The next big update from Apple has arrived for your iThingies. Yes, the much awaited iOS 5 has been released and is available for free on iTunes. Alternatively you can also download the restore firmware files from Apple’s site too(you may need to Google that up). Noobs can just plug in their iPhones/iPods/iPads and search for updates on itunes.

What’s New

The new iOS has a lot of new features. We will list some of them here-

1. Notification Center- The days of the annoying pop-ups are over. They are all neatly laid out on the notification tray which can be accessed anywhere by just swiping down a finger from the top of the screen(where time is displayed). You can also see the weather updates and Stocks right there.

2. Newsstand- This one actually makes sense after all. This is the place where one would get all his daily news albeit on his iPhone. It is the perfect app to catch up with your favourite newspaper or magazine everyday.

3. Reminders- Just another app like Notes to make reminders. Apple says it can remind us to do whatever  we wanted it to remind us to do at the required location, like at a supermarket. It is usable but not handy enough. Still it might be useful for those I-don’t-have-time workaholics.

4. Twitter- This is a good app with nice integration but I don’t understand why Apple would do this. There is already an app in the store for that. The good thing is that you can read the tweets of who you follow easily and tweet from anywhere in your ithingy.

5. Photos- You can now edit your photos in the app itself. It is good for some minor enhancements and editing. You can crop, resize, enhance, reduce red-eye etc. in  the app.

6. Safari- It is still the same old Safari but now it has Reader and Reading List. You can add a page to the reading list to read later. It loads up the page and hides any ad or unwanted info. It is great for reading blogs.

7. Messages- It is a messenger app made exclusively for Apple customers. It would be synonymous to Blackberry Messenger. You can send and receive messages through wifi/3G to any other person using an idevice.

8. iCloud- Apple has entered the cloud-race with its iCloud service. It can store almost all of your data and circulate it between your devices operating under the same account. You can click a photo on your iphone and edit it on your mac/PC without even connecting the two. you can start writing a piece on your mac and finish on the go on your iPad. It is as easy as that. All the data you need is just there. The only condition- you need internet access for the iCloud to work seamlessly.

9. No wires- This is it. The holy grail of syncing is finally here! You don’t need your connecting cable anymore to get all your music on your new ithingy(products not supporting wifi not supported). If you want you can have them all on the cloud which can be downloaded to the device or you can sync it with your mac/PC wireless through wifi. You just need to connect it to a power source. It is still a downer though it is logical after all. Syncing can take a lot of time and it will drain the battery a lot.

10. Airplay Mirroring- Now you can stream live video from your iPad or iPhone through Apple TV to your TV wirelessly. This includes you playing with your iPad or zooming in and out of a photo. It is great for reviewing a shot or showing your guests your pics from that recent vacation that you have on your iPhone.

So we have pretty much summed up most of what is new on iOS 5. There are many more features for which you may head over to Apple’s iOS page. Personally my iPod touch 3G stutters and lags after the update. I guess it needs some patches that must be arriving shortly.

Jailbreakers can rejoice and celebrate the update too. Redsnow has arrived with a tethered jailbreak for iOS 5. Currently it is for mac and the windows version will be arriving shortly.