Apple launches iOS 5 and iCloud at WWDC

Apple had just launched iCloud and iOS 5, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and released a beta version to iOS Developer Program members. The iOS 5 beta release includes over 200 new features that will be available to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users this fall.

With iOS 5 and iCloud, you just enter your Apple ID and password and iCloud will seamlessly integrate with your apps to automatically and wirelessly keep all of your mail, contacts, calendars, photos, apps, books, music and more, up-to-date across all your devices without having to plug into your PC.

Before going into the details of the new features, lets look at some of the impressive stats that were released :

- 200 million iOS devices shipped out so far;

- 25 million iPad 1 & 2 sold

- 15 billion songs sold on iTunes

- 130 million books downloaded

- 14 billion apps downloaded from App Store

- 425,000 apps available on App Store and 90,000 only for iPad

- 225 million registered credit cards on iTunes

- paid $2.5 billion to developers building on iOS

- 54 million active Macs out there

Here are some of the groundbreaking iOS 5 new features :

Notification Center

This new feature will provide users with an innovative way to easily access all notifications―text messages, missed calls, calendar alerts, app alerts and more, all in one place, from anywhere in iOS 5. When they arrive, notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen without interrupting what you’re doing. With one swipe you can see all your notifications, and a simple tap will take you right to its app for more detail. Notifications also appear on the lock screen, with the ability to be taken to the notifying app with just one swipe.

Newsstand

Newsstand is a beautiful, easy-to-organize bookshelf displaying the covers of all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions in one place. A new section of the App Store™ features just subscription titles, and allows users to quickly find the most popular newspapers and magazines in the world. If subscribed to, new issues appear in the Newsstand and are updated automatically in the background so you always have the latest issue and the most recent cover art.

Safari
New features include Safari Reader, which gets all the clutter out of the way and sets the right font size on a web page, so you can easily scroll and read through a story; Reading List, so you can save articles to read later and they automatically show up on all your iOS devices; and Tabbed Browsing, which makes it easy to flip between multiple web pages on iPad.

Twitter integration
Big boost for Twitter as the new iOS 5 includes built-in Twitter integration, so you can sign in once and then tweet directly from all your Twitter-enabled apps, including Photos, Camera, Safari, YouTube and Maps with a single tap. New APIs give third party developers the ability to take advantage of the single sign-on capability for their own iOS 5 apps.

iMessage
iMessage in iOS 5 brings the functionality of iPhone messaging to all of your iOS devices ie, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Built right into the Messages app, iMessage allows you to easily send text messages, photos, videos or contact information to a person or a group on other iOS 5 devices over Wi-Fi or 3G. iMessage also features delivery and read receipts, typing indication and secure end-to-end encryption. Clearly a nightmare for the mobile operators as this will surely takes a chunk away of their profitable sms revenue. The Operators had been ripping us off for so many years and its high time for them to re-think their messaging strategy-all you can eat sms??

Camera
New features in the Camera and Photos apps give you instant access to the camera right from the lock screen, and you can use the volume-up button to quickly snap a photo. Optional grid lines help line up your shot and a simple tap locks focus and exposure on one subject. The new Photos app lets you crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye, and organize your photos into albums right on your device to share them on the go.

PC Free feature
With the new PC Free feature, iOS 5 users can activate and set up their iOS device right out of the box with no computer required, and iOS software updates are delivered over the air and installed with just a tap. Wi-Fi Sync in iOS 5 transfers and backs up your content securely over SSL and wirelessly syncs purchased content from your device to your iTunes® library.

The iOS 5 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. iOS 5 will be available as a free software update for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch (fourth generation) and iPod touch (third generation) this fall.

The new iCloud service will be offered for FREE and for those who had paid recently for the MobileMe service will get a refund. MobileMe service will gradually be taken over by iCloud.

Want to watch the whole keynote where these things were announced? Head on over to Apple.

You can also check out the Apple's iOS 5 video below :