Today Apple publicly released iOS 5.0.1, and along with this update comes multitasking gestures to the original iPad. iOS 5.0.1 will also address battery life issues that have plagued some users. It also addresses the iPad 2 SmartCover passcode bug as well.

iOS 5.0.1 is a ‘delta update’, meaning only what has changed will be required to download instead of the entire iOS. The ... Read More]]>

Today Apple publicly released iOS 5.0.1, and along with this update comes multitasking gestures to the original iPad. iOS 5.0.1 will also address battery life issues that have plagued some users. It also addresses the iPad 2 SmartCover passcode bug as well.

iOS 5.0.1 is a ‘delta update’, meaning only what has changed will be required to download instead of the entire iOS. The update can be installed over the air as well. How to do so?

On your iPad, navigate to: Settings > General > Software Update and tap on Download. You will be required to connect to WiFi and a power source.

Direct iPad firmware download links are below:

• Download iOS 5.0.1 for iPad 1
• Download iOS 5.0.1 for iPad 2 Wi-Fi
• Download iOS 5.0.1 for iPad 2 GSM
• Download iOS 5.0.1 for iPad 2 CDMA

Let us know how this update goes for you.

This morning at 10AM PDT/1PM EDT, Apple finally released its much anticipated iOS 5 update. iPad users looking to update can plug into iTunes and update.

Right now Apple’s servers are being hammered with traffic, so many people are running into ‘error 3200′ messages. My advice is to try once or twice and if that doesn’t work, hold off. You might end up with a device stuck in a ... Read More]]>

This morning at 10AM PDT/1PM EDT, Apple finally released its much anticipated iOS 5 update. iPad users looking to update can plug into iTunes and update.

Right now Apple’s servers are being hammered with traffic, so many people are running into ‘error 3200′ messages. My advice is to try once or twice and if that doesn’t work, hold off. You might end up with a device stuck in a restore date because of this.

Let us know how you enjoy iOS 5! iMessage, WiFi Sync, AirPlay Mirroring, and more. Exciting times.

In spite of last week’s lackluster iPhone 4S announcement, there were a few glimmers of hope for us to cling on to until the iPad 3 announcement (TBD) – the most significant of which was the release date of iOS 5, iCloud and Cards.

All slated to release on Wednesday October 12th (that’s tomorrow for you), the new launches hail some significant leaps forward for iOS and the iPad. Here’s ... Read More]]>

In spite of last week’s lackluster iPhone 4S announcement, there were a few glimmers of hope for us to cling on to until the iPad 3 announcement (TBD) – the most significant of which was the release date of iOS 5, iCloud and Cards.

All slated to release on Wednesday October 12th (that’s tomorrow for you), the new launches hail some significant leaps forward for iOS and the iPad. Here’s a quick primer.

iOS 5 is Huge

iOS 5 poses a significant leap forward for the mobile operating system – it introduces a new notification system (a vast improvement over the old one) as well as improvements on stability, deep twitter integration, iMessage and greater freedom from your desktop with wireless syncing and over the air system updates. It also allows you to edit photos natively in the Photos app. While it doesn’t offer the full suite of features that something like Photoshop Express offers, it’s pretty robust and should be sufficient for most users.

It’s certainly a step in the right direction to bring it on par with and slightly leapfrogs Android in a few ways. I definitely recommend updating your iPad to the latest and greatest in this case, there really hasn’t been any disappointments on my end so far.

Here’s a pro-tip before the update though. Back up your device. (Like tonight!) Yes, the update will wipe your system clean, so back up your iPad before taking the plunge. Also, make sure you have a few hours to spare for your system to push all your movies, music and apps back on.

Another tip about iMessage when I tested it with a friend over the summer – remember to register your devices using your phone number (on your iPhone) and Apple ID. The system is pretty smart about picking up iMessage users from other users, so make sure to register if you want to make full use of iMessage.

iCloud is Soft, Fluffy and I like it

iOS 5 also hails the new iCloud storage and backup systems. It allows you to throw your important files onto Apple’s servers and allow them to sync across your devices. In all honesty, I was initially somewhat blasé about it, but the system has definitely warmed up to me over time. I didn’t realize how handy it was to have my photos synced to my iPad seamlessly from my iPhone, especially when I need to quickly touch them up to present. (My fingers aren’t really dexterous enough to edit on the phone.)

The iCloud service is free and initially starts you off with 5GB of data, but here are a few pro-tips on the iCloud you may want to know before you jump right in.

