When it comes to the next generation iPhone, is thinner always better, or would you trade a couple of extra millimeters for longer battery life? Rumors went around last week about Apple potentially changing screen technology to something that would let them make the iPhone 5 thinner than the current iPhone 4S. There was also some talk about Android maker HTC running internal polls about thinner phones vs. longer battery life. Apple, however, made the new iPad slightly thicker last time, in part to make sure they could add a Retina display and LTE radio and still off the same battery life.

If the iPhone casing gets even slightly bigger, then the battery can spread out more and maybe the next generation iPhone can be thinner and get the same or better battery life. If the iPhone 5 keeps the same overall casing size, however, something might have to give.

If you had the choice between a thinner new iPhone with shorter battery life, a same depth iPhone with the same battery life, and a slightly thicker new iPhone with longer battery life, which would you choose?

Vote in the poll up top and give me your reasons why in the comments below!

Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Services, Eddy Cue bluntly commented on the iBooks pricing model and its legal quagmire, saying “We can’t treat newspapers or magazines any differently than we treat FarmVille.” Apple has recently been charged with colluding with publishers over pricing, sticking to an agency model whereby the publisher gets to set the prices rather than the retailer. This is in contrast to Amazon, which has taken the reins of pricing so they can undercut everybody else, even if means taking a loss so long as they can be number one and recoup through other purchases. Apple claims they’re aiming to bust up Amazon’s monopoly on e-books, but the Department of Justice isn’t so sure and is moving ahead with their investigation.

Cue’s commentary on the situation is certainly apt; why up-end their established fee structure for electronic goods just because these ones happen to be books rather than apps? That doesn’t necessarily mean that the publishers didn’t have their own conversations, but at first glance it doesn’t seem like Apple was doing anything particularly wrong here.

Of course, we’ll see how the trial pans out and what new evidence comes to light. In the end, iBooks isn’t hugely popular, and I can’t imagine it will be a massive blow if Apple is forced to change their model around a little bit. How do you guys feel about iBooks pricing? Are you willing to pay close to what a real copy costs, or should electronic versions be cheaper?

Source: WSJ

Home buttons that could be a parts for the next generation iPhone 5 have started turning up online. They are available in black and white from TVC-Mall and TrueSupplier and appear to have a different rubber gasket than the current iPhone 4S design.

It seems as if part leaks have become an honored tradition when it comes to iPhone launches. We see similar leaks when it comes to iPad and iPod touch as well. This also isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a part supplier leak parts ahead of a launch or make them publicly available for sale.

From the pictures on their respective sites in comparison to an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4 home button, the only thing that appears to have changed is the rubber gasket and mold they’re using. It doesn’t give us much of a clue as to what we can expect in the way of form factor or size change. The square portion would most likely be seated completely below the frame assembly and be an unnoticeable change to users. My guess would be that Apple is just adding a bit more stability.

Apple did something similar when they jumped from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 4. While the button remained the same, they added a rubber gasket around it which seems to alleviate a lot of the issues users were experiencing when it came to the iPhone 4 home button. The iPhone 4 home button is basically “taped” on to a flimsy sensor cable that wears down over time. The iPhone 4S home button is a bit more sturdy due to the rubber gasket and somewhat improved contact.

I still think it’s too early for us to see genuine part leaks for the next generation iPhone. Any little detail could change when it comes to the actual production model. Especially something such as a home button that has no mechanical parts involved. They could just be changing out the rubber gasket for a more solid button assembly. For now, I’d say it’s too early to tell whether or not this could end up in a production unit.

Source: MacRumors

Everything you need to know about setting up, backing up, restoring, and updating your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and managing your iTunes apps, books, music, TV shows, movies, Match, and Photo Stream in the cloud

iCloud is Apple’s online service designed to make managing your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple TV, and your iTunes content easier and more automatic than ever. Like the name implies, iCloud is based in the “cloud”, which is a trendy way of saying giant data centers filled with servers that you can access from your device over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G internet, wherever you are, whenever you want. It consists of several services that work with the apps on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and with iTunes and a handful of desktop apps on Mac and Windows. Most iCloud services are completely free, although additional storage and services are available for purchase.

iCloud table of contents

		PC free: Set up your new iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without needing a computer. Backup automatically and restore easily from a backup whenever you need to. Update your software to a new version, right on your device.
		Mail, Calendar, and Contacts: Get free push email, calendars, and contacts that sync between all your iOS devices and your Mac or Windows PC, and iCloud.com. iCloud also syncs Notes and Reminders.
		iTunes in the Cloud: Buy an app, game, book, or song on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or iTunes and have it automatically download to all your other iOS devices. Re-download previously bought apps, games, books, music, TV shows, and music from any of your iOS devices, or iTunes computers, at any time.
		iTunes Match: iTunes scans your hard drive, finds all your music, and either gives you access to an iTunes Catalog copy, or uploads your original copy, so you can re-download it anywhere from any of your iOS devices or iTunes computers. (Costs an additional $24.99 a year.)
		Photo Stream: Take a photo on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and it automatically shows up on your other iOS devices, in iPhoto and Aperture on your Mac, and on your Windows PC.
		Documents in the Cloud: Create a document on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, and its automatically made available for you to edit on any other iOS device and compatible Mac or Windows software.
		Find my iPhone: Locate a lost or stolen iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, lock it remotely, or wipe it completely to keep your data private and secure.
		Find my Friends: Keep track of your family and easily locate friends for special events, with granular privacy controls.

