Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference last night to deliver the keynote speech.

During the speech he covered topics from Apple factory working conditions, to how he intends to run the company in the absence of late CEO Steve Jobs.

Company direction

When asked what he was determined to maintain now that Steve Jobs is no longer around, Cook said: "Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great product, and that we should stay extremely focused on just a few things rather than try to do so many that we do nothing well. We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society, not just sell a lot of products.

"And so, these things, along with keeping excellence as an expectation of everything at Apple, these are the things that I focus on because I think those are the things that make Apple this magical place. We're always focused on the future. We don't sit and think about how great things were yesterday. I love that trait. I think it's the thing that drive us all forward."

Price competition

Responding to a question about tablets, Cook went into why Apple isn't in a hurry to start a price war with competitors, saying: "Price is rarely the most important thing. A cheap product might sell some units. Somebody gets it home and they feel great when they pay the money, but then they get it home and use it, and the joy is gone.

"The joy is gone every day that they use it until they aren't using it anymore. You don't keep remembering 'I got a good deal!' because you hate it!"

Factory working conditions

Working conditions at factories manufacturing Apple products has been a hot news topic recently, and Cook gave a statement about the company line during his speech.

Addressing a question on the issue, he said: "Apple takes working conditions very, very seriously, and we have for a very long time… Our commitment is simple: Every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely.

"Apple suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labour, it's a firing offense."

This tallies with Tim Cook's recent email to Apple staff assuring them that he was taking the matter in hand and his invitation to the Fair Labor Association to inspect working conditions for itself.

Apple held a press conference on Tuesday 4 October, where the company unveiled the iPhone 4S. Until that point, rumours abounded that we were going to see the launch of the iPhone 5.

Now that the iPhone 4S has broken cover, we can turn our collective eye to the the iPhone 5 release date - when is it?

Given the pattern of Apple's iPhone launches, we're expecting the next-gen iPhone 5 to debut in mid to late 2012. We reckon it's most likely to be shown off at Apple's Worldwide Developer Event (WWDC), which usually takes place in early June.

On 18 October 2011, we reported on sources who claim that the revised iPhone 5 release date is now set for summer 2011, after the anticipated handset hit delays back in February which stopped it from being ready for the October event.

Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, claims the iPhone 5 was "the last project that Steve Jobs was intimately involved with".

Below are the earlier rumours we reported on leading up to the iPhone 4S announcement.

Update: The Japanese Apple site has outed the iPhone 4S, giving a release date of 14 October. No confirmation of an iPhone 4S UK release date but we're betting it won't be far off.

The CEO of France Telecom, parent company of Orange, has given a pretty clear indication that the iPhone 5 release date is set for mid-October, going as far as giving an actual date when he thinks the iPhone 5 launch will be,

Speaking to French media, the chatty Stéphane Richard (who, lest we forget, is quite happy to wax lyrical on Apple's plans), said that his network had heard word of Apple's iPhone 5 coming soon:

"If we believe what we have been told, the iPhone 5 will be released on 15 October," said the CEO, declining to give further details on who or why had told him that

So could the iPhone 5 release date really be 15 October?

What is more curious is that date lands on a Saturday – once again making it look like we've got misinformation over the iPhone 5 release date, as Apple prefers making everyone skive off work to go and queue up outside its doors to be among the first to get the new device.

The International Business Times reports that the iPhone 5 release date

Store closures for 5 October iPhone 5 release date?

MailOnline reports that some stores in the US have been closed "for renovation" ahead of an iPhone 5 release date on 5 October. "A voicemail at one of the San Francisco stores simply said that the store was 'currently closed while we undergo a minor update to the Apple store. We will reopen on Wednesday, October 5" says the paper.

Staff at Apple Stores in the UK have been told not to take any holiday in the first two weeks of October, prompting even more speculation that the iPhone UK release date will be around this time.

Likewise Beatweek reports that AT&T has demanded that employees can't take holiday in October and is bringing in mandatory overtime giving further sway to an October iPhone 5 release date.

Whenever the iPhone 5 release date is, be sure to check out our rumour round up video:

iPhone 5 rumours: iPhone 4S and new rumours

As it happened, there was no iPhone 5 in 2011 after all, but the company did announce the iPhone 4S.

However, the iPhone 5 is still on the cards - we're expecting it to debut in the middle of this year. So we've gathered together all the latest iPhone 5 rumours and rounded them up below.

First though, why not read our complete iPhone 4S review?

It's the phone that appeared when the whole world was looking forward to the iPhone 5 anyway, so make up your own mind whether to make the jump to Apple's latest now or save those pennies for the 2012 iPhone 5 release.

iPhone 5 release date

UPDATE: For the latest on the new iPhone 5's release date, check out our regularly updated article iPhone 5 release date.

Given the pattern of Apple's iPhone launches, we're expecting the next-gen iPhone 5 to debut in mid to late 2012. We reckon it's most likely to be shown off at Apple's Worldwide Developer Event (WWDC), which usually takes place in early June.

Rumours that we reported on 18 October claim an iPhone 5 release date of Summer 2012. Analyst Ashok Kumar claimed that the absent iPhone 5 was meant to be the big announcement at the recent event where the iPhone 4S was launched.

iPhone 5 form factor

Unlike the iPhone 4S, it'll be a completely new design from what has gone before, so that means an entirely new casing as we saw with the iPhone 3G and, later, the iPhone 4.

Interestingly, someone who claimed to have seen a larger-screened iPhone 5 prototype said in November 2011 that Steve Jobs canned the new handset and opted for the iPhone 4S because of the larger screen size of the new device. According to Business Insider, it was feared that a new size would create a two-tier iPhone ecosystem.

Beatweek also claimed in November 2011 that the 5-inch was scrapped "because Apple wouldn't be able to do it properly" this year. However, the Daily Mail (make of that what you will) then suggested that a four-inch version was likely and that Sony has already shipped top secret demo screens to Apple.

iPhone 5 specs

Based on the roadmap of mobile chip design specialist ARM (of which Apple is a licensee), we'll see a quad-core processor debut in the iPhone 5 - probably called the Apple A6. We know that we'll see other quad core handsets debut in 2012, so it's not too much of a stretch to say that the iPhone 5 will be the same.

iPhone 5 will have 4G/LTE support

With many 4G handsets already announced in the US, it can't be long before the iPhone supports 4G technologies - even if we won't even have a UK spectrum auction until 2012.

• 4G mobile broadband and LTE explained

Cnet.com quotes Will Strauss from analyst firm Forward Concepts, who says that the next iPhone will feature LTE technologies."They're saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won't be out until next spring," said Strauss.

Steve Jobs' iPhone 5 legacy

Many sites have reported that Steve Jobs was working hard on the iPhone 5 project, which will apparently be a "radical redesign". We shall see...

iPhone 5 rumours: old rumours

Below are the rumours that we reported on leading up to the iPhone 4S press conference.

iPhone 5 (or the iPhone 4S, as some are calling it) rumours have been flying thick and fast for months.

And now Apple has finally confirmed a press conference for Tuesday 4 October, where the company will almost certainly unveil the iPhone 5.

The invitation hints that it will be one phone that is announced, which is likely to be the iPhone 5 rather than the much-discussed iPhone 4S.

Check out what TechRadar is hoping makes it into the next iPhone, in our video wish list:

And if you're in a bit of a hurry, we've also got a handy iPhone 5 video detailing the latest rumours on release date, spec and more - so check if out for a quick fix of next-gen Apple fun:

Although we are still waiting for news on an iPhone 5 UK release date, we reckon an iPhone 5 release of late October is likely. It's possible that the iPhone 5 release date is November, but it's more likely set for October.

