Apple revamps beta version of iCloud.com with iOS 7 style

Apple's design overhaul for iOS has spilled over to the beta version of its iCloud service.

A new version of the site (beta.iCloud.com), which has Web versions of some of Apple's iOS apps, now sports a similar look and feel to iOS 7, which Apple is expected to release next month.

So far, the changeover has affected e-mail, contacts, calendar, reminders, notes, and find my iPhone. The beta versions of Apple's trio of iWork apps, which Apple is still testing to users, remains unchanged.

The redesign is likely to roll out when iOS 7 is released, but could come sooner.

Source: CNET

Apple Continues Rolling Out iWork for iCloud Beta Invites

After introducing iWork for iCloud during its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple began sending beta invites for the service to registered developers on June 13. 

Since then, Apple has continued to send out beta invites on a rolling basis to both paid and free developer accounts. It appears the company has sent out a large batch of invites today, inviting a number of new people to participate in the beta. 

iWork for iCloud offers in-browser versions of Apple's iWork software suite, including Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. The software can be accessed from both PC and Mac computers as well as a number of mobile devices. 

Developers with both free and paid accounts that have received an email from Apple can access the beta by visiting beta.icloud.com. iWork for iCloud is expected to be released to the public later this year.  

Update: Some reports today indicated that the iWork for iCloud beta had been extended to non-developers. The Next Web contacted Apple, and the company confirmed that reports of beta access for non-developers were inaccurate.

Source: Mac Rumours

iCloud Boasts 300M Users and 20 Percent Growth in Q2 2013

During today's Q2 2013 quarterly earnings call, Apple revealed that iCloud now has more than 300 million users, a 20% increase from the 250 million that it reported during its Q1 earnings call in January. A year ago, iCloud had just over 100M users. 

Apple's iCloud originally launched in late 2011, as a replacementfor the company's MobileMe service. 

iCloud, which is designed to allow users to store data from games and music, among other things, lets users sync content between multiple Apple devices. Recently, iCloud has experienced a number of service outages, with the latest occurring this morning.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple debuts new, more detailed status page for iCloud and other services

As those affected by recent iMessage outages no doubt noticed, Apple's status page for its various services hasn't exactly been the most detailed around. That's changed a bit today, however, with the company rolling out a new page that promise to offer a better look at what's working and what's not across iCloud, iTunes and Apple's other services. As you can see above, that includes a grid that provides a quick look at any outages currently occurring, below which is a more detailed timeline that lets you look back at any past outages and how long they lasted.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple notifies MobileMe members of iCloud.com email options

As one of the many people who purchased a MobileMe subscription in years past, you've probably already made the transition to iCloud and haven't looked back. In July of 2012, Apple noted during iOS 6 beta testing that new icloud.com addresses would be created for anyone using Apple's cloud computing solution as well as former MobileMe members. The transition to icloud.com email is apparently complete, as Apple is sending out a note to those MobileMe members telling them about their new email address option.

While Apple created a new icloud.com email address for anyone who had a mac.com or me.com address in the past, any one of those three domain prefixes can be used. An email sent to tuawblogger@icloud.com, for example, appears in any tuawblogger@me.com or tuawblogger@mac.com inbox as well. Here's the text of the Apple email:

All new iCloud Mail accounts now come with an @icloud.com email address. As an existing user, we'd like to offer you this new address as well. We have reserved [MobileMe user name]@icloud.com for you, and you can now use this address with your iOS devices and computers by following these simple instructions.

If you prefer, you can continue to use your current email address just as you always have.

No matter which address you use, you'll continue to receive all your mail, whether it's sent to your @me.com, @mac.com, or @icloud.com address.

[Source: TUAW]

New iCloud website with Notes, Reminders and Mail, Find my iPhone improvements comes out of beta

Apple’s new iCloud.com web portal has come out of beta. The new website adds iPad-like Reminders and Notes web applications. In addition, the new website adds improvements to Mail such as VIPs. It also includes a revamped Find my iPhone application.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Apple’s iCloud outage finally ends but some of those users left with malformed emails

The iCloud outage which began Tuesday that affected as many as 2% of Apple’s 200 Million iCloud users now appears to be over. However, some iCloud users are writing in to tell us that Apple just dumped all of their email into their Inbox with 12/31/69 dates and jumbled Subject lines.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

iOS 6 gets official debut on the iPhone 5: Maps, Passbook, iCloud Tabs and more

Now that the iPhone 5 is officially out of the bag, it's time to talk software. Apple hasn't exactly kept its cards close to its chest in regards to iOS 6: Cupertino teased the software at WWDC, letting us in on the direct Facebook integration, the new Maps application, Passbook and "Do Not Disturb" in the process. Today the OS gets official, and Scott Forstall demoed the software on the iPhone 5.

Not too much new here, but the software is out of its beta phase and ready to ship. One of the most hyped additions to iOS 6 has been the Maps application, which includes Siri navigation, 3D building view and satellite imagery. In Safari, there's now a full-screen mode and you'll be able to share tabs from your desktop with your phone (dubbed iCloud Tabs). We're also seeing Passbook in action once again, bringing up a plane ticket at the lockscreen when you get to the airport, for example. One new thing here: Delta is confirmed as a partner for this digital ticket service.

[Source: Engadget - Read more there]

Apple Temporarily Halts Over-the-Phone iCloud Password Resets

Wired reports that Apple has ordered its support staff to temporarily stop processing AppleID password changes over the phone.   The move is a response to the experience of Wired reporter Mat Honan who had his iCloud account hacked which resulted in the remote-wipe of his iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. An Apple worker with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Wired that the over-the-phone password freeze would last at least 24 hours. The employee speculated that the freeze was put in place to give Apple more time to determine what security policies needed to be changed, if any. Wired was able to confirm the policy change by calling Apple Support and attempting to reset the password on an iCloud account.   Meanwhile, Amazon has also changed their policy in the wake of the hacking report. Amazon no longer allows people to call in and change their credit card or email address settings. Hackers had taken advantage of Amazon's policies in order to expose the last four digits of Honan's credit card which was then used to take over his iCloud account.

[Source: Mac Rumours]

Mountain Lion 101: The iCloud Document Library

One of my favorite features of Mountain Lion to demonstrate so far has been the iCloud Document Library. This is a way to store your iWork, TextEdit, and Preview documents in iCloud so that they are immediately accessible from other Macs on the same iCloud account as well as on connected iOS devices.

TUAW blogger and developer Erica Sadun told me the secret behind this on Wednesday. If you go to your Library folder and open the "Mobile Documents" folder, you'll notice that the name of the folder changes to iCloud (see screenshot below). That's where all of those documents are saved, and it's even possible to just drag items into the folder to add them to your iCloud Document Library.

In compatible apps, you'll find that selecting "Open" from the File menu displays a new Finder Open dialog with buttons for iCloud and "On My Mac". Selecting iCloud displays a very iOS-like dialog showing all compatible documents. Drag one document onto another, and you can create a folder -- another iOS feature. Likewise, selecting "Save As" from the File menu gives you the choice of saving a file to your iCloud Document Library.

[Source: TAUW - Click to read the full story]

Apple - Introducing iCloud

Apple's new iCloud service stores your music, photos, documents and much more in the cloud. It then pushes them wirelessly to all your devices… how cool is that! Check out the video below.