Because the vast majority of iCloud services are free, and because they work automatically and transparently in the background to backup your data and give you access to your content, you should absolutely use it.

PC-free

With iCloud, you no longer need to plug your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC to set it up for the first time, to keep it backed up, or to upgrade the software. Now you can do all of that, and more, faster and more easily, over-the-air (OTA) on your local Wi-Fi network. Because routine tasks, like backups, happen automatically, you don’t have to worry about forgetting them and then finding out you don’t have one when you need it most.

How to setup your new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with iCloud

When you turn on your new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you’ll be greeted with a Lock screen that simply says “iPhone”, “iPod” or “iPad”. That’s where we start.

1. Swipe to unlock to start setting up your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
2. Choose your language. Your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad will show you the most common languages for the area in which you bought it, but you can tap the downward arrow icon to see all the choices. Tap the blue Arrow button to continue.
3. Choose you country or region. Again, your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad will show you the region where you bought it, but you can tap Show more… for additional options. Tap the blue Next button to continue.
4. Choose whether you want to globally enable or disable location services. Location Services use GPS (on an iPhone or iPad 3G/4G), cell-tower triangulation, and Wi-Fi router mapping to determine the approximate location of your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad . This feature is used for turn-by-turn navigation (like Navigon, check-in games (like FourSquare), social networks (like Facebook), geo-tagging (like in the Camera app), and utilities (like Find my iPad), etc. Unless you have a particular need to globally disable it, you’ll want to turn on the Location Services feature at this point. You can change your mind or selectively disable or enable these services later on in the Settings app (e.g., turn off your Camera app's geo-tagging, but leave on TomTom's turn-by-turn navigation). Tap the blue Next button to continue.
5. Choose your Wi-Fi network. Even if you’re on 3G or LTE, your iPhone or iPad wants Wi-Fi because there may be a lot of data to move around and blasting through your data cap on setup is no fun. Enter your network password and tap the blue Next button to continue.
6. Wait for Apple to activate your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad . This could take a few minutes.
7. Choose if you want to setup your iPad as new, restore from iCloud backup, or restore from an iTunes backup on a PC. Tap the blue Next button to continue.

How to create an Apple ID

In order to use iCloud, you need to have an Apple ID. An Apple ID can be an iTunes Store/App Store account, me.com email account, Apple developer account, FaceTime or iMessage account, etc.

If you already have one of those, skip ahead to the next section. If not, you’ll have to create one.

1. Choose **Create a Free Apple ID**
2. Enter your Location and Date of birth

3. A new window will open asking you to use an existing email address or create a free @me.com address

4. You can use any email address you like, including an existing gmail, Yahoo!, hotmail, etc. address. If you want a new email address, however, to take advantage of Apple’s free push email service, select get a free @me.com email address
5. Fill in all your details and tap Next
6. Accept the iCloud Terms and Conditions

That's it done, you now have a new iCloud account all set up and ready to go!

How to set up a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with iCloud (clean install)

While you can always restore your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad based on a previous backup of the same or different iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you can also set it up as new. If it’s your first device, or if you simply want to start fresh to ensure optimal stability and battery life, setting up as new should be your go-to.

1. Choose sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Enter your Apple ID to login. (Enter your full email address as the username.) Tap the blue Next button to continue. (If you change your mind, you can logout of iCloud, or login under a different account later.)
3. Agree to the terms and conditions of service by tapping the blue Agree button on the bottom left.
4. Confirm your agreement by tapping the Agree button.
5. Choose Use iCloud. You need to do this or none of the other cool stuff will work.
6. Choose Use iCloud Backup. This way you won’t have to worry about backing up your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad manually to a computer.
7. Choose use Find my iPhone/iPod/iPad. This way, if you lose your device, you can track it down more easily.
8. Choose if you want to automatically send Diagnostics to Apple. It’s anonymous and helps make Apple make better products, but if you’re uncomfortable with the idea, choose Don’t send.

Your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad will now be set up. Because it’s communicating with Apple’s iCloud servers, it could take a few moments to complete.

How to restore your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad from an iCloud backup

If you have an old iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and need access to your old data quickly, or dread the idea of starting from scratch again, you have the option of simply restoring your new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad from a backup of your old device.