In mid September the CEO of France Telecom (the parent company of Orange) got specific when commenting on the iPhone 5 release date, saying "If we believe what we have been told, the iPhone 5 will be released on 15 October."

Price cuts of the iPhone 4 in August hinted at an autumn release for the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S and Apple reportedly began pushing up the amount of orders for the handset.

In early September, Japanese site Macotakara reported that the iPhone 5 had entered production, saying that Foxconn and Pegatron had begun assembly on the new handset. A few days later, Digitimes wrote that Foxconn was producing 150,000 units of the new iPhone per day.

Rumours of a UK Apple Store holiday ban also emerged on 26 September. It was also reported that Telefonica, which owns the O2 network, is set to begin scaling back iPhone stock in advance of "the launch of a new smartphone".

However, it may not all be plain sailing for Apple, with rumours that Samsung will seek a sales ban courtesy of an injunction - another piece of the increasingly mixed up lawsuit puzzle between the pair.

The iPhone 5 will debut alongside iOS 5 and iCloud

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer was asked during an earnings call why he was suggesting a 12 per cent drop in revenues for the Q3 financial period - a traditionally robust time thanks to the scores of people buying the latest iPhone.

He said that there is "a lot going on in the fall with iOS 5 and iCloud" but added there will be a "future product transition that we will not talk about today".

That's almost certainly the new iPhone 5. And iOS 5 will arrive alongside it as well iCloud.

Apple says it is "cutting the cable" with iOS 5 - just as well, as it claimed the iPad 2 was the first post-PC device earlier in the year. OS updates can be delivered over the air - you'll just received what's changed rather than the usual 600MB download - and devices can be activated without plugging them into iTunes.

You can also now create and delete iOS calendars and mailboxes too, so you really can devolve your device from your PC or Mac.

"You can activate on the device and you're ready to go," explained Apple's Scott Forstall.

"Software updates are now over the air. So you no longer need to plug in to update your software. And they're now Delta updates. Instead of downloading the whole OS, you only download what's changed," he continued.

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that: "Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the phone. One person familiar said the fifth-generation iPhone would be a different form factor than those that are currently available… it was unclear how soon that version would be available to Verizon or other carriers."

This has since been backed up by reports from Engadget, which state the design will be a 'total rethink'.

Chinese case manufacturers have been sent design briefings of the new iPhone 5 chassis and apparently feature a return to the old days of iPhone design. But could iPhone 5 really have a curved back? We can't begin to tell you how sceptical we are over such a 'leak', given Apple's desperation to keep its forthcoming designs under wraps.

However, earlier reports from China backed up the larger-screened, metal chassis-sporting iPhone 5 rumours, so the redesign still seems firmly on the cards.

Interestingly, an Apple patent that we reported on on 7 April 2011 suggests that we could see the bezel put to good use on the new iPhone. The patent describes how visual indicators and touch-sensitive buttons could be incorporated to the space around the iPhone screen.

Will iPhone 5 actually be an iPhone 4S?

Of course, since the iPhone 3G was followed by the 3GS it's possible the new iPhone won't be a total refresh and we'll see an iPhone 4S (or iPhone 4GS) before an iPhone 5.

An iPhone 4S looked more likely on 16 May 2011 after analyst Peter Misek wrote: "According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support."

Rumours that we covered on 3 May 2011, suggest that there may even be two versions of the new iPhone: a 'standard' iPhone 5 and an iPhone 5 'pro'. Apparently, Apple is buying in components of differing quality, and those parts wouldn't be required for a single phone.

A white iPhone 5

The Economic Daily News is reporting that white iPhone 5 glass is being shipped, with a supplier called Wintek being the sole touch panel vendor for the white iPhone.

On 12 September 2011, a page which briefly popped up on Vodafone's site referenced the iPhone 5 in white as well as black.

iPhone 5 will support 1080p HD

It's fairly likely - given that the iPad 2 supports Full HD - that the new iPhone will do the same.

According to the Chinese Economic Daily News (via AppleInsider), with the exception of Qualcomm chipsets - which would replace the current Infineon chipsets in the iPhone 4 - Apple's sticking with the same suppliers for the 2011 iPhone 5G components.

We'd expect the basics of the iPhone 5 specs to get a bump - more memory, faster processor, and more storage. The A5 dual-core ARM processor from the iPad 2 is extremely likely to be included.

The specs? A new antenna, 1.2GHz processor (possibly dual-core) and a larger screen: 3.7" instead of 3.5". The iPhone 5 may also be made from a new kind of alloy, or maybe meat.

On 12 September 2011, a page briefly appeared on the Vodafone site referencing the iPhone 5 in 16GB and 32GB storage, and in white as well as black. Other sources expect double the RAM of the iPhone 4, so that would be 1GB instead of 512MB.

On 20 September a bunch of internal iPhone 5 components were supposedly shown off.

iPhone 5 screen

Various sources claim the iPhone 5 will feature a larger, 4-inch screen. Digitimes quotes the source as saying that Apple is expanding the screen size "to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market."

On 23 May, we reported on rumours that the iPhone 5 could feature a curved glass screen. These rumours also came from Digitimes, which said that Apple has purchased between 200 and 300 special glass cutting machines because they're too costly for the manufacturers to invest in.

The iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S will also get a massive graphical boost as it moves to a dual-core GPU - this will herald true 1080p output from the new device.

iPhone 5 digital wallet - NFC

There's been some speculation that Apple might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 5G, turning it into a kind of credit/debit card.

However, with the tech being inside the Google Nexus S, the time for NFC may finally be here.

On 24 June 2011 it was reported that the Google Wallet mobile payment platform could feature on the new iPhone. Eric Schmidt admitted that Google is looking to port the software to other manufacturers.

However, on 31 January 2012 9to5Mac claimed to have spoken with a well-connected developer who disclosed information received from Apple iOS engineers saying they are "heavily into NFC".

The developer in question has not been named, but is working on a dedicated iOS app which includes NFC reading for mobile transactions. When questioned how confident he was on the information he had received his reply was "Enough to bet the app development on".

iPhone 5 camera

Sony makes the camera for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Speaking at a live Wall Street Journal event, Sony's Sir Howard Stringer was talking about the company's camera image sensor facility in Sendai, a town that was recently ravaged by the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

According to 9to5Mac, he said something along the lines of, "Our best sensor technology is built in one of the [tsunami] affected factories. Those go to Apple for their iPhones… or iPads. Isn't that something? They buy our best sensors from us."

Sources have also suggested the new iPhone could have an 8MP camera. Indeed, Sony announced in January 2012 that it had developed new back-illuminated stacked CMOS image sensors which are smaller in size.

iPhone 5 price

If the iPhone 5 is an evolutionary step like the move from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS then we'd expect the price to stay more or less the same, although in the UK higher VAT rates may well mean a higher price tag.

iPhone 5 review

TechRadar is renowned for it's detailed phone reviews where we look at every aspect of a handset, and we'll be bringing you a full, in-depth iPhone 5 review when we get our hands on one.

iPad 3 release date, processor and more

The Apple iPad 2 has been out for almost a year now, so it's nearly time to say hello to iPad 3.

The web is teeming with rumours about the new iPad 3 processor, cameras and display, so we've gathered together as many details as we can on its possible specifications.

Of course, some of these can be taken with a pinch of salt, but there's definite patterns occuring and we'd say the final iPad 3 release won't be that far removed from many of these rumours

So what's the word on the street about the next iPad?