The backup function is quite nice, but has a few drawbacks. Firstly, it fully eliminates your device from backing up on your desktop system, which is a bit scary since you’ll be fully relying on Apple’s cloud to keep your data safe.

Secondly, while the free 5GB Apple offers is quite a bit of data, the initial iCloud backup actually comes in at 5.5GB (for me at least), and if you have multiple devices you want to back up, then the data use increases significantly. Apple offers various per anum plans to increase your capacity, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you think it’s worthwhile.

Here’s a third note – the backup system does work automatically, with a few caveats. The device must be plugged in to a power source, it must be on wifi and the screen must be off. It takes a fair amount of time for the initial backup (about half a day on my iPad, longer on my iPhone) so it might not be a bad idea to leave your iPad at home for a day while it sends things up to the cloud.

Cards and your Camera Connector Kit

A lot of tech pundits decried last week’s iPhone 4S announcement last week as dull and boring, stating that the most interesting announcement was, in fact, the Cards app. And you know what? They’re right about that.

Cards is touted to allow you to take photos stored on the iPhone, and iPod Touch (and presumably the iPad) and create cards that will be mailed directly from Apple to whomever you want worldwide.

Whether Cards will be available in Canada tomorrow is unimportant to me. It’s just a really interesting service for me, and sounds like a big win when you couple it with the Camera Connector Kit. Imagine sending your favorite photo taken with your DSLR and have it sent to your family and friends before you even come home; creating personalized vacation postcards that are truly one of a kind without having to spend hours at home when the moment’s already past. I really like the sound of that.

Don’t forget, iOS 5, iCloud and Cards are all available publicly tomorrow., and it’s definitely worth checking out.

The countdown to iOS 5 continues, and I’m sure you’ve been looking forward to this one (hopefully). WiFi syncing has been one of the most highly anticipated features coming to iOS 5 and it’s little surprise. Of all the modern mobile operating systems, iOS is really the last one that requires the device to be tethered from setup to day-to-day use in order to make use of all its ... Read More]]>

The countdown to iOS 5 continues, and I’m sure you’ve been looking forward to this one (hopefully). WiFi syncing has been one of the most highly anticipated features coming to iOS 5 and it’s little surprise. Of all the modern mobile operating systems, iOS is really the last one that requires the device to be tethered from setup to day-to-day use in order to make use of all its features (even webOS can live a tether-free life!). With OTA updates and wireless syncing, iOS finally cuts the cord. But how does it stand up to wireless syncing solutions on other platforms? How does it stand up to the iOS jailbreak predecessor?

In short? Very poorly. But before I go into my rant, let me describe how it works. Once the iPad’s been updated to iOS 5, iTunes will have a number of new options available when you plug it into your Mac or PC, one of which is to allow wireless syncing. Whenever the device is seen in the same WiFi network as your desktop, the device will appear in the same place it usually appears in iTunes as if it were plugged in. Clicking on the Sync button (as you normally would in tethered mode) will begin the wireless sync. Even if you tether the device to the desktop, the sync will still be done over WiFi (as far as I can tell). Don’t want to sync while you’re at the computer? Go into System Settings –> General –> iTunes WiFi Sync and you’ll see a sync button there too.

Now, the best part of the new sync feature (and this is the same for lame-old wired syncing) is that the system isn’t locked during sync. The entire system is available for use during sync, which is a huge leap forward for the device. Unfortunately, this is about all the praise I can give for the feature at this time.

What’s wrong with wireless syncing? Well, simply put, everything. Even from Beta 1, the wireless sync feature was unstable, often times dropping the connection to the device and skipping transfers of podcast updates, music or other large files to the device. Successive attempts at syncing didn’t change the situation.

Mind you, iOS 5 is still in beta (though over a 2 month old beta), and that simply means not all the features are fully baked. Still, I make a habit of testing wireless syncing (both from a blank device as well as after a full sync) with each beta to see if the feature has improved. I’m still shocked and dismayed that successive iterations of the beta haven’t improved this feature. Maybe the next one will be better. Maybe.

Here’s a quick pro-tip though. Regardless of how adventurous you may feel, don’t try to sync the device from scratch. Wireless syncing will always take longer than wired syncing, and pushing gigs and gigs of data to a device can take a toll on both the processor and the battery. Best to sync by wire first, then feel free to sync wirelessly afterwards.

Another week, another iOS 5 feature! This time round, I decided to give the Split Keyboard a try.

