When Apple finally announced the iOS 5 preview for next Monday’s WWDC 2011 keynote, they didn’t include Apple TV in the list of iOS devices. Now Apple has never really talked about Apple TV’s OS, not back when it was still OS X Tiger, not now that it’s iOS. They might just think, like iPhone and iPad CPU specs, it’s not something we consumers should worry about. Or it could just be that, because there’s no Apple TV SDK, developers don’t need any advanced information about iOS for Apple TV the way they do iOS for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It’s just not meant for us mere mortals.

What about iCloud? If that’s going to be streaming or downloading all the music, and maybe even the media, we’ve bought from iTunes, wouldn’t that make a huge impact on Apple TV? Sure, it could just end up being yet another item in the long list of Internet source, but it could also become a new and important part of the iTunes menu.

Do you think Apple TV will get iOS 5 and iCloud, and what features would you like to see them bring to Apple’s favorite hobby?

TiPb Asks: Will Apple TV get iOS 5 and iCloud? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The WSJ Blogs are throwing fuel on the fire on the rumors of a second iPad launch this year, but adding an LTE 4G twist.

"While most vendors appear fixated on matching the specs and features of iPad2, our checks suggest Apple will release iPad3 in time for the holiday season, sporting a better display and LTE capabilities."

Daring Fireball first of thought out loud about the possibility of an updated iPad 2 or full on iPad 3 coming this year, and TiPb has heard a very similar story. Will it come to pass? Who knows. Apple doesn’t pre-announce so they can make up their minds any time.

But it definitely sounds like the possibility is on the table. What do you think, could iPad go LTE before iPhone? And would Apple do it with anything less than the same 10 hour battery life?

[WSJ Blogs]

iPad 3 coming later this year, with LTE? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Back on March 1, I tried to imagine what we’d see in iOS 5. Unlike preview years, however, there was no iOS 5 event in the spring. Instead, Apple will now be previewing iOS 5 in June, at WWDC 2011. As in this monday. So I’m revisiting my list, updating it with the latest news and rumors, and wondering what Apple could do that’ll be big enough to make us forget the lack of a new iPhone introduction this time around.

So what will iOS 5 bring? We’ll give you our want list, after the break.

Apple ID activation (via iCloud account?)

Right now before you can use a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad you (or the store where you bought it) have to tether it to iTunes on Mac or Windows and “activate” it. How 2007. Android just needs a Gmail address. webOS just needs a Palm profile. Facebook phones (you know they’re coming!) will just need your @facebook.com address. Apple has millions and millions of iTunes IDs, Apple IDs, and MobileMe IDs. Let us use those — or better yet, unify those first and then let us use our unified Apple ID — an iCloud ID perhaps — to activate our iOS devices.

Moreover, just like when you login to MobileMe for the first time on a new Mac, let iOS immediately check the iCloud and download our preferences. Let us type in that ID and get our mail, calendar, and contacts accounts, Wi-Fi setups, and all our other Settings synced down to our device.

If we lose our iPhone or iPad, or simply update to a new one, we should be able to login with our Apple ID and immediately have our phone restored to a personalized, working state. Sure huge media, apps, games, etc. will still require iTunes tether to sync, but give us a basic on-device, online way to start.

(Seeing as how the facial recognition login is still likely a few years off…)

Contact and status aggregation (and Twitter integration?)

Once we have the one Apple ID to rule them all, we need a saner way of handling all the other IDs and accounts. Facetiously I’d say just copy webOS’ Syngery. Seriously, however, between email, IM, Twitter and Facebook status, contact information, and all the different online stores with often conflicting data it’s annoying and unworkable to keep them all sandboxed and separate. We’ve been asking for this on iOS for years now as well.

If we know a contacts online account, let us enter it. Then pull in their profile information and status, silo it so it stays internally separate, but present it back to us in a unified view.