Apple iPad 3 release date

The iPad 3 release date looks set for March or April 2012, with an iPad 3 announcement in March to coincide with the release of iOS 5.1.

Website YourDailyMac has unearthed iOS 5.1 carrier profiles which carry the possible iPad 3 release date of 9 March 2012 in their names.

However, we'd expect the iPad 3 announcement to be in February, with the iPad 3 US release date in early March and the iPad 3 UK release date in late March.

Apple news site iMore says the announcement will be 7 March, citing sources "which have proved reliable in the past" have confirmed the date ahead of any official announcement from Cupertino.

Digitimes reported in late November 2011 that panel makers had already started shipping panels for the new iPad 3 - a million in October and two million in November.

Foxconn, Apple's major manufacturing partner, is said to have started production of the iPad 3 in January. 2012. A source at one of Apple's partners also told Bloomberg also stated that the company began production of the iPad 3 in January, with a view to reaching full volumes in February.

Digitimes says the new model is expected to meet the heady heights of 9.5 to 9.8 million units over the course of Q1 2012.

The Apple iPad 3 will have a quad-core processor

It's probable that the iPad 3 will have a brand spanking new processor, Apple's A6 - which will surely be a quad-core ARM-based processor. Quad-core designs are coming from various ARM partners and the Tegra 3 has already been launched by Nvidia, as well as the Snapdragon S4 from Qualcomm.

According to the Korea Times in November 2011, the A6 processors are to be manufactured by Samsung, despite the companies' ongoing patent battles.

Apple iPad 3 display

A retina display was widely predicted for the iPad 2, but of course the current iPad doesn't have a double-resolution display: for now, that's something you'll only get in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Could an iPad 3 Retina Display be on the way? It's the very first thing on our iPad 3 wish list.

The exciting news is that it looks as though it is happening, with Apple reportedly testing suppliers' current shipments of 2048 x 1536 resolution 9.7-inch displays. Now that iBooks 2 has been launched (as of 19 January 2012), we've also seen further references to 2x iPad screen images - these will, most likely, be for iPad 3.

However, it's not always been plain sailing for the display - rumours continued over the summer and autumn of 2011 that the retina display in the iPad 3 was continuing to be a challenge.

Back in May 2011, we reported that the iPad 3 could launch with a Samsung-made AMOLED screen, following rumours that Apple was in talks on the matter with Samsung execs. There have also been more LG and Samsung rumours, too.

However, according to the Wall Street Journal in late November 2011, Sharp will manufacture panels for the device. Apparently Apple is investing in infrastructure at Sharp's LCD plant. Further rumours said that Apple is looking to implement some nifty dual LED lightbar technology into the iPad 3, apparently in a bid to counter-balance the brightness issue that the Apple tablet may have, due to its super-high pixel density.

A part leak in early December again pointed to a Sharp-manufactured 2048x1536 retina display and dual lightbar.

iPAD 2: We wanted a retina screen, but didn't get it - what about for iPad 3?

Will the iPad 3 actually be called iPad 2S?

An iPad case maker in China, Chinee, has started to sell a cover for a device it's calling 'iPad 2S'.

Case manufactures have a good history of being on the money when it comes to pre-empting Apple's hardware plans, with last year's iPhone 5-gate being an exception to the rule.

There is no confusion of where the iPad 2S name derives from – following the way of the iPhone as we saw Apple announce the iPhone 4S last year.

According to several rumours the iPad 2S will sport the same look as the 2, with a boost in internal gubbins but slightly more portly in depth.

There may be an iPad 3 LTE version

Persistent rumours suggest LTE support will be provided for the US. Great for the US, though it will leave the UK behind as there's no 4G connectivity as yet. Cnet.com believes that the new iPad may feature a Qualcomm 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip.

On 14 February 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that: "Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. will sell a version of the coming iPad that runs on their newest fourth-generation wireless networks, according to people familiar with the matter."

The iPad 3 will usher in iOS 5.1

Alongside the much anticipated iPad 3, Macotakara sources seem convinced we'll see iOS 5.1 come out of beta in March too.

The iPad 3 will have a bigger battery

A casing supposedly for the iPad 3 was posted online in February, with its size suggesting we're in for an increase in battery and graphics power in the new Apple tablet. Some say the new casing appears to accommodate a larger battery.

Will the iPad 3 have a smaller dock connector?

Parts previewed on some websites indicate that, although the iPad 3 will still have a 30 pin dock connector, the packaging is streamlined. Well, if this is true, we knew it would happen sooner or later.

The iPad 3 hardware could include an NFC chip

Apple's very interested in Near Field Communications, and one particularly tasty rumour at Cult of Mac suggests that the iPhone 5 will use NFC to take over nearby Macs, enabling you to use your data and settings with a flick of the wrist.

The iPad 3 specifications will include more storage

The iPad 2 has the familiar 16/32/64GB storage options. A 128GB option for the iPad 3 isn't impossible - although that might depend on the situation in Asia, where natural disasters caused chaos in parts of the electronics industry last year.

The iPad 3 features could include a Thunderbolt port

Two generations of USB-free iPads suggest that Apple just isn't interested in adding one, but the new Thunderbolt port found in the 2011 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air could be another story: it's a combined accessory/display connector with astonishingly fast performance.

There could be more than one iPad 3

TUAW says the iOS 5 code features new code files for USB devices in the iOS 5 firmware, Through this, TUAW found references to an iPad 3,1 and an iPad 3,2. Is this latter variant the LTE version?

The iPad 3 could be thicker

The iPad 3 might be bulking out, reportedly so it can house a higher-resolution display than the iPad 2, and the extra girth is all down to pixel density.

THICKER?: Could iPad 3 be thicker than iPad 2?

The iPad 3 specs might include an SD card slot

This was widely predicted for the iPad 2 and, like the Retina Display, didn't materialise. One for version 3, perhaps? Using a separate adapter to read camera cards is rather inelegant and clunky.

The iPad 3 specification should include a better camera

The rear-facing camera on the iPad 2 isn't brilliant: an iPhone 4S-style camera and flash would do nicely.

The iPad 3 might use gesture controls

Could the iPad 3 have Kinect-style gesture controls? We're not so sure, but rumours suggested so in late October 2011.

The iPad 3 could feature a carbon fibre case

Apple has hired a carbon fibre expert, senior composites engineer Kevin Kenney, fuelling speculation that the next iPad could be encased in the lightweight material.

Apple's heavily-rumoured iTV will not be able to compete with the picture quality offered by Samsung sets, according to an AV product manager with the Koreans.

Samsung's Chris Moseley told Pocket-Link that the firm isn't overly concerned with what Apple launches if it decides to enter the TV market.

Moseley says Apple's much-touted plan to 'revolutionise' the television market can could fall flat because TV buyers will choose superior picture quality from other manufacturers over how 'smart' the device is.

Famous last words?

In a frank interview, which could one day be seen as famous last words, he says: "We've not seen what they've done but what we can say is that they don't have 10,000 people in R&D in the vision category.

"They don't have the best scaling engine in the world and they don't have world renowned picture quality that has been awarded more than anyone else.

"TVs are ultimately about picture quality. Ultimately. How smart they are...great, but let's face it that's a secondary consideration. The ultimate is about picture quality and there is no way that anyone, new or old, can come along this year or next year and beat us on picture quality.

"So, from that perspective, it's not a great concern, but it remains to be seen what they're going to come out with, if anything."

Role reversal

The Samsung man's brazen comments come as the company continues to do battle with Apple, in the courtroom and stores, for dominance over the smartphone and tablet markets.

