iOS 6 Available to download on September 19

With all the media attention the iPhone 5 has been getting, users with older iPhones must be feeling a little left out. All is not lost however because the latest version of Apple's iOS - iOS 6 will be available for download on September 19, 2012. This latest version of the operating system will be available for all iPhones, iPads and iPods. If you have an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, New iPad or the iPad 2, you will be able to download and install iOS 6. This means that users with the original iPhone, iPhone 3G and original iPad will not be able to updated the iOS. 

iOS 6 comes with many new features like deep Facebook integration, Apple Maps and guided access for people with disabilities. So as you get ready to get iOS 6, here are a few recommendations to get your device ready for the new upgrade.

Clean up your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
There must be a lot of Apps you might have downloaded and rarely use. This can take-up a lot of precious storage space. The idea is to remove apps from your home-screen that you no longer use and get your device ready. Especially problematic for 16 GB devices. So take the time to set things in order and clear up space and your screen. You can always download those free apps later.

Backup your iPhone, iPad or iPod.
It is highly unlikely that anything will go wrong when you upgrade. It is however a nice feeling to know that all your data is backed-up in case anything should go wrong. You can do this by plugging your device into a computer and if the backup does not happen automatically. You can then go to iTunes, right-click on your device and select backup. 

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Sociolatte

iPhone 5 launch date: 21 Sep, 2012?

Image Source: macrumors

If the latest rumors from TechCrunch are to be believed then the iPhone 5 or new iPhone as it maybe called will be displayed to the world on September 21, Friday. This having been confirmed by a trusted Verizon employee who has said that the carrier will be having a an all-staff vacation blackout from Sep 21  - 30. Meaning all employees are to be available. TC further makes these bold assumptions that the iPhone 5 Announcement date will be on Sept 21, expected pre-order date also September 21 and the launch date as confirmed by a trusted Verizon Employee will be Friday September 21.

iPhone 5 is also trending on Twitter with a video titled 'LEAKED Official Apple iPhone 5 Promo Video - Keynote 2012', the video available on YouTube is just a spoof by Adam Sacks and follows the usual protocol of Apple release videos. The video is a complete spoof and quiet entertaining. There have been a lot of rumors floating around on the net with the anticipation of the new iPhone 5. Apple must be quite happy with all the press and social media presence the new iPhone has already received. Take a look at the leaked picture above of the new iPhone 5 with a larger screen. The photos were released by MacRumors.
Read More at iMore 

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Sociolatte

Siri gets upgraded in iOS 6

When Apple's iOS 6 gets launched later this year. Siri will be getting a huge upgrade. Siri is the virtual assistant that comes along with the iPad, iPhone and the iPod - Siri answers your questions and has given users countless number of hours of entertainment with the various fun answers provided. Siri up until now needs to be used by tapping the icon. With the release of the new iOS 6 there will be no tapping required and you can just speak directly and get answers from Siri. Android users already have this feature available with Nina. Siri however will now support more countries with new languages added. 

Features part of the new Siri for iOS 6

1. Sports - for sports fan Siri knows baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer and hockey. Ask for game schedules, live sports updates and keep track of scores from live games. 
2. Movies - Siri can help you decide which movie to watch. You can ask Siri for a movie trailer or a review from rotten tomatoes. You can also use Siri to find out more about the director of the movie, any awards won and follow your favorite actor. 
3. Restaurants - you can now narrow down your search and ask Siri to provided details about food, price, seating arrangement and cuisine. You can also make a reservation using the OpenTable app
4. Facebook and Twitter - use your voice to ask Siri to post a Tweet or a Facebook status update. Siri will understand your voice and get all your social networking done on Facebook and Twitter. 
5. App launching - ask Siri to open and launch apps for you, so if you're even stuck in a place and need to kill some time. Ask Siri to open your Facebook or Twitter and see what your friends are up to.
6. Eyes Free - Apple is now working with car manufactures to integrate Siri into select voice control systems. Which can be launched through a voice command on your steering wheel. So you can ask questions without taking your eyes off the road.

