bold 9000 comes to mind), comments from Shaquille O’Neal, Phoenix Suns forward Channing Frye, and other high-profile personalities indicate even they’re stuck on the same side of the impenetrable Apple PR wall as the rest of us.

Bradley Frank, a publicist that was involved with the excellent Old Spice ad campaign, provided an interesting look at what it’s like working in close proximity to Apple.

“When we shot the last Old Spice campaign with Isaiah Mustafa, Apple was shooting the iPad 2 campaign on the next sound studio. We tried to check it out, but it was like machine-gun guards, check-in at different stations. They had code names. It was like dealing with the CIA. Then they walked their asses right onto our set, and had no issue doing that. They just walked onto our set! We were like, ‘What are you doing? You can’t do that!’ And when the iPhone 4 came out, I can’t tell you how many clients were like, ‘We need that early.’ And Apple’s like, ‘No.’”

While that might be true in general, there have been rare exceptions, like when Stephen Colbert showed off the original iPad at the 2010 Grammy awards (though he almost certainly didn’t get to keep it).

Despite having a total lock-down on devices prior to launch, once they’re out, Apple scores a ton of product placement in movies and TV shows, nevermind the tons of celebrities that go out and get their own iOS devices with or without the help of Apple. Besides, Apple has a finely-tuned hype machine that hardly needs the help of Hollywood to pump up the latest iPad. The only ones outside of the production process who seem to get iPhone and iPads in advance are high-profile media like Walt Mossberg, and even then, they’re on a strict embargo which usually lifts a day or two ahead of launch.

Do you guys think it would be too tacky of Apple to seed new iPads with celebrities before us common-folk,  or would it be a reasonable way to increase exposure?

Source: Fast Company

Do you skip over adding someone to your contacts because you’re too lazy to copy and paste their info from their email signature into a new contact? I do. All the time. But if you’re a business person, the last thing you want is for people like me to leave you out of their address book — that’s where ContactMonkey comes in. ContactMonkey is a web service that creates a contact card for you that can be downloaded in 19 different formats for Mac, Windows, web, and mobile. It’s simple, elegant, and free for individuals.

Before you start panicking, ContactMonkey is nothing like the ugly vcards of old. ContactMonkey is not an attachment, but a simple link to add to your signature. When clicked, the user is taken to an elegantly designed virtual contact card and a list of formats that they can choose from to download.

You can see my ContactMonkey card at http://contactmonkey.com/llofte.

Now, what if the person is viewing your contact card from an iPhone or iPad? Can they still download your information to be stored in Contacts? Yes! Well, sort of. To store your information, the person simply enters their email address and immediately receives an reply with a contact card that can be saved to Contacts. Granted, emailing isn’t as elegant as we’d like, but it’s a limitation imposed by iOS and this is a fairly smart and safe way to work around it. Users of other mobile platforms will be able to directly download your contact info into their device’s address book.

Another feature of ContactMonkey is notifications. When your contact card is downloaded you receive an alert along with charts that break down your visitors’ general location, browser, and time of download. You can also can also choose to make your information public or private, and available for indexing by search engines or not.

White-label

As previously mentioned, ContactMonkey is completely free for individual users. However, the web version of your card will feature ContactMonkey branding and the URL for your card with be http://contactmonkey/YourName. This is fine for the average user, but not exactly professional enough for companies or institutions. That’s where ContactMonkey’s white-label service comes in. With a white-label subscription, ContactMonkey will help you set up a subdomain so that the URL’s of the contacts will look like http://contacts.yourcompany/YourName as well as customize the card profile pages to match your website.

A white-label subscription will only run your company $3 per user per month. Quite a steal if you ask me!

Sign up your company with ContactMonkey White Label for a chance to win a $100 iTunes gift card

Even more of a steal is that the first 150 iMore readers who sign-up their companies for a ContactMonkey white-label business account will receive their first 100 user licenses for free for life and have a chance at winning a $100 iTunes gift card. All you have to do is make sure you use this link (or the one below) to sign up!

Sign up for a free individual ContactMonkey account

Sign up for ContactMonkey White Label ($100 giveaway)

AT&T is reportedly offering a settlement to the individual who recently won a court case against them for the throttling his data service to an unlimited data plan a settlement. According to the Associated Press, Matthew Spaccarelli sent them a letter dated last Friday that he obtained from the law firm hired by AT&T to defend his small claims lawsuit. The letter stated that if he was not willing to sit down and “talk” his service would be terminated.