Throughout this war, Samsung has been chasing the iPhone and iPad with devices like the Galaxy SII and Galaxy Tab series.

If Apple decided to take-on Samsung in the AV department the boot will be on the other foot as Apple enters territory where the Koreans will unquestionably have an edge.

Samsung obviously feels it has enough in the tank to hold off any offensive from Apple and with devices like this 55-inch OLED beast coming to the UK this spring, its confidence is somewhat justified.

Those Apple fans desperately seeking the launch of the iPad 3 tablet now have a date to pin their hopes on amid reports that the tablet will be unveiled on March 7.

The prediction comes from Apple news site iMore, which says sources 'which have proved reliable in the past' have confirmed the date ahead of any official announcement from Cupertino.

The report follows AllThingsD's assertion that the launch will take place some time during the first week of March before going on sale around a week later.

iMore also backs up rumours of expected enhancements to the device, including a Retina Display, a quad-core A6 processor and possible 4G LTE connectivity for markets where those speeds are available.

Traditional launch schedules

The Wednesday March 7th timeline doesn't sound like too much of a reach from our perspective and would certainly fit in with launch schedules for previous versions of the device.

Even if Apple doesn't take the stage in San Francisco on that particular date, we can't imagine that iMore's estimate will be out by much.

To catch up on all of the latest, check our iPad 3 rumours: What you need to know feature.

Apple's making a bit of a song and dance about the fact that it has invited the Fair Labor Association to inspect its supplier factories after rows over worker welfare.

Last week, demonstrations took place at a number of Apple stores as people protested poor working conditions at factories like Foxconn where some Apple products, including the iPad and iPhone, are assembled.

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, explained, "We've asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers.

"The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports."

They've all got it infamy

A team of labour rights specialists are carrying out the inspections which began this morning at Foxconn City in Shenzhen, China.

Foxconn has achieved infamy in the tech industry over the past two years after a number of its employees committed suicide at its Shenzen factory seemingly due to working conditions.

While we all love a good gadget, it's important to remember that someone somewhere is responsible for designing, assembling and testing them and it shouldn't be a case of out of sight, out of mind - as Tim Cook says, "Workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment."

How to get started with Apple Mail

Despite the popularity of social networks, no computer is complete without a great email app to help you keep in touch with friends and loved ones.

It's no surprise, then, that all Macs come with Apple's Mail program built into OS X. It makes it easy to set up your email account and browse and sort your messages, as well as write emails to others.

You'll need to have an email account. And for many email types, including Yahoo!, AOL, Gmail and Windows Live/Hotmail, Mail can set up your account using just your email address and password.

You can set up other kinds of accounts, but you may need to know the details of your incoming and outgoing servers, which your provider should be able to supply you with.

Once your account is set up, you'll see the Mail interface, with a list of emails on the left, and a preview box on the right. There's a Show button just above the messages list that enables you to see your list of account inboxes, which is handy if you have more than one set up, have created multiple mailboxes, or if you want to browse messages you've deleted from your inbox.

From the toolbar along the top of the Mail window, you can check for new messages, compose a new email, create a new note, delete emails, mark emails as junk mail, forward and reply to messages, and flag emails for your attention later.

There's also a search bar here, which enables you to find text anywhere in any of your emails, so you can easily search for its subject, or the person who sent it, for example.

In this walkthrough, we'll talk you through the basics of using the Mail app, including getting set up, reading your emails and writing messages, but once you're more confident with Mail, you can do a lot more.

For example, you can set up Rules such as having incoming messages sorted into different inboxes depending on the sender, you can change the default font and size that messages are displayed in, and create multiple email signatures.

Of course, if all you want to do is send and receive the occasional hello from family members, you can stick with just the steps on the opposite page and enjoy the full email experience.

How to get to grips with features in Apple Mail

1. Set up your account

When you first open Mail, or when you add a new account, it will ask for your name, email address and password. For many types of email, this is all you'll need to enter, but if Mail is unable to find the information it needs automatically, it'll ask you for more details.

2. Read a message

With your account set up, and email flooding in, select one in the left-hand inbox list to display it in the window to the right. Or, you can double-click on an email to open it in a new window. From here, you can click the arrow buttons at the top to reply or forward emails.

3. File attachments

If an email sent to you has an attachment, you'll see a paperclip next to the sender's name. A file icon will be displayed beneath the email text. You can click a file's name to open it, open it with Quick Look for a brief check, and save it by right-clicking.

4. Photo attachments

Attachments, such as photos and PDF files, are handled slightly differently. They are displayed in full under the email's text. Again, they can be opened or saved, and if there are several photos, you can view them in a slideshow with Quick Look.

5. Search through emails

In the top-right of the Mail window is the search box. Mail will search all emails for anything you type in here. Results appear in the inbox pane, and below the search box. You can use this list to search for emails from certain people, or by subject line, for example.

6. Compose a message

Click the paper-and-pencil icon to create a new message. In the To field, you can enter the email address of your recipient.

If they're stored in your Address Book, you don't need to type out their email address in full – start typing their name, and Mail will offer their email address. Add a subject line and type a message in the blank space below that.

To attach a file, click the paperclip icon at the top of the windows and browse to the file you want. Clicking the icon that looks like a mountain will open a photo browser, so you can insert a photo from your iPhoto library.

To the right of this icon is a button to open the stationery pane, which enables you to send colourful emails.

New financial results show that Apple now has a market value which is greater than both Google and Microsoft combined.

Stock in the company rose by a mighty three per cent this week, this comes a few weeks after the company revealed that it had its best quarter ever – managing to earn $13.06 billion with total revenue in the quarter up to $46.33 billion.

Apple: bigger than drugs

Couple these results with Google's share price falling nine per cent and Microsoft losing 6 per cent of its Windows revenue and what you have is a company which is greater in stock value than the sum of its two biggest tech rivals combined.

Aptly, it was Fortune magazine which put Apple's fortune into context best, with it noting that the company now worth more than the gross domestic product of Denmark and has more value more than all of the illegal drugs in the world put together.

And if you want to know more things Apple is richer than, then head over to the rather excellent 'things Apple is worth more than' Tumblr.

The FBI has released its files on Steve Jobs, which label the late Apple visionary as 'a deceptive individual' and a 'complex character.'

The former Apple CEO was subject to a background check from the Feds when under consideration for a position in then-US President George H.W. Bush's White House administration.

The files, which have been released following a request under the Freedom of Information Act, says Jobs would "twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals."

'Suspect moral character'

The character judgements come from 29 interviews conducted with individuals who knew Jobs.

One so-called "good friend" of the late Apple co-founder said he was "basically an honest and trustworthy person, [but] he is a very complex individual and his moral character is suspect."

The pal added that Jobs had "alienated a large number of people at Apple as a result of his ambition" in the report, which was complied during his exile from the company.

The documents also contain references to Jobs' Buddhist faith, his parenting skills and his well-documented experiments with drugs.

The entire 191-page document can be viewed on the FBI website now.

A casing supposedly created for the iPad 3 has been ruthlessly photographed and posted online, with its size suggesting we're in for an increase in battery and graphics power in the new Apple tablet.

The speculation has been prompted a direct comparison with the casing used for to manufacture the iPad 2, revealing some slight differences.

The first being the size of the logic board – the iPad 3 casing has less room for this, which Fix-iPhones.com, the hithertofore unheard of site that acquired the pictures, reckons means we'll see the extra space taken up by a larger battery.

Power hungry

Comparing the two cases also reveals some changes to the camera – although what these will be is impossible to tell from the two images.