This will be a huge upgrade and Apple wants-in on the whole search business with the new features Siri has the potential to become the default search engine for iPhone, iPad and iPod users. Note: Siri will be available only on iPhone 4S and iPad (3rd generation) and requires Internet access. Cellular data charges may apply.

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Sociolatte

OS X Mountain Lion Twitter Integration

Photo Credit: App Advice

OS X Mountian Lion comes with Twitter integration. The latest OS from Apple allows you to easily continue the same tasks on different Apple devices. This allows you to switch between your iPad, iPhone or MAC and keep doing all your work. OS X Mountain Lion comes with Twitter integration and this means once you have set the OS up, sign-in to Twitter and get the ability to Tweet right from the App your working on. So the next time you're working on your iOS device all you need to do is to choose Twitter from the share menu and tweet links and photos right from Safari, Preview, finder, photo booth and Quick look without switching to another app and singing in. 

You also get a Tweet Sheet, now this is a handy little card that contains all the content you're tweeting. You can also use this sheet to add a comment and also find out how many characters are remaining. The Tweet sheet also has another advantage, if you have multiple Twitter accounts you can sign-in to all of them and use the Tweet sheet to switch between accounts. You can also receive notifications when someone @ mentions you on Twitter. The Tweet sheet also allows you to add location to your Tweets. Twitter has been deeply integrated into Mountain Lion and the latest OS from Apple gives you a complete Twitter experience without having to sign-out of apps and logging in again from another app. 

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Sociolatte

OS X Mountain Lion Facebook Integration

OS X Mountain Lion is the latest desktop operating system from Apple. One of the key features of the new OS is the ability to start a task on one system and continue it on another - start on a MAC and switch over to the iPhone or iPad. This can be done several times a day and everything works seamlessly. As such the new OS comes with deep Facebook integration and once you sign-in to your Facebook account you will be able to continue your normal work on any of your Apple gadgets and be aware of what your pals are doing on Facebook. Once you sign-in there is a notifications center setup to work with your Facebook. So while doing you normal work on any of your devices you will be able to post to Facebook too. 


Facebook Notifications center on your OS is a place to see your FB notifications. This might not be such a huge hit with users and you might find reasons why here. There is also a Facebook Share Sheet - what this does is works like a handy card and shows you content you've been posting. Will also help you post photos and add it to your albums. The share sheet also has a location icon you can click the icon to add location to your posts and let your friends know where you are while posting your Facebook status update. 


When you setup Mountain Lion and connect it to your Facebook account. It adds your Facebook friends to your contacts. With their profile pictures and their contact information. So when your friends update their contact information on Facebook it is automatically updated on Mountain Lion Contacts List. You can also add profile photos for contacts who are not on Facebook - by choosing Update Contacts in the Facebook settings of Mail, Contacts, and Calendar.

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Sociolatte

Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs - pictures from the new movie

If you look at the pictures below the first thing that will strike you is the eerily resemblance to Steve Jobs for the new movie - Steve Jobs which is a Biopic. The movie plans to adapt Walter Issacson’s biography of Steve Jobs into a film. Now that shooting for the film has begun photo of Ashton Kutcher playing Steve Jobs have started to emerge and his style, mannerisms and look actually resemble Steve Jobs in a real uncanny way. Here are a few pics to help give you a better idea. 

Ashton Kutcher dressed as Steve Jobs with Jeans and Sneakers

Ashton posing as Steve Jobs

Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in Costume

Ashton looks like Steve Jobs deep in thought

They look like each-other in an uncanny way.

Ashton Kutcher filing Steve Jobs movie at LMU : Source

Images Credit and Source: BuzzFeed 1. Steve Jobs on Set 2. Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in Costume. 

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Sociolatte

iOS 6: What to expect

iOS 6 is now available for developers to tinker and start playing around with. If you would like to be a part of the folks who can test the new iOS, you would need a developer account or know someone who has one. iOS 6 will be out later this fall and users will be able to wirelessly on their iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. There is a lot of speculation as to what to expect and Apple has released a number of features that users will have access to on the all new iOS 6.


