Know iPhone | iPhone tips and advice

iOS 5: The new features

iOS 5 arrives today for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. This is potentially the biggest ever iOS update, it's free and Apple claims to have made 200 new features available - so what are the new features that make it worth updating your iPhone?

Notification Centre - This consolidates emails, text messages, reminders, calendar entries into one page. It's also viewable when the iPhone is locked.

iMessage - Like Blackberry Messaging for iOS users - you can send messages to any other iOS user for free.

Newsstand - A central store for all newspaper and magazine subscriptions.

Reminders - At last a proper To Do list app for iOS. It syncs with Calendar, Outlook and iCloud.

Twitter - There is now central support for Twitter - you just sign in via the Settings app and you can tweet from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps.

Camera - The Camera app has been improved and can now be accessed from the lock screen, and you can now take a picture by press the volume up button.

Photos - You can now crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye without leaving the Photos app. It is also possible to create albums within the app.

Safari - You now get tabbed browsing on Safari for the iPad, as well as the Reader functionality which displays web articles without ads or clutter so you can read without distractions.

PC Free - You don't need a computer to own an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 5. iOS software updates can be downloaded directly on your device. You can edit your photos or add new email folders on your iPhone, without the need for a Mac or PC. You can also back up and restore your device automatically using iCloud.

iOS 4.3 is released: What are the new features?

Apple has released the iOS 4.3 update for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. 

It brings some great new features, including:

AirPlay enhancements - you can now stream video direct from your Photos app. This means you can shoot video on your iPad or iPhone and then share it on your TV via Apple TV.

Faster Safari web browsing - Self explanatory don't you think?

iTunes Home Sharing - As long as you have iTunes 10.2, you can now share your iTunes library anywhere in the home. According to Apple: "Now you can play your entire iTunes library from anywhere in the house. If it’s on your Mac or PC, you can play it on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch over a shared Wi-Fi network.3 And not just music. Watch a movie or TV show. Play a podcast. Or listen to an audiobook. On whichever device you want — without having to download or sync."

Customize iPad side switch  - You can now customize the side switch to either lock the screen rotation or mute the volume. Just go to the Settings app to do this.

Personal Hotspot - If you have an iPhone 4 then you can enable it as a hotspot to share your cellular data connection with your iPad. This is great if you have a Wi-Fi only iPad and you're not in range of a convenient Wi-Fi access point.

Apple launches iPhone 4

 

Apple has today announced iPhone 4. Main features include video calling, hi-res screen, 5MP camera and flash, HD video recording and editing, and multitasking.

It will be available on 24 June in five countries - US, France, Germany, UK and Japan. Others will follow in July.

Lifehacker has a great summary here.

For a more in depth review, check out Gizmodo.

iOS 4 is coming

The new iPhone OS 4 for iPad and iPhone will deliver 100 new features for iPad and iPhone users.

Apple previewed the new operating system today and revealed the most important development will be multitasking - the ability to run more than one app at a time. The look and feel of the OS will change as a result with a new pop up dock managing multiple apps. Apple also revealed the Mail app will finally get a unified inbox for multiple email accounts.

Key new features:

Multitasking with app switching - support for Skype, Pandora whilst other apps running. New pop up dock.

Folders - you can now create folders of app to better organise your apps on the home screen. This means you can now see up to 2000 apps on your device, up from the current 180.

Enhance Mail app  - multiple accounts now have a unified inbox, with a new app for viewing attachments

iBooks - will be available for iPhone and iPod touch in addition to the iPad

New Game Center - social feature for gaming apps, with leader boards, challenges and achievements

iAd - New interactive mobile ads within apps, featuring in app purchases and other features such as games within ads.

The new software will be available in the Fall/Autumn for the iPad, and in the Summer for iPhone/iPod Touch.

The new features will work on the iPad, iPhone 3GS and third generation iPod Touch. The iPhone 3G and second generation iPod Touch can install iPhone OS 4 but multitasking will not work. The original iPhone and iPod Touch are left out altogether.

News round up: Pink Floyd and iPhone OS 4

Pink Floyd have become the first band to win a legal fight to prevent individual songs from their albums being sold online in outlets such as Apple's iTunes. Only complete albums can be sold following the ruling against record company EMI.

Rumours have also surfaced again that the next version of the iPhone OS, iPhone OS 4 will have multitasking - i.e. the ability to run more than one application at a time.