Perhaps most interestingly is the fact that the casing allows for a 'redesigned' display, which could mean we'll see that high-res super-screen that's been rumoured for so long after all.

The increased battery and redesigned display go hand-in-hand with earlier rumours that Apple has had to up its battery-life to properly backlight the higher pixel density.

As usual with Apple rumours, we prescribe a hefty does of salt be taken alongside this latest speculation – there's no way of verifying that this is the iPad 3 casing or if it even came from Apple's manufacturers at all.

Although some of the suppositions do jive with other rumours, nothing is certain until we hear it from Apple itself. So we'll stay comfy here on the fence where we feel that it's quite likely that at least some of this is true.

A paper written by an ex-Apple intern who now works for the company has revealed secret plans to port Mac OS X to an ARM chipset.

Tristan Schaap did a 12-week internship with the Platform Technologies Group at Apple, and penned a thesis on the work he had been set, namely working to get the "lower half" of Mac OS X to boot onto an ARM processor.

The paper was submitted in 2010 but not published until some months ago due to the sensitive nature of its contents.

Peach Schaaps

But just because Schaap did work on this project and is now employed by the Core OS department doesn't mean we're definitely going to see ARM architecture in the next generation of Macs.

It may have been an experiment, it could have been a decoy or the project may have once been planned and since been pulled, who knows.

Apple's Mac range currently rocks Intel chipsets but rumours have been around for years that the company wants to try its hand at an ARM platform.

But as Apple Insider points out, Tim Cook seems reticent to take those plans further, telling analysts last week that the iPad should satisfy those who would want such a thing as an ARM-based MacBook Air.

So excited is Best Buy by the money-making possibilities of the currently-imaginary Apple TV set that it is including it in a customer survey, complete with some specs that may or may not be legit.

What Best Buy reckons Apple has up its sleeve is a 42-inch LED set with 1080p (Full HD) resolution, calling it Apple HDTV (although we're sure Apple has a catchier i-prefixed product name in mind).

The retailer supposes that the iTV will run iOS, bringing iCloud compatibility for streaming films and music from that magical realm, the cloud, as well as App Store apps into the mix.

"Can you imagine playing Angry Birds on a big screen in your living room?" it asks. Yes, that's why we'll all be shelling out thousands of pounds on an Apple television. Angry Birds.

iSkype

Best Buy also surmises that the television will include an iSight webcam and microphone "for Skype" which just goes to show that whoever wrote it knows nothing about Apple since Facetime is the video-calling application of choice for iOS.

The retailer even goes so far as to suggest a price tag for the hypothetical goggle box - $1,499 (£950) – that's a lot more than the current raft of 42-inch TVs around, but then this is an Apple TV we're talking about.

Sadly for AV fans, the survey doesn't make any mention of technical specs like whether the panel is 3D-ready, whether the TV uses edge-lit LEDs or if there's local dimming involved and it has nothing on the set's sound options.

Is this for real? Sounds like Best Buy spitting into the wind to us but we suppose there's a chance that Apple's readying an Angry Birds-toting Skype TV.

Authors' books are their own again, as Apple has changed its iBooks Author end user licensing agreement (EULA), now allowing users to sell their books elsewhere.

The clarified terms now state that although you can't distribute the .ibooks file anywhere but through iBooks, you can still tout your actual words around elsewhere.

"You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author," the terms now say, accepting at last that we don't all exist solely to make Apple money.

Cheque book

Previously, the EULA demanded that any books being sold for money be sold only via Apple, saying, "If your work is provided for a fee… you may only distribute the work through Apple."

Writers understandably took affront to such over-zealous terms – after all, who wants to slave away for years on their opus only to hand the rights to it (and 30 per cent of the income from it) over to a Californian tech company?

Now you can slave away for years on your opus and hawk it via iBooks as well as through Kindle, Kobo, self-publishing and by selling snippets on your internet weblog. Good luck.

Create an iTunes playlist: make the perfect mix

There are several ways that you can browse your music library in iTunes. Its grid and Cover Flow views are really great for picking out an album by its artwork, and you can play an individual track within seconds of it springing to mind, just by typing in the search bar.

But sometimes you'll want to kick back with a tailored selection of songs, or create a playlist for a party. iTunes caters for this with several kinds of playlist.

Each type is differently suited to the effort you want to invest and how finickety you happen to be feeling.

The most basic type of playlist is nothing more than a place to gather songs from your whole library and play them in whatever order you choose.

With Smart Playlists, instead of hand-picking every single song, you can specify criteria that inspects information attached to your songs, such as the artist and year of publication. iTunes also records dynamic information, such as the number of times you've played a song and how many times you've skipped it.

iTunes does the hard graft of working out what matches your criteria, which it does in next to no time even if your library contains thousands of songs.

Several Smart Playlists are automatically provided to serve common purposes. One shows your highest-rated songs, while another shows recent additions to your library. You might want to create a list just to show dance music from the 1990s only, or songs by particular artists that you haven't listened to in the last six months.

For a Genius Playlist, you only need to pick one track from your library to generate a selection of up to 100 songs. This requires the Genius feature to be on (Store > Turn On Genius), so that iTunes can periodically provide Apple with information about your songs and listening habits.

Apple analyses information from many people around the world and cross-references with your library to pick out songs that it thinks are complementary to the single song you've chosen.

How to create perfect iTunes playlists

1. Build a playlist

Choose File > New Playlist or click the + at the bottom-left of iTunes' window to create a playlist. Name it and press Return. Click Music in the left pane and drag songs from your library onto the playlist's name. Hold Command to select multiple tracks to add in one drag.

2. Change the order

Click your playlist. Tracks play in the order they were added. Drag them up and down the list to change that. Click the second icon at the bottom-left to turn on shuffle. The third repeats the playlist or song indefinitely. Playlists individually retain these settings.

3. Get smart

Smart Playlists have a cog to the left of their name in the left pane. Hold Ctrl and click one of the pre-defined ones that comes with iTunes and choose Edit Smart Playlist. From the same menu, use Duplicate to adapt an existing Smart Playlist.

4. Make the rules

Choose File > New Smart Playlist to start from scratch. Click the + button to add rules to be additionally matched. Hold Option and the + will change to '…', which adds a group of conditions. You can set it to match any of the rules within.

5. Tidy up

File > New Playlist Folder organises playlists. Drag a playlist onto a folder to put it inside. Folders can contain other folders. To move a playlist to the top level, drag it over a playlist at that level, then left of its icon. Let go when the blue highlight disappears.

6. Speedy creation

Make sure Genius is on and up to date (Store > Update Genius). Next, hold down Ctrl and click a song in your library. Choose Start Genius to create a Genius Playlist. At the top-right, you can choose how many tracks it contains.

7. Saving genius

Press Save Playlist at the top-right so you can revisit this playlist later. A Genius Playlist remains the same until you select one and press Refresh at the top-right. To avoid losing content, press Command+A to select and choose File > New Playlist from Selection.

8. Listen on the go

Playlists can help transfer music to an iPod or iOS device if it can't hold everything. Connect your device, select it on the left, then click Music at the top of the right pane. Under Playlists, put a tick next to any playlists you want to take with you.

Essential iCloud guide: Introduction

Poor old MobileMe. It tried hard, but never quite delivered. Expensive, sometimes slow and saddled with a clumsy name, it has long had the air of an unloved child.

Its development cycle was long and drawn out. And by the time Steve Jobs announced the end of its short and undistinguished life, just two years after its rebirth from the ashes of .Mac, few were inclined to shed any tears.