1. Maps
News is all over about Apple's new maps. It promises to have picture quality so great that if you like an Ariel view the cameras are powerful enough to capture someone sunbathing. This has turned into a privacy issue with many privacy pundits advocating a resistance to these new Apple maps that will take the competition to Google Maps.


2. Siri
You personal virtual assistant Siri now supports more languages and tries to be your guide no mater where in the world you are. Will also be available on the new iPad. There will also be no need to use tapping to launch Siri just speak the word.


3. Deeper Facebook Integration
With this new improvement, you don't need to have your Facebook app always open to use FB. iOS 6 will have deep integration in all functions. If you hands are full just ask Siri to post for you. Apple and Facebook are now good friends. 


4. Shared Photo Streams
The point of this is that you can now share selected photos with selected individuals. All these shared photo streams can also be viewed on Apple TV. Share as much as you want as these photos don't count against your iCloud storage. 


5. Passbook
With this you can use your make sure your boarding pass, movie tickets and loyalty cards are all in one place. In fact once you check into an airport the app can tell you if your relaxing in the wrong terminal. 


6. FaceTime
FaceTime on iOS 6 will be available on all cellular networks including on wi-fi. This means you can use FaceTime no matter where you are. You can also make FaceTime calls on your iPad using your phone number.


There are a whole lot of improvements and including Safari which will have the ability to pick up where you left off on any of your devices.
Source: Apple iOS 6 preview

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Sociolatte

Retina Display MacBook pro comes with a resolution of 2880-by-1800 and 5.1 million pixels

Apple has unveiled the amazing and sexy MacBook Pro which comes with Retina Display. Apple is saying that you have never seen anything like it because there's never been anything like it. Apple has also said that it is the most advanced MacBook ever made. Runs on all-flash storage which means that works on the computer feels really fluid and Apps are able to open and close with seamless effort. There are no moving parts in Flash storage and therefore unlike a harddrive, it makes no noise. You therefore get a computer that is quiet and works effortlessly. The Macbook Pro also comes with Intel Core i7 and Next-Gen NVDIA graphics. Amazing Audio and Visual performance and connected to iCloud. 


Retina-Ready Software
The MacBook Pro comes with retina ready software which means that all the software has been updated to take advantage of Retina Display with its 2880-by-1800 resolution. Retina Dialysis comes with 5.1 million pixels and that should give you an idea about the visuals of this Mac. The screen promises resolution like no other notebook before it. This is because as Apple likes to say there was none before it. Everything seen on the screen is vibrant, vivid and share as vivid as the imagination. The 15.4 inch display when packed with over 5 million pixels, promises stunning display. Packed so tightly you cannot make out individual pixels. The advantage of Retina Display is that the screen while maintaining color and contrast does not increase glare.  IPS technology is what has been use to give a wide, 178-degree view of everything seen on the screen, the difference can be seen at practically any angle. 
Source: Apple MacBook Pro

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Sociolatte

Steve Jobs Interview collection free on iTunes

There is now a place on Apple iTunes for you to view all of those iconic interviews of Steve Jobs. These interviews took place on the stage of All Things D and they have now made it available as a podcast on iTunes. All videos are available as online streaming video and you get to see some of those classics. There are a lot of interview videos to be found online and on YouTube, especially the most inspiring and oft-quoted Stanford Commencement Address and videos of Apple product releases. If however you want to see some of those interviews with him sitting on stage and answering unrehearsed questions this is the place to go. In fact many times he sat on the All Things D stage and spoke very openly on a number of things and  these are noteworthy interviews to be viewed by anyone interested to explore more the mind of the great Steve Jobs. All Things D are famous for a number of interviews especially the first time they brought both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates together for an interview. As a memorial to the man and in the spirit of freedom All Things D have released these 6 interviews. A most for anyone who is a fan, maybe a budding entrepreneur, a TECH buff. Read more at All Things D.  
Steve Jobs interviews on iTunes available for free

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Sociolatte

Siri: "What is the best smartphone ever?"