1. Choose restore from iCloud backup.
2. Enter your Apple ID to login. (Enter your full email address as the username.) Tap the blue Next button to continue. (If you change your mind, you can logout of iCloud, or login under a different account later.)
3. Agree to the terms and conditions of service by tapping the blue Agree button on the bottom left.
4. Confirm your agreement by tapping the Agree button.
5. Choose your backup. You’ll see your Latest iPhone/iPod/iPad Backup listed. This is usually the one you want to choose. You’ll can also see older backups, and backups of your other iOS devices on the same iCloud account.

A progress bar will show you an approximation of how long it will take to download your backup. Once it’s done, your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad will reboot.

Once your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad reboots, all your previous settings will be back in place, and you’ll be asked to re-enter all your passwords (as a security measure, iCloud will not restore passwords).

Once that’s done, your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad will start re-downloading all your apps. You will need to stay on Wi-Fi for any file larger than 50MB to re-download.

How to backup your iPhone with iCloud

iCloud will automatically back up your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad whenever you plug it into a power source and it is connected to a Wi-Fi network. iCloud backup requires power so it doesn’t run the battery down while backing up, and it requires Wi-Fi because of the potentially large amount of data it will transfer.

How to manually trigger an iCloud backup

If you need to replace or restore your phone, or you know you'll be traveling for a while and want to make sure the backup is done before you go, You can initiate a manual backup.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap on iCloud

3. Tap on Storage & Backup near the bottom

4. Tap on Back Up Now at the bottom.

Depending on the speed of your Wi-Fi connection and how much you have to backup, it could take a while to complete. When it’s done iCloud backup will be up to date.

How to delete an iCloud backup

Since you only get 5GB of free storage with iCloud, if you don’t want to upgrade and pay more, you might want to delete some older backups, or backups from iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads you no longer use, to save space.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap on iCloud

3. Tap on Storage and Backup

4. Tap on Manage Storage

5. Check out your current backups stored on iCloud. (Here you can see two iPhones, including one replaced at the Apple Store last week and so no longer needed).

6. Tap on the backup you want to remove from iCloud
7. Tap on Delete Backup

8. Tap on Turn Off and Delete

That's it, that backup has now been removed and the space reclaimed in iCloud.

How to manually manage what gets backed up to iCloud

If you don’t want to, or simply can’t delete an entire iCloud backup in order to save space, you can still control what gets backed up. For example, backing up the Camera Roll can use up a large amount of your iCloud storage. Since Photo Stream captures a lot of that data anyway, and isn’t counted against your total storage usage, turning off Camera Roll backup can save you considerable space.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap iCloud near the bottom
3. Tap Storage and Backup near the bottom
4. Tap Manage Storage
5. If you have multiple devices on the same iCloud account, tap on the name of your device
6. You’ll see a list of apps currently being backed up to iCloud. Not all apps will be shown immediately. Too see them all, tap Show All
7. For any apps you don’t really want or need to be backed up, switch the toggle button to Off

The Camera Roll above is 35GB. That could cost you quite a bit in iCloud storage fees!

How to buy more iCloud storage

If you run out of free space, and there aren’t any backups you want to delete or apps you want to stop backing up, you can choose to buy more iCloud storage.

1. Launch Settings

2. Tap on iCloud near the bottom

3. Tap on Storage and Backup

4. Tap on Buy More Storage
5. Select your storage increase option — 10GB for $20, 20GB for $40 or 50GB for $100 per year.

6. Enter your iTunes password to charge the increase to your iTunes account.

If you change your mind, you have 15 days to contact Apple and cancel the storage increase. If you’re happy with it, you’ll be billed the same amount, once a year, for as long as you keep the selected storage tier.

How to downgrade your iCloud storage

If you eventually change your mind and decide you no longer need extra iCloud storage, and don’t want to be billed for it again when it comes time for renewal, you can downgrade to a lower tier, or back to the free version.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap iCloud near the bottom
3. Tap Storage and Backup near the bottom
4. Tap Buy More Storage
5. Tap Downgrade Options near the bottom
6. Login with your Apple ID password
7. Choose your new plan from the available options

The downgrade will take effect at your next billing cycle (one year after you bought the additional storage).

How to update your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad software over the air (OTA)

Whether you’ve bought a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and an update is already available, or one comes along months later, applying them over-the-air (OTA) via iCloud is faster and more efficient than the old-school iTunes method.

If a software update is available for your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, a popup notification will let you know, and a red badge will appear at the top righthand corner of your Settings app.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap General
3. Tap Software Update
4. If there’s nothing new, you’ll be told just so. Otherwise, you’ll be presented with all the details about the update.
5. Tap Download and Install
6. Agree to the Terms and Conditions
7. Watch the progress bar (This part depends on the speed and quality of connection. Don’t be alarmed if it takes a long time, speeds up or slows down, or appears to jump around — be patient.)
8. Once it’s finished downloading, you’ll be prompted to instal (and restart) your device. If you don’t explicitly hit Later or Install within a few seconds, it will install on your behalf.
9. Agree to the Terms and Conditions yet again.
10. Apple will verify the install.