According to Spaccarelli, the reason for this particular letter (and alleged threat) is that AT&T wants him to keep quiet and sign a confidentialialty agreement. Legal settlements usually do include non-disclosure agreements, and Spaccarelli had blogged detailed information and instructions on how to engage in the same type of lawsuit against AT&T. Also in the letter was the request to keep quiet about the settlement talks, something Spaccarelli has no interest in doing, prompting him to send the letter to the Associated Press.

It seems like Spaccarelli may be pushing his luck here. He already has won the case and that may have helped persuade AT&T to increase the throttling cap from 2GB to the current 3GB, but now he’s continuing to push the carriers buttons.

What do you think? Time to declare victory and let it go, or should he hound AT&T until the end of time?

Source: Associated Press, publikdemand, @matthewpacc

The camera quality on the iPad 2 didn’t really impress anybody, but some sample shots from the new iPad have surfaced, and show a definite improvement in quality. These pictures were taken on the new iPad unboxed in Vietnam yesterday, which also gave us benchmarks revealing processor and memory specs.

The camera in the new iPad weighs in at 5 megapixels, but otherwise uses the same optics as the iPhone 4S, which as many of you know, are really good. That said, the 0.3 megapixel shooter on the iPad 2 never really stood much of a chance. While you aren’t likely to be using the new iPad as a gigantic, unwieldy point-and-shoot camera on a day-to-day basis, it’s great that the few times you do need to use the camera, it won’t let you down. Obviously we’ll have our own hands-on time with the new iPad this Friday, but until then, the camera is shaping up to be pretty nice.

Those of you upgrading to the new iPad – will the improved quality of the camera increase how often you use it? Do you often take pictures or video with your current iPad? There are a few more samples below.

Source: Tinh te; Flickr/a>; screen caps

Sharp was supposed to be supplying screens for the new iPad, but they were apparently unable to meet Apple’s exacting standards, and instead Samsung and LG will be making the Retina displays. iSuppli has suggested that it’s only Samsung providing the panels, but other sources have said that LG is a part of the supply deal too, even though they may not be shipping screens until April.

The new iPad’s Retina display is definitely a piece of work. It boasts a 2048 x 1536 resolution, which, as Apple said required the pixels to be elevated on a separate plane from the signal wiring in order to reduce interference. That might be what accounts for the added thickness, but at less than an extra millimeter compared to the iPad 2, I have a feeling nobody will really notice.

As for Samsung and LG’s involvement with production, they’ve been supply partners with Apple for awhile, so it’s no surprise to see they’re still a part of the picture, but considering the ongoing legal spats Apple has been having with Samsung, Apple may be shopping around for alternatives.

Source: Reuters, Bloomberg

Apple has announced that, in addition to Apple Retail Stores, the new iPad will also be available for purchase on Friday, March 16 at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Target, and Walmart in the US.

It’s unknown if third party retailers will be opening at 8am local time for the launch, like Apple Retail Stores will be, or how well stocked they’ll be. If there’s an Apple Retail Store near you, you’re probably better off going there despite the chances of longer lines. They’ll almost certainly have more stock and the sheer quantity of staff on hand level of service is typically far, far superior to your average big box retailer. You’ll also have free setup help and support to get you going faster.

If you don’t have an Apple Retail Store anywhere near you, then Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Target, and Walmart are great options if you want to pick your iPad up in person in case you missed out on pre-orders, or just don’t care for online shopping.

If you’re lining up, let us know where!

Also let us know which new iPad you’re getting, and if you having trouble deciding, check out our 2012 iPad buyers guide.

See you Friday!

Apple has confirmed that the second wave of the new iPad rollout will begin Friday, March 23, in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

No word yet on whether or not pre-orders will be available, nor has Apple updated the international websites or released specific pricing information for each of those countries yet.

We’ll keep an eye open and update as soon as the information is available.

The new iPad launches on March 16 in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Apple has announced that the new iPad will be going on sale at Apple Retail Stores on Friday, March 16 at 8am local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store and more, so they'll be up and running with their new iPad before they leave the store. Personal Pickup, available at Apple retail stores in the US and a feature of the free Apple Store app, lets iPad customers shop and buy from anywhere they are, then pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store.

Apple Online Stores will also have the new iPad available for order — as opposed to pre-order — at 8am on Friday, March 16. Given the pre-order sellouts, however, it’s unknown what the availability or shipping estimates will be.