Now, unlike other iOS features in the past few weeks, this one is very much iPad-centric and is meant to improve the iOS typing experience, especially those of us who live and breathe the thumb-typing lifestyle. Accessing it is easy. Whenever the keyboard appears on the screen, long-hold the keyboard button ... Read More]]>

Another week, another iOS 5 feature! This time round, I decided to give the Split Keyboard a try.

Now, unlike other iOS features in the past few weeks, this one is very much iPad-centric and is meant to improve the iOS typing experience, especially those of us who live and breathe the thumb-typing lifestyle. Accessing it is easy. Whenever the keyboard appears on the screen, long-hold the keyboard button in the bottom-right corner of the keyboard and the two keyboard options appear. Undock will release the keyboard from the bottom of the screen and you can move it around the screen. Split, however, will split the keyboard in half and allow you to start thumb-typing away, working in both portrait or landscape modes.

What’s nice about the split-board is that it greatly increases the viewable screen area, and theoretically allows for a more ergonomic way to interact with your iPad. If you’re an advocate of thumb-typing, You should give it a try. You may like it.

The split-board isn’t all fun and games though. There is a bit of a (but not a steep) learning curve to master it. More often than not, I miss the space bar and accidentally hit the N or B, causing a lot of typos along the way. (Luckily, the latest iOS beta update also greatly improved the autocorrect algorithm.) Another slight pet peeve is that the way the keyboard is split actually forces me to wire my brain to type differently (for example, I often use my left hand to type the letter B on my iPhone, but i have to use my right thumb now.)

I also find that the experience between portrait and landscape modes greatly differ. I find portrait mode puts a lot more weight of the iPad on my palms, making me swap to to landscape mode. On the other hand, the landscape mode forces me to move my head left and right quite a bit while I follow my thumbs between the two sides of the board, putting an unexpected amount of strain on my eyes and neck. In the course of writing this article, I find myself itching to go sit upright at a table, typing in a regular manner. In either case, the split-board was surprisingly less ergonomic and comfortable than I originally anticipated.

What a let down. I had high hopes for this feature and how it might change how I interact with my iPad. For now, though, I think I’m gonna stick to my SmartCover, my wireless Bluetooth keyboard and a nice table for my typing needs. Hope you found this quick feature enlightening. As always, leave a note in the comments below if you have a feature you’d like to know more about! We’re expecting a fe more weeks before iOS 5 will be widely available, so there’s plenty of time to dive into the new features.

In our continuing series of feature spotlights to gear up for the iOS 5 launch, I’ll be focusing on two features requested by our readers last week, and both have to do with GTD or Getting Things Done. This week, it’s Reminders and the Calendar.

If you’re familiar with Microsoft Exchange (especially if you’re working in the enterprise) or Google Tasks, you’ll already be quite well-versed with both of these ... Read More]]>

In our continuing series of feature spotlights to gear up for the iOS 5 launch, I’ll be focusing on two features requested by our readers last week, and both have to do with GTD or Getting Things Done. This week, it’s Reminders and the Calendar.

If you’re familiar with Microsoft Exchange (especially if you’re working in the enterprise) or Google Tasks, you’ll already be quite well-versed with both of these features. After all, both Reminders (or Tasks for the old school MS Exchange folks) and Calendar are meant to catch up to enterprise level features and continue the iPad’s push into corporate adoption.

The major changes to the Calendar app are functional and are really just bringing the original app in line with what corporate Exchange users have come to expect in Outlook or even Google Calendar. The new app allows you to drag events in the calendar to change its date, time and duration. It also allows you to invite others to an event. All fairly standard modern calendar functions. What’s nice though is the tighter integration with the cloud. In previous iterations of the app, there was a recurring bug where an accepted invite would show up only on the iPad and not on the desktop Exchange client, which proved the app to be useless. They seem to have resolved that issue in the latest OS. Also, the Calendar app is now synced with iCloud, freeing you from using a third party intermediary such as Google.

Reminders is a new feature in iOS 5 that’s simply a native To-Do list app much like Remember the Milk (though significantly more pared down) and there really isn’t anything significant to write home about. Create tasks, set due dates as necessary, and check them off when they’re done. Like Calendar, it’s also iCloud synced, allowing you to share these lists across devices for free, which is a nice distinction from other similar services you might find in the app store. There are one or two drawbacks with the app though. Alerts for tasks only happen once on the day that it’s due. Also, the app is still incomplete. I can’t seem to add new tasks lists, which is a bit annoying, but otherwise, the app seems to work as advertised.