Yet it wasn't all bad. The email service was stable and largely dependable. It synced our contacts, so we didn't need to tap them all in on an iPhone keyboard, and the calendar tool always made sure we turned up on time, wherever we happened to be.

Apple knew this as well as anyone, which is why it chose to preserve those parts, jettisoning the web publishing, photo gallery and iDisk, as it set about building iCloud.

Housed in a vast data centre in North Carolina, iCloud is Apple's next-generation online service. It syncs your iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod touch. It can track a lost device, copy your iPhone snaps over the web so they're safely backed up on your Mac, and synchronise your iWork files so that whatever device you're using, downtime is never wasted time.

Over the next few pages, we'll show you how to set up your Mac and iOS devices to use iCloud, how to sync your apps and data, and how easy it is to back up your documents to the web. You'll soon see that MobileMe's demise really was the iCloud with a silver lining.

Whether you're moving an existing MobileMe account to iCloud or setting it up for the first time, Apple has applied its trademark logic to the process to make it as simple as possible.

The most important step you need to take is to make sure all of your devices are up to date and running the most recent versions of each headline app. Here we'll walk you through the process, step by step.

Update your Mac

To take advantage of all of iCloud's features you need to be running OS X Lion. This is now well bedded in and although some older machines appear to run a little slower than they did under Snow Leopard, it's generally proved to be fault free and enjoys good compatibility with existing third-party hardware and software.

iCloud requires Lion version 10.7.2 or later, which is the version currently being shipped through the App Store (£21). If you upgraded to Lion when it shipped back in July and haven't touched it since then, run Software Update now to downloaded the latest revision before going any further.

Lion only works on Macs running on an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5 or i7, or Xeon processor. That precludes the earliest Intel Macs and anything running a PowerPC processor.

It requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM, 7GB of hard drive space and Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. This was the first version of the OS released via the Mac App Store, through which the 4GB installer must be downloaded.

If you're on a capped broadband deal or you don't have broadband, then all is not lost. Head for a bricks-and-mortar Apple Store if you have one within reasonable driving distance and download it there using the free Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, order the £55 OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive from http://store.apple.com/uk/product/ MD256Z/A. It's over twice the price of the downloaded edition, but it does come on one of the best-looking thumb drives we've ever seen.

Update iPhoto/Aperture

One of the most exciting features of iCloud is Photo Stream, which automatically copies the 1,000 photos you've most recently taken over the last 30 days between your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as backing them up to any Mac running iPhoto or Aperture.

Again, you'll need to ensure that you're running the very latest edition of either of these applications. In the case of iPhoto, that's iPhoto 11 version 9.2 or later, while Aperture users should be running version 3.2 or later.

Both of these are available through the Mac App Store (iPhoto 11 costs £10.49; Aperture 3 costs £55).

Update iTunes

iCloud has taken over from MobileMe as the main synchronisation conduit for all of your data on Apple's integrated ecosystem. That includes not only your contact, email accounts, calendars and so on, but also your purchases through the iTunes Store, iBook Store and Mac App Store.

That means that any purchase you make on any of your devices, or through iTunes on your Mac, will automatically be synchronised on each of your other devices. This works on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as soon as you upgrade to iOS 5 and activate iCloud.

But to get the Mac side of things working you need to upgrade to iTunes 5 or later, again through Software Update.

Update iOS devices

iCloud is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S, iPad and iPad 2, and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Each must be running iOS 5 to gain access to options for enabling the integrated iCloud features that sit at the heart of the OS.

The original iPhone and iPod touch only support as far as iPhone OS 3.1.3, and the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch, iOS 4.2.1. If you're updating several identical devices at one time, download the iOS 5 setup files manually so that you don't tie up your internet connection as iTunes retrieves them for each device individually. See here for the direct download links and instructions on how to apply each patch.

Be aware that if you follow this route, the bundles differ according to which device you want to update. So while the OS underpinning your iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPod touch might all be called iOS 5, they differ sufficiently for you to require a different setup file for each one.

The simplest route to updating your device, therefore, is to connect it to your Mac using USB and launch iTunes. iTunes will check Apple's servers for the iOS 5 update and patch your device. Click Download and Update to proceed, having already performed a manual synchronisation to ensure there's an up-to-date backup of your data in place should anything go wrong.

Once you've updated to iOS 5, all future software updates can be performed directly through the phone without plugging it in to your Mac. Tap Settings > General > Software Update to check for new releases.

You'll also need to update your Apple TV to take advantage of Photo Stream and access your previous iTunes purchases. Do this by using your remote to select Settings > General > Software Update. When Apple TV has located the installer, click Download and Install (or Download Now on a first-generation Apple TV). When the download completes on Apple TV 2, the update will have been applied. On Apple TV 1, click Update Now. Note that only Apple TV 2 is compatible with iCloud Photo Stream.

With all of your devices and applications up to date, it's time to take the plunge and set up your iCloud account properly. For existing MobileMe members, this is a simple matter of transferring your existing account. Everyone else, however, is starting from scratch. Turn the page to get started.

Setting up iCloud

iCloud for new users

Signing in to iCloud requires an Apple ID. If you've ever bought anything from one of Apple's online stores – music, apps, books, videos and so on – you already have an Apple ID.

If you can't remember what it is, point your browser at https://iforgot.apple.com, click Forgot Apple ID and enter your name, address and email address (or, if you can remember your Apple ID but you've forgotten your password, simply enter your ID in the box and click Next).

If you don't already have an Apple ID you can sign up for one for free without making any purchases at https://appleid.apple.com. Your selected Apple ID will take the form of an email address, but note that you can't use an existing MobileMe address here.

If you have one, it counts as an existing Apple ID, so you can use that to set up your Mac and iOS devices. So with your Apple ID registered, point your browser at http://icloud.com and sign in.

MobileMe users

As you already have an account set up, you need to convert it to iCloud. Open a browser window and visit www.me.com/move. You'll need to enter your MobileMe password to authorise the transfer.

There's no such thing as an iCloud family account, so master account holders of MobileMe Family Packs will have to transfer each user individually.

Data synchronisation

Like MobileMe before it, iCloud synchronises all of your day-to-day data, including appointments and contacts, between each of your devices. Again, setting this up is a two-step process conducted first on your Mac and then on your iOS device.

Open System Preferences > iCloud on your Mac and log in using the Apple ID and password tied to your iCloud account. Now check the boxes beside the data you want to synchronise, including Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks and Mail & Notes.

As with MobileMe, this latter option doesn't synchronise your email messages – just your account settings. However, it does synchronise jottings created using the Notes application on your iPad or iPhone, filing them neatly inside the OS X Mail application.

Now turn to your iOS device and add your iCloud account: tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account… and enter your Apple ID credentials, choosing iCloud as the account type. With this in place, step back to the overall Settings screen and tap iCloud, followed by the sliders beside the data types you want to synchronise. That way they match the ones you activated on your Mac.

Bear in mind that the more you synchronise, the more you'll eat into your storage allocation, with even Mail and any attachments in your inbox, outbox, drafts and folders counting against your limit. Photo Stream is the only synchronisation feature that Apple excludes from its calculations when working out how much you've used. And for good reason: it would be impossible for you to accurately judge in advance the exact size of each picture you take and how much space it will occupy on Apple's servers.

You should therefore avoid synchronising more data types than you need if you want to avoid having to upgrade to a paid account at some point in the future.

iTunes Store syncing

iTunes' status has been demoted slightly since the arrival of iOS 5 in that you don't need to use it to set up a new iPhone, or necessarily plug in your phone using USB to sync it. However, it remains a hub for your incoming data and an essential backup location for downloaded apps, books and music, so that should you lose your iOS device you won't also lose all your purchases.