Several of us from iMore will be lining up on Friday (and giving away free, special edition iMore t-shirts). Leanna, as well as Kevin Michaluk, Gary Mazo, and the Mobile Nations Miami team will also be at their local Apple Stores. If you’re lining up, let us know where!

Also let us know which new iPad you’re getting, and if you having trouble deciding, check out our 2012 iPad buyers guide.

See you Friday!

TV news network Al-Jazeera will air a documentary tonight that has been filmed entirely with an iPhone. The documentary was filmed by an undercover journalist using just an iPhone as the use of a large camera would have been a major security risk. The documentary called "Syria: Songs of Defiance" follows an anonymous journalist on a journey amongst the uprising in Syria.

I can't tell you my name. I've spent many months secretly in Syria for Al Jazeera. I cannot show my face and my voice is disguised to conceal my identity, because I don't want to endanger my contacts in Syria. Because carrying a camera would be risky, I took my cell phone with me as I moved around the country and captured images from the uprising that have so far remained unseen.

The model of iPhone has not been revealed although we would have to assume that it would be at least an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. These models do have incredible optics and can produce some excellent quality video. The fact that a journalist can now use a device as small and portable as an iPhone to shoot broadcast quality video is highly impressive!

Source: Journalism.co.uk

While iMessage and even BBM might come to mind these days way before AOL’s AIM instant messenger, for some users — including users of Apple’s own iChat for Mac — it’s still an incredibly important part of their online communications. That’s what makes recent employee cuts at AOL and more specifically the AIM team, so tragic — it’s leading many to claim the AIM service is dying, if not already dead.

The news of employee cuts came by way of the New York Times, which followed up on previous rumors suggested by All Things D.

The AOL Instant Messenger group took the deepest cut so far. A former AOL employee said the group was "eviscerated and now only consists of support staff." This person, who asked not to be named because they were not allowed to speak publicly about the company, added that "nearly all of the West Coast tech team has been killed."

With the news spreading, an update was posted to the New York Times article stating that the West Coast layoffs were just the beginning and many more would happen across the AOL network in the coming weeks.

Stepping back and looking at the situation, with that much of the AIM team gone, it’s a pretty clear indication that any more development of the instant messaging service in place since 1997 just simply isn’t going to happen, though AOL seems to believe they can still manage to make $25 Million off the service yearly with these cuts in labor.

So what will become of AIM in the long term? Will the remaining users just start to abandon the services and opt to take on other instant messaging clients until AOL decides to lay it to rest? If you’re an AIM user you’ll have to decide if the service is already dead or just dying slowly and plan your escape route. Will iMessage be enough to take its place? If not, what will?

Source: NYT, All Things D

Back in December I reviewed, and fell in love with, a custom backplate mod for iPhone from unYOUsual.com. Turns out they were just getting started, though. They’ve now sent me something extra-dimensionally sweet to look at as a follow up — a prototype 3D Concierge. Using 7 different layers of carefully crafted, hands-on printing, unYOUusal is able to create something really amazing looking with the 3D Concierge.

Like with the standard UnYOUusual backplate, you get to pick your own custom image for the 3D Concierge. It just gets rendered with a way cooler effect than the standard glass backplate. Because it’s 3D, it probably suits higher contrast images so the different shades bring about more texture and elevation.

Now, if you’re worried about swapping backplates, don’t be. While you should never do anything with your iPhone that makes you feel nervous or uncomfortable, swapping backplates is just about the easiest modification (mod) you can do.

The good

• Incredible looking
• Easy mod to perform
• Customizable for unique look

The bad

• Though an easy mod, it’s still a mod
• Not available for order yet (coming soon!)

The conclusion

Since Apple didn’t change the design of the iPhone with the iPhone 4S, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd and show off your own individual style. Cases can provide some options but not everyone wants to cover up the stainless steel and glass of naked iPhone. Swapping the backplate lets you get the styling of a case while keeping the feel of staying naked. Having it customizable — and in 3D! — is just the most awesome icing on the cake.

The unYOUsual 3D Concierge Backplate for iPhone should be available soon from unYOUsual.com. We’ll keep you updated!

If you’re getting a new iPad this week, either through fancy new pre-order or by lining up at an Apple Store old-school style, which version are you getting? Rene’s going all out but I haven’t decided what I’m getting yet.

There are really only three major options to choose between. First, do you get a black or white new iPad? Do you go Wi-Fi only or get AT&T or Verizon LTE iPad? Or Rogers, Bell, or Telus iPad up in Canada? And do you get the 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB iPad when it comes to storage?