What strikes me as a failure between the two apps is how little the two interact with each other. Given that both keep track of similar things and are iCloud compatible, I was surprised to find that Reminders with due dates and times aren’t shown in the Calendar as an event, and vice versa. I’m also curious why the Reminders app simply wasn’t built into Calendars itself.

The new GTD tools built into iOS 5 seem to raise more questions from me than actual benefit. In fact, the disintermediation of app functionality (Music and Videos, Calendars and Reminders, etc.) could point to a broader strategy that just isn’t apparent right now.

What do you think? Will you be using Calendars and Reminders much? Any other features that you’d like to see in the next few weeks? Just let us know in the comments below.

In this week’s iOS 5 feature spotlight, I’d like to talk briefly about two features that I finally got around to using this week – Native Photo Editing and OTA firmware updates. Both of them surprised me in unexpected ways, so let’s get started.

Native Photo Editing

In the (not too distant) past, we’ve always had to rely on third party apps to help us touch up the photos that we ... Read More]]>

In this week’s iOS 5 feature spotlight, I’d like to talk briefly about two features that I finally got around to using this week – Native Photo Editing and OTA firmware updates. Both of them surprised me in unexpected ways, so let’s get started.

Native Photo Editing

In the (not too distant) past, we’ve always had to rely on third party apps to help us touch up the photos that we either took on the iPad, or downloaded natively to the device with the Camera Connector Kit. The iPad, with its larger screen, is a much more intuitive (and much snappier) device to edit photos than either the iPhone or the iPod Touch. Having used Photoshop Express and a handful of other photo editing tools on the iPad, I knew how useful this feature will be and was excited to test this feature out.

What I found, however, is a photo-editing tool that was far too…simplified and mindless for my inner photographer. The tool comes with 4 (yes, only 4) functions: Rotate (Counter-Clockwise), Red-Eye Reduction, Crop and Auto Enhance (a.k.a. colour-boost); each of which is self explanatory. Except for cropping, the tools were one-click solutions that take the effort out of ‘shopping, effectively taking away all personal control and style out of the photo. With cropping, the tool simply felt slow and less responsive than what I would’ve liked. While each of those features were well though out, I ultimately found that only the Auto Enhance function to be of any use. The other functions felt cludgy, in spite of the large screen real estate, removing user controls, or simply not useful for photos that I usually take with an iPad.

If you were expecting the same level of control that the other tools allowed, you will be sorely disappointed with Apple’s implementation of editing in the Photo app, but for the vast majority of users, I think the tool will take the tedium of photo editing out. Still, I think this feature is simply a better fit for the iPhone/iPod Touch where fast, on-the-go, direct to Twitter/Facebook uploading will make this the hot feature for iOS 5.

Over The Air (OTA) Firmware Upgrades

With iOS 5b4 released this week, Apple opened up the ability to do delta (or differential) upgrades over the air, which can be both a blessing or a pandora’s box of troubles. A blessing because it suddenly allows the iPad to become a truly untethered device that doesn’t need to be synced with a PC or a Mac, as well as because it drops the overall OS download file size to less than a third of the full firmware (downloading 600 MB for a firmware update takes a toll on your bandwidth, let alone downloading 3 of those for all the iDevices in our lives). However, delta OTA updates can be tricky to set up correctly, and is prone to brick the device if it’s not done correctly.

I’m happy to say, though, that Apple’s implementation seems to work as advertised, and the iPad updated itself with no hitches. The firmware downloaded in the background, without interruptions until the device was ready to be updated. Good job, Apple. I did not expect this to work so well.

Hopefully, iOS 5 will be released publicly soon, and all of you can start playing with these new features and let us know what you think of the latest iteration of iOS in our forums and comments!

With the imminent release of iOS 5 in the next few weeks, I wanted to take the time to go through some of the lesser known, but seemingly useful features of iOS 5 to get you all ready. Let’s get started this week with Safari’s Reading List.

The Reading List is somewhat of a mishmash of an RSS feed, Instapaper, and regular Safari bookmarks that acts as a quick notepad ... Read More]]>

With the imminent release of iOS 5 in the next few weeks, I wanted to take the time to go through some of the lesser known, but seemingly useful features of iOS 5 to get you all ready. Let’s get started this week with Safari’s Reading List.