How to remove an iCloud account from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

You can remove an iCloud account from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad at any time. When you remove the iCloud account, all the associated data will also be removed from your device. It’s not deleted, however, and if you add the iCloud account back, it will restore the data to your device.

1. Launch the Settings app
2. Tap on iCloud
3. Tap on Delete Account at the bottom.
4. Tap on Delete to confirm.

If you change your mind, you can always log back into that iCloud account again.

Mail, Contacts, and Calendars (and Bookmarks, Notes, and Reminders)

iCloud includes push email, calendaring, and contact services. That means whenever you get an email, it’s immediately made available on all your devices. Whenever you make or change an appointment it shows up in your calendar on all your devices. Whenever you add or change contact information, its reflected in the contacts on all of your devices. You can access these services via the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, via the iCloud.com website from any desktop browser, or through popular mail, calendar, and contacts apps on your Mac or Windows PC.

iCloud will also sync Bookmarks, Notes, and Reminders.

How to set up iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendars

If you didn’t originally set up your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with iCloud, or if you want to use a different iCloud account for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars than you do for iTunes purchases, for example, or you simply want to add an additional account to your device, here’s how to get it working.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on Mail, Contacts, & Calendars.
3. Tap iCloud.
4. Enter your iCloud (me.com) email address as the Apple ID and your Password.

How to enable or disable individual iCloud services

Whether you’re setting up iCloud on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad for the first time and want to choose which services are turned on and which are turned off, or you’ve already set it up but want to make some changes, it’s easy to configure.

You can selectively choose to enable or disable Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Bookmarks, Notes, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and Find my iPhone/iPod/iPad.

• Launch the Settings app
• Tap on iCloud
• Go down the list and toggle anything you want to enable to On, and anything you want to disable to off

Turning off an iCloud feature on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad will remove the associated data from your device, but not from iCloud’s servers. So, if you change your mind again, just repeat the process and flip the switch back on.

How to access iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendars via the Web

You can access iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendars, as well as Documents in the Cloud, and Find my iPhone/iPod/iPad from any Mac, Windows, Linux, Unix, or other PC with a modern web browser via:

• http://www.icloud.com

How to access iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendars, and more via Windows PC

To access your iCloud data via a Microsoft Windows PC, first you need the iCloud Control Panel for Windows Vista SP 2 or Windows 7.

Free – Download now

1. Click on Start to launch the Start menu.
2. Go to Network and Internet.
3. Go to iCloud.
4. Enter your Apple ID username and password.
5. Check mark the iCloud services you want to enable.

You can choose to turn on Mail, Contacts, Calendars & Tasks (Reminders), Bookmarks, and Photo Stream. The following software will then be able to access iCloud data:

• Mail: Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
• Contacts: Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
• Calendars: Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
• Reminders: Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
• Notes: Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
• Bookmarks: Safari, Internet Explorer

How to access iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and more via Mac

iCloud is built into Apple’s OS X 10.7 Lion for Mac, and will be even better integrated into the upcoming OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

1. Launch System Preferences.
2. Click on iCloud.
3. Check mark the iCloud services you want to enable.

You can choose to turn on Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, Back to my Mac, and Find my Mac. The following software will then be able to access iCloud data.

• Mail: Mail, Outlook for Mac (via IMAP)
• Contacts: Address Book, Contacts (Mountain Lion)
• Calendars: iCal, Calendar (Mountain Lion)
• Bookmarks: Safari
• Photo Stream: iPhoto, Aperture

iTunes in the Cloud

iTunes in the Cloud lets you access content you’ve bought from Apple’s iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, re-download it to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and to iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, and stream your music, movies, and TV shows to your Apple TV.

How to set up iTunes in the Cloud automatic downloads

iTunes in the Cloud let’s you automatically download any App Store apps, iBookstore iBooks, and iTunes music you buy. For example, if you buy a game on your iPhone, it can automatically download onto your iPad. If you buy a song on iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, it can automatically download onto your iPod touch.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle Music, Apps, and Books to On
4. Enter your iTunes password to authorize.

An iTunes account can only have 10 devices enabled for iTunes in the Cloud at the same time. Devices include iPhones, iPod touches, iPads, as well as Mac and Windows PCs, and Apple TVs. If you reach 10, you can’t add an additional devices until you remove one first. (See below.)

How to enable automatic iTunes in the Cloud downloads over 3G/4G on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

If you’re not concerned about your cellular data cap or any potential overage charges, you can choose to have iTunes in the Cloud automatic downloads happen even when you’re off Wi-Fi and on 3G or 4G.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle Use Cellular Data to On.

If you do choose to allow 3G/4G downloads, there’s still a maximum file size limit of 50MB. Any content bigger than that can only be downloaded over Wi-Fi.

How to enable automatic Newsstand issue downloads on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

If you subscribe to any magazines or newspapers in Newsstand, you can choose to have new issues download automatically to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad when they become available.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Toggle any magazine or newspaper apps listed at the bottom to On.

Newsstand content downloads will only happen while on Wi-Fi.