We’ve got a full 2012 iPad buyers guide to help the undecided, but I want to know from those of you who’ve already made up your minds! Out of over 6000 members of the iMore nation, almost 38% of you told us you were buying the new iPad instantly while almost 8% said you were strongly considering it and almost 14% were thinking it over. That’s a lot of new iPads come Friday, and I’m sure a lot of variety in choices and opinions.

Time to share — which new iPad are you getting and why? Vote up top and leave a comment with the details below!

The new iPad is going to have a screen density higher than any computer but what it won’t have is an actual physical keyboard. Sure, some people can type up a storm on the virtual keyboard, but for traditionalists Kensington is offering the KeyFolio Expert Multi Angle Folio & Keyboard and the KeyStand Compact Keyboard and Stand for the new iPad.

The KeyFolio Expert connects via Bluetooth and is meant for those who want the portability of the iPad but need the productivity of a physical keyboard. The “multi angle” part means the KeyFolio can adjust to suit where ever you are typing, from a table to your lap. The folio includes magnets, just like Apple’s own Smart Cover, and lets you adjust the angle when open and protect your screen when closed.

The KeyStand is a less expensive alternative that’s slim and easy to take with you anywhere. It also connects via Bluetooth and has a magnetic cover to protect your screen.

Both are available for pre-order now.

$109.99 – Keyfolio Expert – Pre-order now

$79.99 – Keystand – Pre-order now

Keynote is all you need to create, edit, and give stunning presentations straight from your iPhone or iPad

Apple’s Keynote is the presentation component of their iWork productivity suite of software, and a companion app to Pages for word processing and Numbers for spreadsheets. All three are universal apps that work on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and popular choices for document management on the go. They’ve also just been updated to support iOS 5.1 and the new iPad‘s Retina display.

If you’re a new iPad or iPhone owner and need a way to create, edit, and give presentations on the go, Keynote is Apple’s iCloud integrated solution. It was designed for Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, and the desktop version was used to give every one of his presentations, including the original iPhone and iPad introductions.

Does it work just as well on iOS?

Keynote isn’t Powerpoint, and that’s a good thing

While most of the iWork apps pale in comparison to Microsoft’s Office suite, Keynote is the possible exception. Again, it was made for and used by arguably the best corporate presenter in a generation, and that says a lot.

However, because Keynote and Powerpoint are both intended for the same purpose, there’s a lot of overlap in features, and if you’ve used Powerpoint, or Keynote on the Mac, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting used to Keynote for iPhone and iPad.

If anything, the layout and controls on iOS are even more intuitive than desktop presentation software. Once you’ve gotten the basics down, you’ll be creating amazing presentations that you can share with co-workers, friends, and family with just a few taps.

Create presentations in Keynote

From the main Keynote screen you can open, edit, delete or create a presentation. To create a new one just tap the “+” sign in the upper right hand corner and select Create Presentation. You’ll be presented with several templates that you can choose from.

While Apple hasn’t added any new ones since Keynote was released, there are still quite a few different selections which should suit most users just fine.

Keynote’s user interface is simple and streamline. In the upper right hand corner are four icons.

• Format brush: You’ll use this to change the different properties of texts and objects such as font style, colors, and size.
• Insert button: This is where you’ll tap to add content to your slides. You can input many objects such as images from your camera roll, tables, charts, and several shapes.
• Tools: This menu allows you to add different transitions to your slides, share your presentations, add presenter notes, and many other options.
• Play button: This does exactly what you’d think, plays your slideshow. To exit play mode, just pinch the screen to go back to editing mode.

To add a slide to your project, tap the add slide button in the bottom left hand corner. There are a good amount of slide types to choose from such as title slides, bulleted slides, and more. You can also choose to use a blank slide and build your own custom content.

To change the order of slides within your project, hold your finger down on the slide you’d like to move and you can drag it up or down to the position you desire.

There are a good selection of built-in transitions in the tools menu. Once you select Transitions and Builds, your slide will get a marker next to it. Tap the “+” sign to add a transition to it.

You can also tap on options to adjust timing of transitions.

You can also add photos, tables, charts, or shapes directly to your presentation from your iPhone or iPad. To do so, tap the insert button in the top right and choose what kind of media you’d like to add.

Once you insert a chart you can double tap it to bring up the editing menu. You can choose to edit data which will bring up a table format that allows you to change the data and labels for your charts or graphs.