Image Credit: Cult of Mac

Apple has fixed an issue with Siri, when Siri was asked which is the best SmartPhone ever. The reply was Nokia Lumia 900 - seems that Apple was not happy with the answer.The problem stemmed from Siri's heavy reliance on Wolfram Alpha, 25 percent of all queries returned by Siri are based on Wolfram Alpha. Apple has since fixed the issue and now Siri has a different answer. If you did search Wolfram Alpha independently you will find that Nokia Lumia 900 is recommended as the best. Apple has rushed to fix the issue as the Nokia Lumia is a decent handset but definitely not the best Smartphone ever. There is also a video doing the rounds showing Siri's answer to the best smartphone ever. After the fix by Apple is you ask Siri the same question, You'll now be told that the answer is the iPhone 4S, with responses like "the one you're holding" and "you're kidding, right?"
Source: TheVerge

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Sociolatte

How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes Legally and their justification

Image Credit: Techreport

There is a really interesting report by the NYTimes about how Apple keeps taxes low on $35b in profit. The basic strategy is that they set up small offices around the world to collect and invest the companies profits. The places they choose to do this are countries or states where corporate tax is not as heavy as in other places. A good example would be an office in Reno, Nevada where the corporate tax rate is zero. California’s corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Whereas Nevada’s? Zero. Places like these are where Apple creates offices to sidestep taxes legally. Similarly Apple has offices in other countries which are tax heavens like Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands. All have low tax rates. The finding by the newspaper actually show how Apple has been industrious and have done it all legally.


Apple has responded to this criticism and this is what they have to say. They say that they have created a vast number of jobs over the years and a majority of those jobs have remained in the united states. And that by focusing on innovation they have created entire new industries and products. They also spoke about Apps and how US app creators have benefited vastly from the opportunity provided by Apple. They also admit that they do pay a huge amount of taxes locally and they they have contributed to many charitable causes without going public about it. 


So when the NY Times accused them of avoiding taxes the company responded about job creation and innovation. Apple also said they they have conducted all their business with the highest ethical standards. Please sound us off in the comments section below with what you think. 
NY Times report and Apple's response

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Sociolatte

Apple forced to give all EU customers a two year product warranty

Apple has been forced by a court in Italy to give all its products a two year warranty as required by EU law. The company has also been been handed a fine of 900,000 euros for misleading customers. According to EU warranty laws  - companies are required to give a free minimum warranty of at least 2 years on their products. Apple was giving only a one year warranty and were asking customers to sign-up for for their Apple Care Protection Plan which increased the warranty from one to two years. 


These changes have been implemented by Apple and can be found on their website. This applies only to EU customers and the rest are still stuck with a one year warranty. This is what Apple have to say about it on their website. "When you purchase Apple products, European Union consumer law provides statutory warranty rights in addition to the coverage you receive from the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty and the optional AppleCare Protection Plan. Non-Apple-branded products purchased from Apple are also eligible for coverage under EU consumer law".


The move has drawn a lot of criticism from people who still have a lot of confusion. Basically if you are a EU citizen you automatically had this law protecting you. All products bought by EU citizens have a law covering the product for two years and you can get it repaired or replaced if something goes wrong. Apple which previously only had a one-year warranty has now flipped the switch and giving all EU customers a two year product warranty.
Forums to find out more MacRumors and Slashdot

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Sociolatte

What is Apple going to do with its $100b cash reserves

Apple has been quiet about all the money in the bank, currently close to $100B. That is a lot of money and they have more cash in hand than the US government. With all that money and all the speculation as to what needs to be done with it. Investors are also hoping to get a piece of the pie in the form of dividends. Well the wait is over and on Monday, March 19, 2012, Tim Cook (CEO) and Peter Oppenheimer (CFO) of Apple are going to talk about their big plans for the cash. Via conference call the duo will update people on nothing but cash, cash and more cash. They will however not be speaking about this quarter but only about cash.


