Apple has released a third public beta of iOS 5.1 to developers. It’s available for download from developer.apple.com if you have a developer account.

For the most part this is a bug fix release which doesn’t offer any major new features, but it does return the option to disable 3G and rely on Edge wireless connectivity which can help prolong your battery life (while slowing your internet connection to a crawl).

The update changes the baseband, so if you jailbreak and carrier unlock your iPhone, you should probably proceed with extreme caution before applying the latest update.

Apple has released a new beta of its operating system for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Developers can download iOS 5.1 beta from the Apple developer portal.

The list of changes isn’t all that informative, but the latest version of iOS appears to add some new voice dictation features, fix some bugs, and squash some security holes. It’s likely that Apple has also been working on bugs that have affected battery life for some users, although it’s not yet clear whether iOS 5.1 will deliver better battery life.

If you have a jailbroken device you’ll probably want to hold off on updating to iOS 5.1 until the iPhone Dev Team confirms that you can use redsn0w or a similar tool to jailbreak the new operating system.

via 9 to 5 Mac

Apple has opened the doors to its iTunes Match service. For $24.99 per year, users can synchronize their digital music collection with Apple’s iCloud service.

What that means is that you don’t need to upload your entire digital music collection to the cloud. Just download iTunes 10.5.1 on your Windows or Mac computer and it will scan your music and figure out if there’s already a copy of the same song on Apple’s servers.

As an added bonus, iTunes Match gives you 256kbps AAC DRM-free music, even if the file on your computer is a 96kpbs MP3 file. That’s because you’re not actually uploading most songs to iCloud. Instead, Apple just makes a note of which songs you own and matches your cute little music collection against Apple’s enormous collection which covers millions of songs.

If you do have tracks that aren’t already available, then Apple will upload them for you.

Theoretically the new service lets you match songs you’ve ripped from legally purchased CDs without having to buy those tracks again from iTunes. In practice, Apple doesn’t have any real way to distinguish songs you’ve ripped from songs you’ve downloaded from the internet, so those albums you grabbed from Napster 10 years ago are finally about to become legal.

Once you’ve signed up for iTunes Match you can access your songs on any Apple device. Technically you won’t be streaming your music… instead you can sign up for the service with your desktop computer and then be able to download and listen to any of your songs on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, MacBook, or other Apple device for no additional fee.

Apple’s GarageBand app for iOS lets users create and edit music on a mobile device. When the app launched last year it was an iPad exclusive. But now Apple has released a major update which allows GarageBand to run on an iPhone or iPod touch as well.

You can use the app to tap out tunes on a virtual keyboard, strum a virtual guitar, tap beats on a virtual drum kit, or use dozens of other virtual instruments. You can also mix songs using up to 8 tracks, create loops, trim audio, or apply other effects. You can either save your song as a digital music file or send a project to a Mac to continue editing in the desktop version of GarageBand.

GarageBand 1.1 for iOS is a universal app that runs most recent iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad models running iOS 4.3 and up. The update also adds new features such as 3/4 or 6/8 time signatures, custom chords for Smart Instruments, and new export quality settings for AAC and AIFF files.

GarageBand for iOS is available from the App Store for $4.99. It weighs in at a hefty 501MB.

I’ve never really gotten the point of the Apple Store app for iOS. I mean, do you really find yourself shopping for iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products so often that you need to install an app on your mobile device instead of just visiting the website?

But now it looks like Apple could be rolling out an update that will allow you to use the Apple Store app in a novel way in bricks and mortars stores. According to MacRumors, you’ll be able to use it for self-checkout.

In other words, you walk into an Apple Store. Pick up an item off the shelf and scan it with your phone’s camera and your iTunes Store account will be billed. You can now walk out with your item without ever going up to the cash register.

While you’ll be able to pick up cables, cases, and other accessories this way, big ticket items will still hang out in the stock room. You won’t be able to walk out with an iMac or a MacBook Air without asking for assistance. But you will still be able to pay on your device and just stop a staff member to help you collect your item before leaving.

I suspect that friendly employee standing near the front of the store might also want you to flash your digital receipt before you exit, but if the rumor is true, it’s a pretty remarkable way to blur the lines between digital shopping and real-world shopping.

Apple’s new iCloud service lets iOS users sync their data using Apple’s servers. This lets you access your email, contacts, calendars, browser bookmarks, and photos from any device with a supported web browser. It also lets you synchronize your data between devices so that photos you snap on your iPhone will automatically show up on your iPad, or web pages you bookmark on your Mac will show up on your iPod touch.

While iCloud is built into iOS 5 and OS X Lion, if you want to use the service to synchronize with a Windows PC you’ll need a little help.

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Apple released iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad today. But the Apple TV also got a software update today. The latest software for Apple’s $99 set-top-box brings iOS 5 features including AirPlay Mirorring as well as several new apps.

Here’s a rundown of the new features:

• AirPlay Mirroring – Stream whatever’s happening on an iPad 2 to an Apple TV.
• Photo Stream – View photos taken on an iOS device and shared with iCloud.
• Trailers – Watch hundreds of movie trailers.
• NHL – Watch live hockey games, see highlights, or check scores.
• Wall Street Journal Live – See the latest news and commentary from the WSJ.

The Apple TV 4.4 software is available for second-generation Apple TV boxes.

Apple has released iOS 5 for most recent iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad models. The new operating system features hundreds of improvements, but the biggest changes include support for wireless synchronization with a computer — and with Apple’s online iCloud service, an improved camera application, and a much better notification system.

For the first time you’ll also be able to upgrade from one version of iOS 5 to the next without a computer. Apple will push over-the-air updates that you can download and install directly from your mobile device.

If you’re using a device running iOS 4 or earlier, you’ll need to connect to iTunes at least one more time to install the software update, but that might be the latest time you ever need to use iTunes

Apple iOS 5 supports the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2, and 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch devices. Here’s a rundown of some of the best new features.

iCloud

Apple’s new iCloud service offers online storage for your music, documents, photos, apps, and other data. This lets you easily synchronize your data between devices.

Say you buy an app or an eBook from your iPhone. Now you can automatically push it to iTunes on your Mac or PC, your iPad, or your iPod touch. As part of the service, you no longer have to backup your apps to iTunes on a computer for safe keeping. You can redownload purchased apps at any time by using the App Store on your device.

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