The Reading List is somewhat of a mishmash of an RSS feed, Instapaper, and regular Safari bookmarks that acts as a quick notepad for interesting links that you discover online, but simply don’t have time to read at that moment (but not permanent enough to stick around as a bookmark). It’s accessed under Reading List through Safari’s Bookmarks menu, and clicking on the Add icon will add the URL to your reading list. Granted, it’s a pretty minimal feature, and on the surface, seems pretty useless, but the possibilities can make this one of my go-to features in iOS 5.

Firstly, integration of the list on your iCloud could mean that these links can be shared amongst all you devices, making for a seamless online experience that already exist for Chrome and Firefox on the Android side. Next, opening up this function across all apps (including, say, Twitter, Facebook and Google+) could improve the overall app user experience by keeping users engaged within the app for as long as possible, without having to leave the app to explore other content.

There are one or two drawbacks though. Unlike Instapaper, it doesn’t save the content of a page for offline reading. You’ll still need an internet connection to read whatever you save. Also, the function (as it is in iOS5b3) seems limited to only Safari, so other browsers will need to wait for Apple to open up this feature in subsequent releases. Overall, though, I don’t think either of these are great concerns for average users. Still, the fact that the feature is somewhat buried in the bookmarks may mean that this feature will remain under-used. Hopefully, this quick spotlight will encourage you all to consider using it when iOS gets released.

Are there any new features that you’d like a quick spotlight on? Drop a line below and I’ll do my best to give a sneak peek.

With iOS 5 b3 released yesterday, we’re ever so slowly edging closer to the final Gold Master and ultimate public release of iOS 5. In the past few weeks I’ve been playtesting the latest and greatest, I’ve often found myself frustrated and annoyed with the platform, and not necessarily because of its inherent bugginess or stability. After all, it’s beta software and there is always something wrong.

My biggest issue ... Read More]]>

With iOS 5 b3 released yesterday, we’re ever so slowly edging closer to the final Gold Master and ultimate public release of iOS 5. In the past few weeks I’ve been playtesting the latest and greatest, I’ve often found myself frustrated and annoyed with the platform, and not necessarily because of its inherent bugginess or stability. After all, it’s beta software and there is always something wrong.

My biggest issue with iOS 5 is the over abundant feature set that seemingly does very little to enhance my overall experience, and oftentimes feel they were tacked on as a “me too” features. With every firmware upgrade on my iPad, I also notice slight performance loss and battery life degradation. The extent is so large that these issues are noticeably obvious on my iPad 1, and it is barely a year old.

There are plenty of features both new and old that would easily fit this category – FaceTime, “multitasking”, Notification Center just to name a few. While I won’t deny that these features offer some kind of benefit, one must ask where one would draw the line and say No. Implementing this feature would make the platform unusable. With the continued runaway success of the iPad and pressure from Android to innovate rapidly, I’m concerned that the iOS team is squeezed into a cold war over features that will never satiate Apple, developers or users.

While I can appreciate Apple wanting to continually sell a new device year over year (and I’d still be continually happy to buy one), I yearn for the olden days when Apple products simply last forever. I still remember using my old, pre-owned iBook that stood the test of time past all my other PCs until Apple ultimately discontinued support when it adopted the Intel chipset. What happened to the everlasting quality and backward compatibility support that you were once so good at, Apple?

Still, I digress. iOS 5 is still a good leap forward for the platform, but I just worry over how the OS cold war will play out, and whether or not my poor little iPad will survive it.

iOS 5 Beta 3 has activated a new feature for the iPad called “Assistive Touch”. While the feature has been present in previous Betas, it was not until Beta 3 that the feature was actually activated.

Assistive Touch is an accessibility function which is meant to provide users who are having difficulties with the regular iPad gestures and buttons with additional interactivity.

A new settings menu under “Accessibility” enables users to ... Read More]]>

iOS 5 Beta 3 has activated a new feature for the iPad called “Assistive Touch”. While the feature has been present in previous Betas, it was not until Beta 3 that the feature was actually activated.

Assistive Touch is an accessibility function which is meant to provide users who are having difficulties with the regular iPad gestures and buttons with additional interactivity.

A new settings menu under “Accessibility” enables users to activate a menu that overlays on the iPad by pressing on a designated corner (example, bottom right corner). The menu enables one-tap access to all of the iPad’s functions such as rotation, shake, volume adjustments and gestures. Users can even create custom gestures that may be recorded and played back.

If you have iOS 5 Beta 3, check it out!