So speculation is rife as to what on earth is Apple going to do with the money. Probably buy a few smaller companies, a dividend - something Apple has not given from 1995. Most analysts say that a dividend is highly expected as this is something to help investors happy and boost sales of the new iPad. The new iPad has been available since last week and comes with retina-display and a faster processor. maybe there will finally be a philanthropic effort from the company as it begins to seek goodwill from people.  So follow the link below to read the full alert and find out how you can join the conference call for free and listen in to the two biggies from Apple.
Apple press release regarding its Cash spending plans

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Sociolatte

How to start using Siri Dictation on the new iPad

The new iPad is out but does not come with one feature many iOS users would have wanted. The personal assistant of the iPhone 4S is missing. Siri unfortunately did not make it on the new iPad and there might be a couple of reasons why that happened, we have written about the reasons in a previous post. What is available on the new iPad is a Siri style dictation app that can be used.


How does dictation work on the new iPad
It is not a sophisticated app in the sense it's functionality is quiet simple, all you need to do is to turn it on and talk into the iPad and everything gets recorded and transcribed into words. This is a voice-to-text solution that works by entering words into a text field as you speak. You are given a chance to enable voice dictation during initial setup. You can however turn-on or off, enable or disable whenever you wish.


How to enable, start or turn-on dictation on the new iPad
Start by visiting Settings > General > Keyboard > Dictation.


What happens once you enable dictation
Once enabled you will see an extra key with a mic present on the keyboard. Tapping on the mic will launch dictation. Once your done speaking tap on the mic once again. You will see three blinking dots for a few seconds and you text converted text will be placed into the text field.

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Sociolatte

How to find the best apps for the new iPad's retina display

Ever since the iPad went on  sale a day ago media outlets have been covering it constantly. If you are one of the first to get the new iPad or have already ordered one online you will be aware of the iPad's screen clarity. Apple has termed it's new retina display 'Resolutionary'. The screen that has more clarity than HDTV. With all this improved screen clarity and display, you can bet that App developers are scrambling to make sure their apps take full advantage of the new screen quality. Apple has done its share and released a set of Apps that have already been modified to fit the new role and utilize the new screen resolution to the maximum. The apps that have been recommended by Apple have been re-written to take full advantage of the new iPad's best retina-display. Other apps will still work on the iPad but these have made full use of the higher screen-resolution to bring to the forefront the tremendous screen clarity for you to enjoy your new iPad. So simply follow the link below to find all the best apps available for the new iPad in high-screen-resolution.
Best apps for the new iPad by Apple.

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Sociolatte

Why does the new iPad not come with Siri

The new iPad ships on Friday sans Siri - The virtual assistant that was a major hit with the iPhone 4S. Siri now seems to also be in a bit of trouble with one man in New York suing Apple over Siri. The case has to do with the misrepresentation if Siri with the man claiming that Siri does not work as performed. Siri also does not have the amazing capability as portrayed by Apple ads. Siri apparently has gotten weaker over time and answers from Siri are clearly off the mark. This has been admitted by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, in an interview with the Daily Beast in January he said " I used to ask Siri, "What are the five biggest lakes in California?" and it would come back with the answer. Now it just misses. It gives me real estate listings. I used to ask, "What are the prime numbers greater than 87?" and it would answer. Now instead of getting prime numbers, I get listings for prime rib, or prime real estate. I have a lower success rate with Siri than I do with the voice built into the Android, and that bothers me". Siri might be in trouble and one of the reasons could be that her servers have so many requests that it is taking more time than ever before for Siri to contemplate the right answer. Siri however is still in beta and bugs can be expected.