Launch iTunes and click iTunes > Preferences > Store, then click the check boxes beside Music, Apps and Books to automatically download all purchases made on your iOS devices simultaneously to your iTunes library. This saves you syncing your device manually the next time you want to create a backup.

Setting up iTunes is only one half of the process, as you need to enable the same options on your iOS devices. Here, click Settings > Store and tap the sliders beside Music, Apps and Books to activate synchronisation.

On the iPhone and on 3G-enabled iPads you'll find a further option here to download your purchases over the cellphone network. Tap the slider beside Use Mobile Data to do this, but only if you're sure you're happy for your mobile 3G data allowance to be used in this way. If you are intending to take your device overseas, be sure to disable this particular feature. The excess fees you'll be charged for data roaming will make even a free app painfully expensive.

How to free up space on your iCloud account

1. Consider an upgrade

Every iCloud account comes with 5GB of free storage, which you can optionally upgrade by 20GB or 50GB for £28 and £70 a year respectively. You might consider doing this when things start to get tight. But before you do, how about clearing out some unused files?

2. Manage current storage

You can manage your iCloud storage from either your Mac or an iOS device. If you're at your Mac, simply open System Preferences > iCloud and click the Manage… button. On iOS, tap Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage.

3. Clear unused files (OS X)

On OS X, click through the various apps that are authorised to save data to your iCloud space to see which apps are hogging more than their due. Select the files you don't need any more and press Command+Delete to remove them, or click Delete All to clear out all files of that type.

4. Clear unused files (iOS)

On your iOS device, tap the name of each application in turn, followed by Edit, and then the red circles beside the names of the files you want to remove. This calls up a series of red Delete buttons. Simply tap these to confirm the removal.

5. Buy more storage

If you still need more storage, step back to Manage Storage on iOS, or click Buy More Storage… in OS X and select the amount of extra space you want to buy. Bear in mind that the specified quantities are in addition to your free 5GB account.

6. Downgrade options

Avoid paying for additional storage that you may no longer need when your account comes up for renewal by setting it to a more appropriate level. Click Downgrade Options… and select your new account quota. Note the billing details at the top of the pane.

Essential iCloud guide: Photo Stream

Photo Stream is like Time Machine for your iPhone snaps. Take a photo on any device running iOS 5 or later and it'll be synchronised to all of your other devices, and your Mac, without any input from yourself.

It's quite magical the first time you see it in operation, but how does it work, and how can you put it to use?

Set up Photo Stream

Enable Photo Stream on your iOS device by tapping Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tapping the action slider so that it reads 'ON'. You can now step out of settings and get on with using your device as usual.

On your Mac, Photo Stream helpfully synchronises with iPhoto 11 or Aperture 3.2. You can enable it through System Preferences by clicking in the Photo Stream check box on the iCloud pane. You now need to decide which application should act as the archive for your remotely shot images. (Apple doesn't allow you to send them simultaneously to iPhoto and Aperture.)

Open either application's Preferences and click the toolbar's Photo Stream icon, then tick the box to Enable Photo Stream, followed by either or both of the options to automatically import and automatically upload new photos. We would recommend at the very least enabling automatic import so that you maintain a complete archive of your iOS photos on your Mac.

Unlike the photos in the Photo Streams on your iOS devices, these will never be removed from your account, even after the 30-day limit.

Do you really need to enable automatic uploads? That depends on what your plans are. Are you going to be importing several hundred holiday shots when you return from your travels? It's better to decide now whether you want them to also be sent to your iOS device. If not, uncheck that option.

Photo Stream only works over Wi-Fi, so it won't hammer your 3G bandwidth and risk taking you close to your mobile contract's monthly cap. One less thing to worry about when you're on holiday!

Every time you take a photo on any iOS 5 device linked to your iCloud account, it's uploaded to Apple's servers when you quit the Camera app. From there it's sent back down to your other iOS devices and your Mac.

The next time you fire up iPhoto or Aperture (depending on which you have linked to your iCloud account) you'll find a Photo Stream entry in the sidebar containing a copy of each of your iOS photos. Your pictures will also appear on the second-generation Apple TV running software update 4.4 or later.

Photo Stream on iOS

Things work slightly differently on an iOS device to the way they do in Aperture or iPhoto. Images shot on any device are saved locally, as usual, to the Camera Roll in the Photos app.

Step back one level from here on the iPhone or iPod touch, or use the buttons at the top of the screen on the iPad, and you'll see a new library called Photo Stream. This is where you'll find your synchronised images, whether they were snapped on an alternative iOS device or synchronised through iPhoto or Aperture.

Any photo taken on an iOS device will remain on that device until you actively choose to delete it. However, items that appear only in the Photo Stream album will be removed from the device after 30 days. They will also be removed from the Photo Stream album on an iOS device one at a time if you add more than 1,000 during that 30-day period, with the oldest one in each instance being killed off to make way for each new addition.

It's therefore vitally important that you take an active interest in saving (and backing up!) your synchronised pictures. Fire up iPhoto or Aperture at least once a month to make sure you have a copy of your images on your Mac. And if you want to keep synchronised photos on any iOS devices other than the ones originally used to take them, copy them to your Camera Roll by following the instructions in the walk-through below.

Images downloaded to your Mac are saved at their native resolution, so for anything taken using the rear camera on an iPhone 4S that means the full 8 megapixels. This matches some compact cameras on sale just a couple of years ago.

However, images sent to Photo Stream on an iOS device are first reduced in size to optimise them for display on that particular device's screen. The exact resolution will depend on the dimensions of the original, but Apple currently uses 2048x1535 pixels (3 megapixels) as its benchmark.

Photo Stream is compatible with JPEG, TIF, PNG and RAW images imported from your iPhoto or Aperture library. These formats are in turn converted as part of the transfer process.

How to archive synchronised photos on an iOS device

1. Select Photo Stream

To save synchronised images from being expired and disappearing from the Photo Stream on your iOS device, you should copy any you want to keep to your Camera Roll. Open the Photos app and step back to the albums page, then select Photo Stream.

2. Tick images

Tap the shortcut button on the toolbar (it looks like a box with an arrow curling out of it) and select the images you want to copy by tapping on each one in turn. As you do, they'll be given a small red tick to show which have been selected.

3. Tap to keep

Tap the save button at the foot of the screen to store them in your Camera Roll. The images will be left in place on your Photo Stream and removed when their time is up, but the versions you saved will be kept on your device until you remove them manually.

How to delete your Photo Stream

1. Log in to iCloud

Although your Photo Stream contents don't count against your iCloud storage limit, there may be times when you want to delete the contents of the stream entirely. Log in to your iCloud account at icloud.com and click the iCloud icon in the top-left corner.

02. Delete remote photos

Click your name at the top of the screen to open your account preferences. Click the Advanced button and then, click Reset Photo Stream. This clears out the images on Apple's servers but leaves them where they are on your Mac and iOS devices.

3. Delete local photos

To remove the images from your iOS device, open Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tap the activity button so that it reads 'OFF'. You'll be asked for confirmation, after which all of the synchronised photos will be removed, leaving in place only original and saved snaps.

Essential iCloud guide: Backups and storage

As we've already discussed, iCloud takes care of backing up all of your iOS purchases on your Mac, and simultaneously installs any apps you buy on your Mac to each of your iOS devices. However, you can now go one step further and save your device backups directly to the cloud.