Once you’ve added an object, you can continue to manipulate them further with the format brush. Select an object, select the format brush, and Keynote will then bring up format options based on what you have highlighted.

If you have a chart or graph highlighted, it will allow you to edit the color and dimension of the chart as well as many other elements.

Resizing an object is easy. Just tap the object and blue anchors will appear. You can then use the grid lines to resize and straighten or off-center an object to your liking.

Moving objects is just as simple. Tap and hold on an object and move it around. The same yellow grid lines will show up to assist you with centering it with the rest of your text and content.

Sharing your presentations

Keynote gives you a few ways that you can share your presentations directly from your iPhone or iPad. You can share your work via e-mail, send it to iTunes, and print it.

Currently all of the iWork for iOS apps still give you the option to share it to iWork.com or iDisk. Given iDisk and iWork.com will be discontinued this summer, I'm not quite sure why Apple is still allowing them as options. I'd advise new users to stay away from them and just enable iCloud from the beginning to avoid having to transfer documents over before Apple turns off these services.

If you currently have data stored on iWork.com or iDisk, you should probably transfer it over to iCloud before this summer.

You can also use the optional VGA or HDMI out dongles sold by Apple to connect to a projector at work, or use AirPlay to mean a presentation to Apple TV and show it off on the big screen.

Syncing with iCloud

Upon first launching any of the iWork for iOS apps on your iPhone or iPad, you’ll be asked whether or not you’d like to sync with iCloud. I’d recommend doing so if you plan on editing and accessing documents from multiple iOS devices. This way, if you make changes to a document on your iPad, your changes will be synced with all your devices.

There are, however, a few flaws to this system. I’m not a fan of the fact that I have to log in to iCloud from a browser and download files and re-upload them when at a computer. I was really hoping Apple would have implemented a better solution by now.

If you only have the need to edit iWork documents on the go, iCloud is just fine but we have to be practical – most users need to be able to easily edit them on a computer whether in iWork or Microsoft Office as well. The integration just isn’t that great when you’ve got to download a document from iCloud, edit what you need to, and re-upload it in order for it to sync the current version to all your devices.

A syncing solution that better integrates documents with iCloud will hopefully be a big part of what OS X Mountain Lion will bring to the table. Right now Keynote gives you the ability to download your presentations to your computer in the following formats:

• Keynote
• PDF
• Powerpoint

What’s new in Keynote 1.6

Not too much has changed in the new version of Keynote. There aren’t any new templates from what I can tell. While iWork did get a few new features across the board, most enhancements were done under the hood.

3D charts and graphs

This is probably a bigger deal to spreadsheet user but there’s no denying the new 3D charts make presentation look a lot more interesting than the standard 2D charts. And since it only takes a few taps to turn a boring table into an animated 3D one, why not?

You can also rotate the chart and change it’s orientation and position. This is especially convenient when working with line graphs that overlap each other. You can stretch the graph outwards so you can easily see the difference between them and they don’t seem so bunched up against each other.

Stability improvements

All three iWork applications received performance enhancements that really seem to show on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. I hadn’t really noticed as many lag issues in Keynote as I did in Numbers to begin with. Probably due to the amount of formulas and data Numbers loads in comparison.

Sometimes when adding slides or paging through charts, I’d notice a bit of a lag but not anything worth getting frustrated over. Unfortunately the lag was noticeably present on the first generation iPad.

The good

• The enhanced interface makes it even easier to format and edit data quickly and easily
• Performance enhancements seemed to decrease the amount of time it takes to edit larger presentations and move slides around
• 3D charts and graphs make presentations more visually appealing than their 2D counterparts

The bad

• Lack of iCloud integration on the Mac is highly frustrating
• Limited presentation and slide templates to work with

Conclusion

I use Keynote to prepare workshop presentations and use AirPlay to show them iva Apple TV without ever having to worry about connecting a computer to a projector. I also haven’t found much the Mac version of Keynote does that the iOS version won’t do. For many, Keynote is all you will need to create, edit, and give stunning presentations straight from your iPhone or iPad

There’s no denying that Keynote for iPhone and iPad is an amazing way to create beautiful presentations without ever touching your computer. It’s so good on recent generation iPads and iPhones, in fact, you may never want to create a slideshow in any other program again.

It’s so good, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can top it if and when they decide to release Microsoft Office for iPad.