How to change the iTunes account associated with your iTunes in the Cloud device

If you have multiple iTunes accounts, for example a personal and a family account, or a family and a business account, or accounts in more than one regional iTunes store, you can change which account is associated with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Store near the bottom.
3. Tap the email address of the Apple ID currently logged into the App Store (at the bottom of the screen).
4. Tap Sign Out.
5. Tap Sign In.
6. Tap Use Existing Apple ID.
7. Enter the email address and password for the iTunes account you want to switch to.

To guard against unfair use or illegal distribution (for example, to stop friends from swapping accounts to get free access to each other’s content), you can only change iTunes in the Cloud accounts once every 90 days.

How to de-authorize an iTunes in the Cloud device

If you reach your 10 device limit for iTunes in the Cloud and need to remove a device, or if you simply lose, sell, or upgrade a device and want it off you account, you can remove it via the iTunes desktop on Mac or Windows.

1. Launch iTunes on Mac or Windows.
2. Click your iTunes email address at the top right. (If you’re not already logged in, click Log In.)
3. Enter your iTunes email address and/or iTunes password.
4. Click on Manage Devices, middle right.
5. Click on Remove for any iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad you no longer wish associated with iTunes on the Cloud on your account.

How to re-download apps and games with iCloud

For a long time now, The App Store has let you re-download paid apps and games without having to pay for them again. Now, however, this functionality is officially part of iCloud and iTunes in the Cloud. It means if you downloaded an app or game a long time ago, on a different device, or simply deleted it because you stopped using it for a while, you can go back and download it again, free of additional charge.

If you know the name of the app you want to re-download:

1. Launch the App Store app.
2. Tap the Search tab (iPhone and iPod touch only) or into the Search box (iPad).
3. Enter the name of the app you want to re-download.
4. Tap the Search button on the keyboard.
5. When the search results show up, find the app and tap the Install button.

Note: If you see a price button (e.g. $0.99) instead of an Install button, it means you’ll be charged for the download. Make sure you’re on the proper iTunes account, and that you’ve really bought the app previously before re-downloading.

If you don’t know the name of the app and need to find it:

1. Launch the App Store app.
2. Tap on the Purchased tab tab (iPad), or Updates tab and then tap Purchased (iPhone and iPod touch).
3. Tap Not on the iPad/iPhone to see a list of apps not currently on your device.
4. Scroll through the list to find the app you’re looking for.
5. Tap the iCloud download button to re-download the app to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
6. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your app will now download to the Home screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

How to re-download iBooks with iCloud

Just like App Store apps, you can easily re-download iBookstore iBooks to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

1. Launch the iBooks app.
2. Tap on the Store button in the top left corner.
3. Tap on the Purchased tab along the bottom navigation menu.
4. Scroll through the list to find the book you’re looking for.
5. Tap on the iCloud download button to re-download the book to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
6. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your book will download to your iBooks bookshelf.

How to re-download iTunes music, movies, & TV shows with iCloud

Re-downloading music, movies, and TV shows is a little more complicated than re-downloading apps simply because licensing restrictions don’t allow it in all areas (yet). Music is currently available in many regions. TV shows are only available in Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. Movie re-downloads are only available in the U.S.

Here’s a current listing of which types of content are available for re-downloading and in which area.

• iTunes in the Cloud availability by country

If iTunes re-downloads are available in you region, you can safely restore your content to your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC without being charged again.

1. Launch the iTunes app.
2. Tap on the Purchased tab along the bottom of the navigation menu.
3. Tap the View button at the top left to choose between movies, music, or TV shows (options vary by region, not all may be present).
4. Tap Not on this iPhone/iPod/iPad.
5. Scroll through the list to find the content you’re looking for.
6. Tap on the iCloud download button to re-download the content to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
7. Enter your iTunes password, if requested, to confirm.

Your content will download to your Music or Video app.

iTunes Match

iTunes Match is Apple’s “music locker” service that allows you to store copies of all your music on Apple’s servers and re-download it from any of your devices, at any time.

It involves a three step process:

1. Step 1: Gathering information about your iTunes library. Apple scans all your songs to see what’s in your library.
2. Step 2: Matching your music to songs in the iTunes Store. Apple compares your library to the massive iTunes Catalog. Anything that already exists in the iTunes Catalog is immediately made available to you in standard iTunes format — 256Kbps AAC with metadata and album art.
3. Step 3: Uploading artwork and remaining songs. Apple takes any other music in your library — anything Apple couldn’t match with the iTunes Catalog — and uploads it to Apple’s servers so it will still be available to you from the cloud (albeit in its original format, however good or bad that is)

iTunes Match isn’t free, however. It comes at a price — $24.99 a year (in the U.S.). It’s also only available in 20 odd regions right now.

• iTunes Match availability by country

There are also a couple of other limitations.

• iTunes Match can only handle 25,000 songs. If your library is bigger than that, iTunes will refuse to match it. About all you can do right now is create a new iTunes library on the same computer with a subset of your songs — no more than 25,000 — and use that library to set up iTunes Match. (Just make sure you don’t copy your music into new folders, leave it in its existing folders or you’ll waste a lot of disk space.)