Facebook is presenting email, IM, SMS, etc. in a unified Facebook message system now and while it’s still a little kludgy it shows how the boundary between different communication forms are breaking down. Apple is great at “hiding the pipes” (the backend data sources that bring information into their apps) and showing the user only a single clean, consistent UI. They’re doing that now with unified inbox in Mail — regardless of which account an individual message is in, we see them all in the unified inbox. It would be great to see Apple expand this not just across email accounts but across protocols.

If I bring up Leanna, let me see her latest emails, Twitter and Facebook status, IM’s, SMS, etc. all as “messages” (hey, let 3rd parties hook in so I can see Foursquare, Instagram, etc. if she offers them and I approve them on my device.) Then thread them and let me reply back to them automagically using the proper protocol.

We’ve heard rumors now that Twitter will be deeply integrated into iOS 5. An additional way to share photos, perhaps. A communication protocol to peer email and SMS, potentially. iOS’ answer to BlackBerrys BBM, even. That’s all fine for Twitter but Twitter isn’t the sum total of internet chat. We need more.

App state sync (via iCloud?)

Taking it one step further, right now if we use an app on iPhone and then go and use the same app on iPad — even if it’s a universal binary — there’s no persistency of state. Unless the developer is syncing on their own or with a popular web service like DropBox, there’s no way to get to your latest data from different devices. Apple could provide a consistent method for doing this.

We’ve asked for it before when it comes to games — let Game Center sync our game progress between devices. If we get to a certain level in Infinity Blade on iPhone we want to pick up iPad and keep going from that level. But really, a general app state sync API would be even better. When iOS saves the information locally, push it up to the cloud and the next time the app is launched on any device, check the cloud for the latest state.

Given Apple has now announced they’ll be showing off iCloud services, but haven’t uttered a peep about what those services will include, it could be a logical fit for state syncing too. (Like the Data Center, until we know what it’s for, it’s for everything, right?)

Untethered firmware updates (via Airport/Time Capsule?)

Wireless sync and software updates are the dream. Zune tried the former and Android and webOS already do the latter. The size of iOS updates — the entire firmware re-installed each time — require such a solid internet and power connection that tethering to iTunes is often the right choice.

But rumor has it Apple might be using their Airport Extreme + hard drive combo, Time Capsule, to stage firmware updates. Since they’re plugged in and on ethernet, much like the Apple TV, they could presumably load up and make firmware updates available on-device, like Apple TV already does.

Even more interesting would be a trickle update, where tiny binary files containing the just the updated bits would constantly become available when online. A bad trickle update could kill your device, so there’s a lot to be concerned about still, but that certainly seems like a better future, and one Google’s Chrome experiments with today.

App store upgrades

Originally I wanted App Store trials, subscriptions, and upgrades. To be able to download an app or game, try it for a short period of time, then decide to buy it and if the developer offers a really compelling upgrade, pay for it without having to buy a whole new “2″ app would be fantastic for users and developers alike. Over time, with freemium and $0.99 apps with in-app purchases the need to demo has lessened for me. And Apple has already announced subscriptions — to much controversy — but upgrades are still needed.

iTunes knows what apps we've bought. We know it knows because when we try to buy a paid app we've already bought, iTunes tells use we've already bought it and that we can download it again for free. Why can't the same system be used to determine, for example, that we've already bought Tweetie 1 and hence we can download Tweetie 2 at an upgrade price. Apple could allow developers to set that upgrade price in iTunes Connect, an extension of how they can set universal sale prices today. We've seen some strange screens pop up that seem to indicate Apple is at least experimenting with the idea, but why not pull the trigger? Again, it's more overhead for Apple but the customer experience boost would be enormous.

Note: With Lodsys now filing suit against developers for using in-app purchase as way to upgrade from free/lite to full apps, the need for real, App Store handled demos is back.

