Help Desk Geek – Help Desk Tips For IT Pros

October 12, 2011 is the official release date for iOS 5, the operating system that powers the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. With iOS 5′s release less than a week away, iPhone 3G, 4, and 4S owners have over 200 new features to look forward to. In today’s post, we will review some notable additions of Apple’s next generation operating system.

iOS 5 will incorporate several new features, with only a few of them being drastic and really noticeable. Some things to look forward to in the next iOS are: Notification Center, iMessage, Newsstand, Reminders, Twitter, Wi-Fi Sync, and more. Next, we will describe each of the new features, and detail how it will improve your user experience as an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch owner.

Notification Center

Apple’s current mobile operating system, iOS 4, has notifications, but not a notification center. With iOS 4, notifications are displayed as prompts and pop ups, or for individual apps, they are sometimes displayed within the app itself. However, iOS 5 will handle notifications a bit differently. It’s usually other companies who are trying to be more like Apple, but with Apple’s new Notification Center feature, Apple may be trying to be a bit more like Google, as Android OS incorporates a quality notifications system, similar to Apple’s new Notification Center.

The new Notifications Center will be a centralized point, where all notifications can be accessed. These notifications may include new emails, texts, friend requests, app notifications, and more. Also, new events on your Twitter account will likely work with Notification Center, but we will get to that later in the article, when we review iOS 5′s new Twitter integration.

iMessage

iMessage is a feature that will be built-in to the Messages app itself, that is already existent in iOS 4. The main point behind iMessage is to add new messaging features, but also expand messaging capability to the iPad and iPod Touch. With this new feature, messaging will become more customizable, with several more options. Messages will now be able to be tracked more efficiently, delivery receipts will be used, and live type will be enabled, which let’s us know when someone is typing a response message. Thanks to iCloud and similar technology, you can also now start a conversation on an iPhone, and finish it, or resume it, on an iPad or iPod Touch.

Newsstand

Newsstand is basically like the iBooks app that is already available, but for subscription based content such as magazines and news publications.

Reminders

Reminders is an Apple feature and application that allows iDevice users to create to do lists. However, this is just not a revamp of Notes, as it is designed to be a more advanced reminder system. An example of how Reminders could work is, you create a grocery list with the Reminders app. From there, you also select the grocery store where you plan on going shopping. Once you enter the grocery store parking lot, Reminders will prompt the grocery list and remind you of what you need to get, using location services and iOS 5 technologies.

Twitter

Twitter will be built-in to iOS 5 as a native app. Thus, you will likely not need to download any 3rd party Twitter solutions from the App Store. Why integrate Twitter directly into iOS? It will make it easier for Twitter fans to tweet content. Because Twitter will be incorporated directly, you will be able to compose tweets throughout iOS 5, not just via the Twitter feature. Thus, say you want to post a picture to Twitter, that can be done directly within the Camera app.

Wi-Fi Sync

This is a feature that will be awesome, if it works effortlessly and smoothly. Wi-Fi sync is a simple concept that allows you to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to iTunes on your computer, wirelessly without a USB cable. Wi-Fi Sync is available now for iOS 4, but you must have a jailbroken iPhone and purchase the app from the Cydia store.

Those are just a few of iOS 5′s many new features. The release date is almost here, will you be upgrading to the latest mobile OS? Will you be purchasing an iPhone 4S which will ship with iOS 5? Leave a comment!