• iTunes Match doesn’t always do a great job matching every of songs. It could be an issue with metadata, if the song information is really different between the iTunes Catalog copy and your local copy. You could try updating the metadata on your local copies before going through iTunes Match, but it can take a lot of time and results may still vary. (Anything iTunes doesn’t match gets uploaded to Apple’s servers, so you still have access to it, but in its original form, not the iTunes Catalog copy in 256Kbps AAC with “official” metadata)

How to subscribe to iTunes Match on Mac or Windows

1. Launch iTunes (10.5.1 or higher) on your Mac or Windows PC.

2. Click on iTunes Match under the Store menu in the left hand sidebar.
3. If you don’t see iTunes Match in the sidebar, click on iTunes Store and then click on iTunes Match in the Quick Links section on the right.

4. Click on Subscribe to iTunes Match for $24.99.
5. Enter your iTunes password to authorize

6. Click iTunes Match in the sidebar again.
7. Click Add this Computer

That’s it, you’re now subscribed to iTunes Match.

Depending on how much music needs to be uploaded, and the speed of your internet connection, it could take a while to complete.

How to set up iTunes Match on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

Once you’ve subscribed to iTunes Match, you can easily set it up on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

• Launch the Settings app.
• Tap on Music.
• Toggle iTunes Match to On.
• Tap Enable to allow iTunes Match to replace your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad music library with your iTunes Match library. (Which should have all the same music, and much, much more.)

If you don’t see the iTunes Match option, make sure you’re logged into the same iTunes account with which you subscribed to iTunes Match. If you still don’t see it, scroll down to the bottom of the Music Settings and enter that iTunes ID into the Home Sharing login. That should wake it up.

How to enable iTunes Match downloads over 3G/4G

iTunes Match can either be Wi-Fi only, or can also let you re-download music over 3G/4G connections.

• Launch the Settings app
• Tap on Music
• Toggle Use Cellular Data to on.

How to see all your iTunes Match music on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

• Launch the Settings app.
• Tap on Music.
• Toggle Show All Music to on.

This will make sure that your Music app shows you every song in your iTunes Match library, whether you’ve downloaded it to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad or not.

Photo Stream

How to enable Photo Stream on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

With Photo Stream, any picture you take with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is automatically stored on iCloud and pushed down to any other device logged into your iCloud account. Photos are only transferred when you’re on Wi-Fi

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on iCloud.
3. Tap on Photo Stream.
4. Toggle Photo Stream to On.

How to access Photo Stream on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Once you’ve enabled Photo Stream on your iPhone, iPod touch, and/or iPad, you’ll be able to see any pictures taken on any of your iOS devices, on all of your iOS devices.

1. Launch Photos.
2. Tap on Albums at the bottom.
3. Tap on Photo Stream.

Photo Stream only stores and pushes photos when you’re on Wi-Fi. So, if you don’t see your latest photos, make sure you connect your device(s) to Wi-Fi and wait a few moments.

How to enable Photo Stream on your Apple TV

Your Apple TV can wirelessly stream all the pictures from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It’s a great way to share pictures with friends and family on right on your home television.

1. Launch Photo Stream (the icon is towards the bottom).
2. Confirm your Apple ID or sign in with a different one.
3. Choose whether or not you’d like to use Photo Stream as your screen saver.

iCloud will start to populate your Photo Stream on your Apple TV. Depending on the size of your Photo Stream and the speed of your internet connection, it might take a few minutes.

How to enable Photo Stream on Mac

Photo Stream, like the rest of iCloud, is built right into OS X Lion on the Mac (or the Mountain Lion developer preview). You can access it from within either iPhoto or Aperture.

1. Launch iPhoto on your Mac
2. Click on Photo Stream under Recent in the left hand sidebar.
3. Click on Turn on Photo Stream.

iPhoto will start to import your Photo Stream photos. Depending on how many photos you have, and how fast your internet connection is, it might take a while.

Apple’s higher end photo editing app, Aperture, can also be used with Photo Stream.

How to enable Photo Stream on Windows

If you’ve got a Windows PC, you can enable Photo Stream through the iCloud control panel.

1. Launch the iCloud control panel (log in if you aren’t already).
2. Check the Photo Stream box.
3. Click Options next to Photo Stream to customize Photo Stream settings further.

Your Windows PC will start to import your Photo Stream photos. Depending on how many photos you have and how fast your internet connection is, it might take a few minutes.

How to delete photos from Photo Stream

If you have personal, private, or any photos you simply don’t want to be stored on Photo Stream, you can delete them from iCloud without deleting them from your device.

1. Launch Photos.
2. Tap on Albums at the bottom.
3. Tap on Photo Stream.
4. Tap on the Action button in the upper right-hand corner.
5. Tap any photo you want to remove from Photo Stream.
6. Tap the red Delete button along the bottom.
7. Tap Delete Selected Photos to delete them.