Media streaming/re-downloads

Apple has been all over the news with iCloud and it’s music element — all labels on board, movie studies in negotiation… but for what? Will we simply be able to stream and re-download everything we’ve bought on iTunes, like we can re-download apps today? Or will it be a locker like Google and Amazon offer, and amnesty for everything who’s ever “shared” a file?

I’m guessing the former, at least at first.

File handling

Similarly, it’s still vexing to try and get your documents onto iOS, to make sure you have the latest version, to be able to edit it and seamlessly save it back to the device and cloud. For years we’ve asked for a Mobile Finder app, or more recently a Files app, that would work like a system-wide repository for documents the way Photos works for videos and images.

Most users don’t need file system access the same way they don’t need everything running in the background all the time. What they need is the functionality file access provides in a way that’s robust and usable on mobile devices.

In that way a Files.app would give us access all our documents the same way we go to the Photos app or call up the picture picker in a 3rd party app today. (Yes, pretty much what Apple does in the online-only iDisk app.)

Good on-device handling is only one piece of the puzzle, however. We need to be able to round-trip the documents from our Windows or Mac PC and our Google or iCloud. Right now we can do some of that, sort of, in a painful and convoluted way. Apple is addressing some of this in the new Mac OS X Lion preview with AirDrop — a way to move files between Macs as easily as iOS moves video and print jobs with AirPlay and AirPrint. There are also hints of improved WebDAV-based sharing in OS X Lion Server. But that all still sounds disjointed and overly complex.

Something that combines the Files.app idea with AirDrop, supported on iOS, Mac, and PC, and able to sync with a far more robust, speedy, and reliable iDisk or WebDAV would be grand. While I don’t expect Apple to include support for DropBox, Box.net, Google Docs, etc. letting the user configure them in a WebDAV-like manner would be outstanding.

Open Files.app. Add a sync source if you want one and have one. Let any app, including iWork, Docs to Go, QuickOffice, etc. open, edit, and save back the files. And keep them in sync. (Oh, and add similar cloud sync options to Photos.)

And again, this is the place for a nebulous, “let iCloud handle it” comment. Going from Keynote on Mac to iPad to iPhone could be transparent under a system like that.

System-wide Voice Control

Apple introduced basic VoiceControl a couple years ago in iOS 3 for iPhone 3GS letting us place calls or play music. Google trounced this with system-wide voice commands in Android starting with the Nexus One last year. Apple needs to take the lead back here. There are lots of rumors that Apple will use their SIRI acquisition to bridge the gap but SIRI isn’t voice control any more than it’s a search engine. It uses voice recognition to tie into popular, existing search engines to provide basic, intelligent services for users. Steve Jobs has called it Artificial Intelligence. SIRI could be a robust extension of voice control and a way to “synergize” multiple sources of online data, but Apple needs to deliver the underpinnings and that’s new, home-grown tech.

With rumors of a massive Nuance partnership at work, it looks like the people who bring us Dragon Dictate could be making this a reality. Finally.

Elegant notifications

Apple’s current badge, sound, and popup notification system — virtually unchanged since 2007 — is so unwieldy that it’s difficult to imagine Apple built it knowing 3rd party apps and push notifications were in the pipeline. Android is less obtrusive but can become messy quickly, webOS far more elegant, and while Jailbreak has offered several interesting alternatives for iOS, none of them seem like an Apple solution.

And we need an Apple solution. The status quo is untenable. If you’re on the phone or playing a game and one — or so help you many — popups appear you have to view them immediately or dismiss them forever and you can’t even hang up your call or do any basic screen command while that model dialog remains on screen. It’s like being a prisoner. And if you dismiss it out of annoyance you may not even remember what it was for later, and you have no workable way of finding out.

More than just a better system for staking and packing notifications, we need a better way to interact with them. Like Ally said, BiteSMS for Jailbreak runs rings around the current iOS Messages app. That might not be the model Apple implements, but it should be the spirit.

