Apple is set to launch its breakthrough set of free cloud services tomorrow called iCloud together with iOS 5, as announced during the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event in Cupertino on October 4, where the tech giant also revealed the new iPhone 4S. The much-awaited iCloud includes iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, that allows you to automatically and wirelessly sync your content to iCloud and pushed to different devices including your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC. iCloud will be available globally at launch.

iTunes in the Cloud automatically downloads new song purchases into your devices without having to manually sync. It also lets you download previous purchases including music and TV shows with no additional cost. iTunes Match scans and matches songs in your music library to more than 20 million songs available on the iTunes Store, offering high-quality, DRM-free 256 kbps AAC encoded alternatives. Unmatched songs are uploaded to iCloud so you can play songs, albums or playlists from your music library on your devices. Very cool.

Photo Stream lets you take a photo on one device and have it automatically appear on your other devices. Documents in the Cloud keeps your documents up to date across all your devices. It works very much like Dropbox. Apple’s iWork productivity apps for iOS, Pages, Numbers and Keynote will take advantage of iCloud storage. iCloud also lets you see your App Store and iBookstore purchase history and download those apps and books to any of your devices at any time. Purchased apps and books can be automatically downloaded to your devices, not limited to just the device they were purchased on.

iCloud Backup is a much-anticipated service, especially for me. It automatically and securely backs up your most important information to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi. iCloud Backup backs up your photos and video in the Camera Roll, device settings, app data, home screen and app organization, messages and ringtones. Comes in especially handy when you need to set up a new iOS device or restore information on one you already own.

Most importantly, iCloud works seamlessly with the center of your universe – your Contacts, Calendar and Mail. Your me.com email are up to date across your iOS devices and computers, and with icloud.com you have easy web access to your Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Find My iPhone and iWork documents.

The Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps are handy location-based additions and are available as a free download from the App Store.

Pricing & Availability
iCloud requires iPhone, iPad or iPod touch users running iOS 5 or a Mac running OS X Lion with a valid Apple ID. iCloud includes 5GB of free cloud storage for Mail, Document Storage and Backup. Purchased music, TV shows, apps, books and Photo Stream do not count against the storage limit. iTunes Match will be available starting in the US later this month for $24.99 a year.

For more information about iCloud, visit http://apple.com/icloud

How well do you know your Facebook friends?

Have you ever bumped into someone and in that moment, wished you weren’t there because you just couldn’t remember their name? Pretty embarrassing. But of course, human instincts would kick into self-preservation mode, and you end up greeting them with a “Yo bro, how are you man?” or “Hey babe, long time no see, how you been?” And just as you’re saying your goodbyes, you exchange numbers. Now what? What do you key in at the ‘name’ slot? The ultimate escapism would be to pass that person your phone to get them to key in their details. Smart, so smart.

Well, there is hope yet.

There’s a way to train your brain matter and save you those embarrassing, blank moments. This is in a form of a game, and an addictive one at that called WHOlah. Developed by the brilliant duo at Apptivity Lab in collaboration with the lucid minds at Tandemic for Carrefour Malaysia, WHOlah plugs into your Facebook account in which your friends’ profile pictures are streamed into the game. The objective of the game is to recognise correctly as many friend profiles as you can in 60 seconds. Points are scored, including a special points multiplier, depending on how many friends you get correct in succession.

To be honest, it isn’t as easy as it looks. Check your Facebook friends profiles. You’ll see cartoon characters, pictures of food, obnoxious imagery, scenery, blobs of colour. How would one recognise everyone? You practise, practise, practise. Good luck to those who have 2,000 friends (like me, gulp). Since the launch of the app, I have been playing, trying (hard), skipped meals, deprived myself of sleep to score better, higher. My best to date? 70,000.

Oh, did I tell you? With each level of points, starting from 20,000 pts, you win items, FREE, redeemable from Carrefour outlets. From Pringles to Ferrero Roche chocolates, there’s no limit on what you can win as long as you can make the points! You also earn Badges ala Foursquare. Sweet.

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Initially planned in conjunction with Hari Raya & Merdeka celebrations (there are badges for that too!), WHOlah has been extended till October 3, 2011 due to popular demand. So download the app now for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, fire it up, play and win!

Psst, the winner of the WHOlah challenge during the first ever WHOlah twtup was 600,000. Beat that. Good luck!

Google‘s Google+ iOS app latest update finally gives iPad and iPod Touch users something to smile about. Launched three weeks ago, the Google+ app only supported iPhones. The version 1.0.2.1966 update also adds support for the iPad, although it isn’t a full-fledged tablet optimized version.

I must commend Google for hustling support for iOS devices, delivering the iOS app just weeks after Google+ was launched to a selected audience.

The update also brings additional settings to Huddle group chat and aggregated notification for Circles.

What’s missing is Hangouts group video chat but that should come soon enough. I’m eagerly waiting for an iPad-optimised version of Google+ although the HTML5 web app currently is fully functional and very usable.

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I’m currently using Google+ mobile on my Samsung Galaxy S II and I must say it looks and feels great to use. On my iPad 2, it’s fully functional and usable too.

Are you on Google+ already? What do you think about Google+ and its mobile versions?

Barely 12 hours after Apple posted an important patch to fix PDF-based security vulnerabilities, which was exploited by Comex in JailBreakMe 3.0, the boys at RedmondPie have successfully jailbroken iOS 4.3.4 with its PwnageTool Bundle. iOS 4.3.4 was released for the GSM iPhone 4 and 3GS, the iPad and iPad 2, and the 3rd / 4th generations of the iPod touch; also an exclusive v4.2.9 for the CDMA iPhone 4. The PDF-based vulnerability is caused by a buffer overflow in the handling of TrueType and Type 1 font.

The PwnageTool Bundle jailbreak is a semi-tethered one, which allows you to jailbreak any device (except for iPad 2)running iOS 4.3.4, and at the same time preserve your baseband for an Ultrasn0w unlock later on.

Some things you’ll need:

1. PwnageTool 4.3.3
2. iOS 4.3.4 firmware
3. iTunes 10.3.1
4. Mac OS X
5. PwnageTool bundles for iOS 4.3.4
6. tetheredboot utility

Important notes:

1. There is no unlock for iOS 4.3.4’s baseband, hence do not hit the update button in iTunes if you rely on a carrier unlock.
2. Your baseband will be preserved during the whole process.
3. This jailbreak is semi-tethered.
4. Hacktivation is fully supported

Apple has announced that its App Store has hit 15 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008. Offering over 425,000 apps for iOS devices, it also includes 100,000 specifically developed for the iPad. Apple has netted over $1 billion in revenue through the App Store, translating over $2.5 billion in revenue for developers.

Apple took just two and a half years to get from zero apps to an astounding 10 billion. And it took only six months to get from 10 billion to the current 15 billion. And counting.

iPods. iPhone HD. More?

Posted via email from vernieman’s posterous

New iPods? Yes. Stay tuned for more at the Apple Music Event. Catch instant updates on Gizmodo’s Apple Liveblog – http://gizmodo.com/5355097 #apple #ipod #event

Posted via email from vernieman’s posterous

Well, here’s one for starters. First post of 2008. I’ve got an Apple iPod Touch 8GB for sale. Brand new. Unopened. Full Apple warranty. Only RM1188. Interested? Drop me a line at vernon.chan[a]gmail.com