Again, this will only remove the photo from Photo Stream, not from the Camera Roll of the device with which you originally took it.

Documents in the Cloud

With iCloud you no longer have to fuss with traditional computer files and folders or worry about forgetting where you put a document when you go back to look for it later. For apps that support Documents in the Cloud, all you have to remember is which app (or apps) opens the type of file you want to work on. From then on, iCloud manages everything, storing any changes you make back up to the server, and pushing down those updates to every device you have logged into your account. Create a Keynote presentation on your iPad at home, get to work and it’s ready and waiting for you on your iPhone.

How to enable Documents in the Cloud on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

iCloud-enabled iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps will automatically use Documents in the Cloud to save your files, provided you’ve turned it on.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on iCloud.
3. Toggle Documents & Data to On.

How to get documents into iCloud from your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

In order to use Documents in the Cloud on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, you need an app that supports it. Apps that support Documents in the Cloud include Apple’s iWork apps, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.

$9.99 – Keynote Download now

$9.99 – Numbers Download now

$9.99 – Pages Download now

To move a document to iCloud from the iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone:

1. Tap the + button in the top left hand corner.
2. Choose iTunes, iDisk, or WebDAV.
3. Select the document you want to move to iCloud.

If you don't have an existing document stored in one of these three places, skip this step and create a new document.

How to create a new iCloud document on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

To create an new iCloud document, simply:

1. Launch Pages, Numbers, or Keynote
2. Tap on the + button
3. Tap on Create Document/Spreadsheet/Presentation (depending on which app you are in.)

Once you’ve created the document, it will automatically show up on all your iCloud enabled devices.

How to get documents into iCloud from your Mac or Windows PC

Getting your documents into the cloud from your PC or Mac is a very straightforward process.

1. Launch your web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.)
2. Go to http://www.icloud.com.
3. Log in with your iCloud email address and password
4. Click on iWork
5. Click on the tab at the top that represents the type of document you want to work on: Pages (word processing), Keynote (presentation), or Numbers (spreadsheet)
6. Click on the gear icon in the upper right hand corner.
7. Click on upload from the drop-down menu.
8. Browse to the the document you want to upload and select it.

That’s it. Your file will now be uploaded to iCloud and accessible via Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.

Find my iPhone

Find my iPhone — or Find my iPod or Find my iPad — keeps track of your iCloud enabled devices so you can track them down if they’re lost or stolen, and even remotely message, lock, and erase it to keep your data secure.

How to enable Find my iPhone

Before you can use Find my iPhone (or iPod or iPad), you need to turn it on.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on iCloud.
3. Toggle Find my iPhone to On.

How to use Find my iPhone via the web

If you iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad goes missing, you can track it via the web on your Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix, or any PC running a modern web browser.

1. Go to www.icloud.com.
2. Log into your iCloud account.
3. Click on Find my iPhone.
4. If you have multiple devices on your account, choose the one you want to track.
5. Click the Information icon on the map to see your options.
6. Choose your option — Play Sound or Send Message, Remote Lock, or Remote Wipe.

Devices that are trackable will a small green dot next to their name. Wi-Fi devices can only be tracked when they’re connected to a known Wi-Fi network.

If you think you just misplaced  your iPad or that someone borrowed it without asking, you’ll want to play a sound or send a message.

1. Click on Play Sound or Send Message.
2. Type your messages
3. Click on Send.
4. The alert will be sent to your device.

The sound will be played and the message will be displayed on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and will continue to play and be displayed until the device is unlocked and the alert dismissed.

If you think your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad was lost or stolen and is unlikely to be recovered, you’ll want to lock it and possibly wipe all data from it.

How to use Find my iPhone on your iOS device

If your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad has been misplaced, lost, or stolen you can also track it on a secondary device, or a friend’s or family member’s iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad via Apple’s free Find my iPhone app.

Free – Download now

Find my Friends

Find My Friends lets you easily locate your friends and family from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Whether you’re on a family trip to a theme park or just want to meet up with some acquaintances for a drink, Find my Friends can make sure everyone knows where everyone else is.

How to set up Find my Friends on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Like Find my iPhone, Find my Friends is a free from Apple and available on the App Store.

Download now

Once Find my Friends is installed, it’s easy to use.

1. Launch Find my Friends
2. Login with your Apple ID
3. Agree to Push Notifications and Location Sharing (Find my Friends is not much good without them).

How to add friends to Find my Friends

Before you can use Find my Friends on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you need to add some friends.

• Launch Find my Friends.
• Tap the + button to add friends.
• Enter the email addresses of friends you want to add and each will be sent a message

Once a friend accepts your invitation, you can always see where they are and vice versa

How to add temporary friends to Find my Friends

If you only want to share your location with a friends for a limited time, use the Temporary option

1. Launch Find my Friends
2. Tap on the Temporary tab at the bottom.
3. Choose how long you want to share your location for in hours, days, or weeks

How to get more help with iCloud

If you still need help with setup, backup, restore, iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, Photo Stream, Find my iPhone, Find my Friends, or any other iCloud feature, head on over to our iCloud Forum and ask away!