It’s the last truly gaping, galling deficiency in iOS. It’s the last huge item other mobile OS use to poke fun. It just has to be fixed. Fortunately Apple hired the man who designed the webOS notification system so that’s reassuring.

It took 3 years for copy/paste, 4 years for multitasking — 5 should be notifications.

We’ve heard Apple is working on it. Apple hired Rich Dellinger, the guy who architected notifications for webOS almost a year ago. My guess is we’ll get it, but we’ll get it on Apple’s terms — meaning just like how multitasking wasn’t the traditional method but addressed a lot of user facing issues, iOS 5 notifications won’t be like Android or webOS or Jailbreak, but will address a set of common needs.

Theme Store

Georgia said this well; Apple doesn’t need to do themes the way Cydia or BlackBerry does. At least not at first. They could provide their own set of 4-6 themes to start the same way they offer templates in Keynote or Pages. They could sell them in a Theme Store and once the process was hardened, slowly open it up to 3rd parties.

There’s a lot of money to be made in themes. Apple likes money. Users like themes. It’s simple math, even if implementing it is complex.

I don’t think we’ll see it in iOS 5 but hey, we’ll need something to look forward to for iOS 6…

Apps

iWork for iPhone… got dropped in a PR this week. iMovie for iPad and GarageBand came with iPad 2, as did PhotoBooth. There aren’t a lot of signature Apple apps missing from iOS anymore, with the notable exception of a real iPhoto or Aperture for image editing.

Apple will be sticking with Google for Map Data but we could see a new Maps app, using Google new vector tiles and Placebase and Poly9 or other differentiating technology would be great. Even at the amazing pace Apple has updated and released a lot of the iOS apps there’s still so much that could be done with the built-in and App Store apps that we could easily fill another post. (And likely will!) but this is another area to watch come iOS 5.

A new weather app — one with landscape mode for more details — would be good as well. Anything left untouched since iOS 1 really needs some attention…!

NFC, maybe in a discreet mobile payments app, could appear but that feels more like a fall and iPhone 5 announcement.

Conclusion

While Apple is secretive they’re also cyclical and subject to the laws of physics and economics, which means they’re somewhat predictable. This year’s iOS will fill some gaps, shave off some rough edges, surprise and delight us with a few killer features, and disappoint us with a couple inexplicable misses.

If Apple shows off iOS 5 tomorrow our guess is 2011 will be the year of notifications, cloud, and a lot more. What are your guesses? More gestures? Web-to-iOS push? What?

Imagining iOS 5 [Updated] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Chirpy, the Twitter client for Direct Messages, has been updated to 2.0 and brings with it many new features and enhancements.

• All new chat view with beautiful bubble graphics
• Chat bubble colors are fully customizable
• Profile pictures are displayed in the chat view
• Profile pictures are displayed in the inbox view
• Use Dropbox to share photos privately
• Delete messages
• Email messages
• Search your inbox for messages
• Copy-and-paste messages
• Tap on links, addresses, phone numbers, and dates in conversations to take appropriate action
• Mark all messages as read with a single tap

Chirpy is an excellent app for those who like to use Twitter as an SMS replacement. Everything about it, including push notifications, are super snappy and the UI is clean and clutter free.

The good folks at High Order Bit have given us a few promo codes to give away to our awesome readers! Just leave a comment letting us know why Chirpy would make an excellent addition to your Twitter app collection for a chance to win!