So why does the new iPad not have Siri, when the personal assistant could have come out with some witty and funny answers. For one there is a utility difference between the iPhone and the iPad. The iPad is not one that your going to keep close at hand when your driving to ask for questions. That would be something smaller and much more easily accessible like the iPhone. Another reason could be that Siri is not ready for the iPad and maybe her servers need to be fixed to give her more breathing room. Siri to function properly needs a constant connection to the internet and Wi-Fi only iPads cannot really handle that. They are either connected to a local Wi-Fi hotpsot or using 3G and eating up bandwidth usage. 4G iPads can handle it but Wi-Fi only models might fail catastrophically with having a connection only periodically. These are a few reasons and there could me more. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Sociolatte

Apple is now the biggest company in history - $514,000,000,000.00

Apple's stock has continued to sore high above the earth and into deep space, closing on Monday at $552.00 a share. Apple's market cap now exceeds that of Exxon the no.2 company by more than a 100 billion. Apple's market cap over $514 billion,  Exxon's market cap - $403 billion. Apple products have always created waves and with the announcement of the new iPad last Wednesday things have started to look even more upwards. Everything about Apple seems to lead the company up up and away, the superman among all earth-bound companies. Check out these stats for the Decemeber quarter, Apple sold 37 million iPhone, 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs. All these numbers are really impressive and goes to show Apple's domination in markets it specializes in. 


Many competitors have emerged in the tablet market and many of them have successfully disappeared. Apple have always found a way to dominate the SmartPhone and Tablet market. The new iPad expected out on the 16th comes with something called Retina display. Making the iPad as some analyst speculate able to work in daylight. The screen has 1 million more pixels that a HDTV. This powerful rendering will most-probably come with the ability for users to take their iPad and work in broad-daylight. Siri of iPhone fame has been a popular hit among iPhone users from the time of launch. Apple keeps coming with innovations that give their products that must-have tag. The company has also announced AppleTV going on sale in the US this Friday which promises videos in full 1080p HD. Apple has reached the top has was reported to have more money in the bank than the US government. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. 
Source: IBTimes

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Sociolatte

iOS 5.1: How to update your iPhone, iPad or iPod

Image Credit: Apple

Apple releases iOS 5.1 and with it, have hopefully fixed the reception and battery issues faced by the iPhone 4S. With this newest update to iOS  - Apple have highlighted a few of the features that make this OS a must have on your Apple gadget. Some of the highlights are that Japan will get a Japanese Siri, face detection on the camera now shows all faces detected, addresses bugs affecting battery life, fixes the issue of audio call drops for outgoing calls.


How to update your device to iOS 5.1
1. Ensure you're using the latest version of iTunes.
2. Using your USB cable connect your device to your computer
3. After iTunes opens, select your device from under devices
4. Click 'check for update' in the summary pane and this will check for all available updates
5. Once an update is found, iTunes prompts you to download and install the update. While the download and installation process is happening do not disconnect your device.
You can also update your device using Wi-Fi, Go to Settings > General > Software Update. iOS will automatically check for available updates.
Note: Backup your device before updating and support can be found here. 
Source: Apple Support

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Sociolatte

SkyDrive now available for the iPhone and iPad

Image: SkyDrive

SkyDrive the file storage cloud from Microsoft is now available on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The service which has been available to all Windows Desktop users and Windows phone users for sometime now transitions and comes to all iPhone users. With this new App you can do the following:


1. Login to the service and create folders
2. Upload images, videos and other files from your PC or Mac and access them on your phone
3. Files you upload from your PC, phone or mac are stored securely and will be then available whenever you launch the app on your iPhone ot iPad.
4. You can access files shared by other users with you
5. Upload all your photos and your videos to Microsoft SkyDrive and have them stored for free.
6. SkyDrive offers 25 GB of free personal storage 


If you already use Hotmail, Messenger or Xbox live you already have a SkyDrive account. If not you can head on over to SkyDrive and create a free account.


SkyDrive on the Web. 
Download the App on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch here. 
Launching an app like this makes a lot of sense since there are so many Windows users who also love their iPhones. Cloud-storage is all the big rage and this app just makes things easier.

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Sociolatte