Ally Kazmucha, Chris Oldroyd, and Gary Mazo contributed major sections of this guide.

If you’re planning a trip to a national park or want to learn more about one, National Parks by National Geographic is a gorgeous guide for your iPhone that offers beautiful photography and loads of information, including photo tips, park secrets, must-see attractions, and things to do.

Included with National Parks is one free guide to the national park of your choice. Additional guides can be downloaded for $0.99 or $1.99 each. Park info, camping and lodging information, maps, weather, stats, and a few photos are included with each national park without purchasing its guide. Included with each guide is photo tips, park secrets, what to see, and what to do sections as well as many addition photos. These photos will also be added to the photos section of the app.

When viewing a national park’s page, you will find a photo gallery at the top that can be scrolled though. Tapping on the photo will strip away the distractions by opening it on a black background and also give more information about the photograph in a caption underneath it.

Back on the main screen national park screen, the photo gallery is overlaid with a weather icon and a stats icon. Tapping on these will pop up their respective information. The weather section shows the current conditions and a 5-day forecast. The stats section shows the number of visitors, the park size, and the local time.

The Photo Tips section of National Parks is very cool. The Yosemite guide includes 5 photos with the photographer of each photo giving information about the shot, including GPS coordinates, time of day, camera details (camera, ISO, focal length, shutter speed, aperture), and difficulty. Following this information is the photographer’s write-up about the overview of the setup and a list of bullet points for getting the shot. It’s extremely helpful and I suddenly have a huge urge to go to Yosemite to take photos.

The Parks Secrets section is simply a list of random fact about the national park. For example, one of the nine secrets for Yosemite is that the giant sequoia trees can live to be more than 3,000 years old.

The What To See section is a basically the same photos in the initial gallery presented as a list and location’s name. Tapping the photo will, again, open it up on a black background and include a button that lets you see it on a map.

In the What To Do section of National Parks, you’ll find a list of common hikes and places to visit in the park. Tapping one will provide a nice write-up of why it is something you should do.

The parks included in National Parks are Acadia, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Haleakala, Hawai’i Volcanoes, Joshua Tree, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Shenanadoah, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.

The Good

• Gorgeous UI
• Stunning photography
• Photo tips are awesome
• One free guide, each additional guide only $0.99 or $1.99
• Add attractions to your itinerary
• Works offline

The Bad

• Photo gallery and What To See sections are basically the exact same thing, just presented differently

The Conclusion

National Parks by National Geographic is a must-have app for anyone planning to visit any of the park included in the app. The guides will help you plan your trip and makes sure you don’t miss any of the must-see and must-do attractions.

Free – Download Now

For today only, the iMore iPad Accessory Store has the Incipio NGP Semi-Rigid Soft Shell Case for The new iPad on sale for only $19.95! That’s a pulse-pounding 33% off! Get yours before they’re gone!

• Shop Incipio NGP Semi-Rigid Soft Shell Case for The new iPad now!

The NGP Semi-Rigid Soft Shell Case safeguards your The new iPad with a semi-ridi polymer shell. Featuring custom-cut holes, you’ll have access to your The new iPad camera hole and other functions.

NGP stands for “Next Generation Polymer” – a semi-rigid dense polymer. The NGP material is malleable enough to slip around and snugly hold your The new iPad, but firm enough to withstand impacts and scrapes.

The touchscreen of your The new iPad is left exposed for complete access. The NGP wraps the front edges of this device giving it added protection and an extra lift. As sleek as it is function, NGP makes a great choice.

This case provides full coverage, and low-profile protection while leaving all necessary ports exposed for easy access to essential functions. There is no need to remove the case when charging or syncing to your computer.

Features:

• Next Generation Polymer case
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Recent data from the New York Police Department shows that the theft of iPhones and iPads has increased by 44% since last year. From the beginning of the year to April 15, 1,196 iOS devices have been stolen, while 831 were swiped during the same period in 2011. These stats are surfacing shortly after a 26 year-old chef named Hwangbum Yang was shot and killed in the Bronx for his iPhone. His wallet was left alone, however. The NYPD advises against flashing your iPhone or iPad while on the subway, which is common sense for the vast majority of us, but a good thing to remember for those long trips when you’re bored.

U.S. carriers have recently announced that they’re working on forming a shared database of IMEI serial numbers of stolen mobile phones, which should allow them to remotely lock devices that have been blacklisted. While determined thieves are likely to find a work-around, the process will at least act as a deterrent to less-informed criminals.

I would be curious to see if this rise in iPhone and iPad theft is consistent across the U.S., and how it differs internationally. At the very least, let this be a reminder to have Find my iPhone installed and running – it has been known to save the day before. Our own Rene Ritchie was the victim of a smash-and-grab last fall, but do you know anybody that has had their iOS device or other smartphone stolen?

Source: New York Daily News