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Chirpy Twitter DM app updated to 2.0 [give-away] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Gowalla: Now with an enhanced activity feed, a streamlined UI for adding photos, an option to automatically connect with Facebook friends, and more! [Free - iTunes link]

• Photogene for iPad: Now with localized effects (like masking), a collage maker, compare mode, Picasa support, and more! [$2.99 - iTunes link]

• Waterlogged: Now you can share your progress on Twitter, premium users can backup their data, and add negative amounts for activities that mean you should drink more water. [Free, with in-app purchases iTunes link]

• Week Calendar: See all your appointments for the week in one neatly organized overview. Update to 3.1 brings many new UI improvements and features. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• Bump: Sharing with people is as simple as bumping two phones together. Now with faster photo uploads, and alerts if the transfer is unsuccessful. [Free - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Friday, June 3 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The phrase "One more thing" is such a well known term delivered at the end of Apple keynotes by CEO Steve Jobs. It's usually just before announcing an amazing new product right at the very end. In honor of this, Cory Smith of Cardinal Media Technologies has put together a rap song entitled……One more thing (WWDC 2011 Song). Some of the lyrics are below:-

Phil Schiller told us we wouldn't want to miss this would have been gold if there'd been more specifics so I look to Gruber discern his predictions to see if the rumors will turn into fiction damn this consumer addiction to all these gadgets and the magic within them all the designs by Jonny Ive so I guess I better check who's blogging live can't wait to download the developer preview

You can listen to the full song right after the break. It's good fun and all adds nicely to the build up to WWDC 2011.

[Smixx via Cult of Mac]

One More Thing (WWDC 2011 Song) by Smixx

The unofficial One more thing – WWDC 2011 Song [Friday fun] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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We kid you not — a man described by security as wearing a white ninja suit crashed his car through the Greensboro Apple Store before fleeing on foot.

Greensboro police received a call around 4:43 a.m. after a dark gray or blue Honda crashed into the store. According to police, the man crashed into the store in a robbery attempt.

The store will remain closed today, of course, while they see to damages. (And perhaps look into hiring some samurai to increase security?)

[MyFox8. Thanks @spencefos]

Ninja crashes car into Greensboro Apple Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Rene, Georgia, and Seth talk WWDC 2011, the iCloud announcement, deep Twitter integration, that Data Center, NFC, Lodsys filing suit, iWork for iPhone, and shaking to shuffle. This is iPhone Live!

• Show notes

Hosts

Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie)

Seth Clifford (@sethclifford)

Georgia (@GeorgiaTiPb)

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

iPhone Live 154: Deep Twitter integration is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Carrier time not quite right, or simply not right for you, and curious how to manually re-set your iPhone clock? If you are trying to keep yourself on time, and think setting it ahead a few minutes would help, or if you live and work in towns with different time zones (it happens!) you may want to take your time into your own hands. Hit the jump and we’ll show you how!

1. Launch Settings from your device.
2. Select General.

3. Select Date & Time.
4. Make sure you have “set automatically” switched to off.

5. Set your time zone.

6. Set your own time.

Have any other time related tips to share? Let us know in comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to manually set (or reset) your iPhone clock is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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CNET reports that Universal Music Group has finalized a deal for Apple to offer streaming music through their new iCloud service. Apple will announce iCloud at WWDC next week, which will reportedly cost just $25 per year after an initial free trial period.

the service initially will be offered for a free period to people who buy music from Apple’s iTunes digital download store, allowing users to upload their music to Apple’s computers where they can then play from a Web browser or Internet-connected Apple device.

The company plans to eventually charge a subscription fee, about $25 a year, for the service. Apple would also sell advertising around its iCloud service.

Music publishers are set to complete deals with Apple by tomorrow, which is the final negotiations needed before the service goes live. According to The LA Times, Apple will be sharing 70% of subscription costs with the record labels, with 12% going to music publishers. Apple will walk away with the remaining 18% to pay for supporting and maintaining the service.

An additional note is that Apple may use iCloud to eventually stream movies, TV shows and more further down the road.

though the service is initially focused on allowing consumers to store their music on Apple’s servers, the Cupertino, Calif., technology company ultimately envisions the service to be used for movies, TV shows and other digital content sold through iTunes, said a person knowledgeable of the company’s plans.

So who’s ready for some iCloud action? And do you think $25/year is a solid price-point to get users on board? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

[CNET, LA Times]

Apple signs deal with Universal, iCloud to cost $25/year after free trial? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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