$9.99 – Download Now

Movies in the Cloud is the latest addition to iTunes in the Cloud, the iCloud service that let’s you re-download previously purchased iTunes content on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Mac or Windows PC. While apps, iBooks, music, and TV shows have been available for re-download for a while now, movies are brand new and seem to be causing some confusion, namely where they’re available, how to access them, and how and when they work with digital copies.

Here’s the deal…

Movies in the Cloud availability

As of now, it seems like Movies in the Cloud is only available in the U.S. TV Shows in the Cloud started off as U.S. only at first as well, and then later rapidly expanded to over a dozen other countries, so it’s possible Movies in the Cloud will follow suit. It’s also possible movie licensing deals are more complicated than TV and it will take a while. Either way, if you’re not using a U.S. iTunes Store account, you won’t have access to Movies in the Cloud.

Also, only movies purchased through iTunes are available for re-download.

Before we get into what iTunes Movies in the Cloud is, here’s what it isn’t.

Movies in the Cloud isn’t home sharing

Home sharing lets you stream any movie in your Mac or Windows PC library to your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Apple TV over your home Wi-Fi network. It doesn’t care if you bought the movie on iTunes or ripped it from a DVD, transcoded it, and added it to your iTunes library.

Movies in the Cloud does. It will only show you movies that your bought through the iTunes store, using the same iTunes account that you’re logged into on your device.

Movies in the cloud isn’t part of iTunes Match

iTunes Match will scour your PC iTunes library, take note of all your music, and if it can find the same song on Apple’s iTunes Catalog, provide you with a 256kbps copy you can re-download from any iOS, Mac, or Windows device.

The keyword there is music. iTunes will not match any other type of content for you.

If you have movies in your iTunes library that you didn’t get through the iTunes Store, iTunes Match won’t help you. You’ll have to use Home Sharing (see above) or an app like Air Video to get to them.

Movies in the Cloud doesn’t work with all Digital Copies

How and when Movies in the Cloud works with Digital Copies has been the source of some confusion. The non-simple answer is that it depends on how the company distributing the movie decided to provide a digital copy.

If you open up your Blu-Ray or DVD and the digital copy consists of an iTunes code to redeem an iTunes copy of the movie, you’re golden. Just redeem your code and your digital copy should automagically show up in iTunes, and Movies in the Cloud will let you re-download it across all your devices for download.

If you’re digital copy requires you to log in to some other kind of service to redeem your movie it may get a bit complicated. I recently bought a movie that made me download the Flixster software in order to play it. Needless to say I wasn’t very happy about this. I purposely buy movies that have digital copies in order to be able to play them from all my devices and from iTunes. What am I supposed to do with a movie that I can’t play without a player that isn’t supported by anything else?

If you find yourself in this situation, it never hurts to contact the vendor and ask for an iTunes code instead. Some movie cases are very deceiving and don’t give you very much information on the type of digital download they’re giving you. If all else fails, just ask.

But the bottom line is, if you didn’t get the Digital Copy through iTunes, you won’t be able to re-downlown it through Movies in the Cloud.

Movies in the Cloud doesn’t work for all movies

Apple doesn’t have deals with all major film studies yet. That means certain movies from certain companies, such as Universal and 20th Century Fox, aren’t currently available for re-download through Movies in the Cloud.

Some of this has to do with the “HBO window”, some of it with old-school studio thinking. Apple, HBO, and the studios are apparently trying to work this out. In the meantime, when a movie is airing on HBO, it could disappear from Movies in the Cloud.

How to re-download movies on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

To re-download movies you’ve previously purchased from iTunes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

1. Launch the iTunes app.
2. Tap the Purchased tab at the bottom (if you don’t see it, tap the More tab and then check there).
3. Tap Movies from the selection list.
4. Tap on the iCloud icon beside any of your previously purchased movies to re-download.

How to stream movies to Apple TV

Because the Apple TV doesn’t have much internal storage, it streams previously purchased movies instead of re-downloading and storing them on-device. To stream a movie to your Apple TV:

1. Navigate to the Movies icon on the right and click on it.
2. Navigate to the Purchased tab at the top and click on it.
3. Scroll up or down to the movie you want to stream and click on it.

Conclusion

Movies in the Cloud is currently a great way for users to re-download some movies purchased from the U.S. iTunes Store to iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads, and stream them to the Apple TV.

It’s not part of iTunes Match, it doesn’t work for all movies from all studios, and it doesn’t support Digital Copies unless they were acquired through an iTunes Store promo code, but hopefully some of those limitations will soon be things of the past.