Previously, every time you synchronised your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iTunes on your Mac it would create a local backup. That way, should the worst happen, you could easily recover your documents, contacts, appointments and apps. That's still an option, but in iOS 5 and iTunes 5 Apple has improved on this feature in two ways.

First, you can now enable wireless backups to iTunes so that whenever your device is plugged into a power source and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your iTunes library, it will automatically synchronise the two. You can opt instead to save that backup to iCloud, so that should your Mac be damaged or lost your backup won't be lost with it.

To enable this, connect your iOS device to your Mac, select its entry in the iTunes sidebar, and click the Back up to iCloud radio button on the Summary page. Now your device will be backed up once a day whenever it's plugged in.

The final piece of the iCloud puzzle (at least until iTunes Match arrives in the UK) is Documents in the Cloud, which maintains a backed-up copy of all of your remotely edited Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents.

Synchronisation with iCloud requires the latest versions of the iOS iWork apps. These updates are free for all existing users, but if you don't already have them, the apps are sold individually at £6.99 apiece through the App Store. They're all Universal apps, so work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

You need to opt in to use iCloud with each application individually. If you're firing up any one of them for the first time you'll be given the option to do this on the startup screens. But if you've already been using them in the past, you can activate them through the iOS Settings application where they appear among the third-party apps at the bottom of the menu.

Working with documents

Open the iWork app of your choice and create a new document by tapping the '+' in the upper left corner of the screen. We'd recommend ignoring the option to use iDisk as this will disappear over time, so it makes sense to get out of the habit as soon as you can.

Tap Create Document and choose a document type in the usual way, then start working. When you've finished, and you return to the document menu, you'll notice that its thumbnail has a small arrow on a turned-over corner. This is a warning that the document hasn't yet been backed up to iCloud.

Your documents will automatically sync to the same apps on any other iOS device the next time you start them up, and are also saved to your online iCloud account. Point your browser at www.icloud.com/iwork, and you'll see that there are individual tabs for Keynote, Pages and Numbers, with the relevant documents organised inside each one. Here, things don't work quite as smoothly as you might hope…

Apple has made great claims about iCloud's ability to synchronise your documents across all devices. It says you can shut down your Mac on your way out the door and finish working on your document, spreadsheet or presentation on your iPad on the way home.

Technically that's true, but only if when using OS X you manually copy your data to and from iCloud. To access the document created on your iOS device, click it in the web interface and select the format in which you'd like to download it. Choose from the native iWork formats, their Microsoft Office equivalents and PDF.

To send documents from your Mac to your iOS device, select the relevant application by clicking its name on the tabs at the top of the web interface; then drag the file into the document management area that fills the rest of the screen. A progress gauge monitors its passage onto iCloud.

We can expect to see more apps exploit Documents in the Cloud, as Apple has opened up the underlying hooks that will enable third-party coders to integrate the service into their own apps. But we would also hope to see iCloud integrated directly into the OS X iWork apps so that we no longer need to open a browser window to access our iOS documents.

How to manage iCloud files in your browser

1. Rename files

Click once on the document's filename and type a new name, pressing return as you would in the Finder to confirm the change. Filenames can be up to 255 characters in length and contain anything you like – so long as they don't start with a colon, dot or slash.

2. Copy a document

Click once on the document's thumbnail icon, followed by the cog icon, and then select Duplicate Document from the drop-down menu. The next time you check your iOS devices you will see that the file has been duplicated and is ready to work on.

3. Keyboard navigation

Now press Ctrl+Esc to activate the keyboard, then use the cursor keys to move around your files in the browser view. Pressing Shift+Esc has the same effect as clicking the iCloud icon – you will be taken back to the applications menu.

Germany seems to be a hotbed for patent war activity at the moment with Apple now overturning an online sales ban on many of its 3G gadgets.

Just this morning we reported on an injunction won by Motorola preventing Apple selling the iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 on it's official online shop due to its alleged infringement on a 3G patent.

However, the wheels of justice move quickly in these matters and Apple has been able to strike down the injunction with haste.

Moto being unreasonable?

The Cupertino-based company says that the legal see-saw was able to occur due to Motorola Mobility's refusal (no doubt backed by its new friends at Google) to "reasonably" license the patent to Apple.

An Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD: "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly.

"Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

Apple is now in the process of repopulating its store, but Motorola which initially filed for the injunction in December, will continue the fight for a reinstatement of the ban.

Via: AllThingsD

10 worst programs of all time

Programs can be our friends: they can help us express ourselves, can solve our problems and can do their very best to make our days happier.

Sometimes, though, they do the Devil's work, making simple tasks so complex and frustrating that you'd happily make everybody involved face a firing squad.

So which programs made everyone angry? Let's discover the software Hall of Shame.

1. Final Cut Pro X

Apple's movie editing software isn't a bad program, but this release turned even the most mild-mannered editor into an incandescent ball of sheer fury. It was sold as an upgrade, but it was really a brand new, version 1.0 product - and that means it didn't have all the features or compatibility that existing users expected, wanted or relied upon.

2. Adobe Reader

Everybody needs to open a PDF from time to time, but Adobe Reader is a sledgehammer sold as a nutcracker: it's enormous - on the Mac, the current version is 69.1MB - it keeps putting a shortcut on your desktop for no good reason, and once you've installed it seems to spend most of its time moaning that you haven't paid it enough attention or installed yet another enormous update. No wonder Windows 8 plans to whack it with a shovel.

GOING: OS X has its own PDF reader, and Windows 8 will do the same with the new Open Reader

3. Ask Toolbar

We're not fans of browser toolbars at the best of times, but the Ask Toolbar is a particularly poor one: it's been variously accused of installing itself without asking permission, making changes to users' browser settings and promoting itself to children. Many problems occurred because over-zealous software writers bundled the toolbar with their own applications but didn't ask whether or not you wanted it.

WHAT'S THAT JEEVES?: We don't like third party toolbars at the best of times, but the Ask one proved particularly unpopular

4. Lotus Notes

IT departments loved this popular messaging and collaboration system, but users were considerably less keen: in the mid-2000s the product was widely criticised for appearing to have been put together by somebody who really, really hated the entire human race and wanted to make it suffer. According to The Guardian, its popularity in business was partly because "the people who choose [business software] tend not to be the ones who use it."

NOT OF NOTE: Lotus Notes still exists, but these days it's very different from its much-hated mid-2000s incarnation [Image credit: Koman90, Wikimedia Commons]

5. Norton Antivirus

Symantec's desktop antivirus software generated enormous ill will through its unfortunate habit of slowing your PC down to a crawl. Part of the problem was that the software tried to do too much: scanning every conceivable thing you do on PC requires significant resources at a time when PCs weren't the flying machines they are today. Thankfully, Norton has addressed such issues these days.

PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS: Happy Norton Man won't be smiling when his system slows down and he can't uninstall the program

6. Microsoft Word

Some people say "I hate Microsoft Word because it's far too complicated!" Some say "I hate Microsoft Word because it introduced Clippy the bloody Office Assistant!" A few say "I hate Microsoft Word because it's often used by idiots to make really horrible-looking things!" Others say, "I hate Microsoft Word because its HTML output made web designers' lives miserable for years!" Still others say "I hate Microsoft Word because I keep sending .docx files that only three people on Earth can actually read!" We say, people! Come together! Let's hate Microsoft Word for all of those reasons!

OFFICE PEST: Aaagh! Aaagh! Aaagh! Aaagh!

7. Adobe Flash

Despite its many benefits - in web design circles it's a powerful and useful creative tool - Flash can be enormously annoying. In many cases the problem was with its users, not the technology - you can't blame Adobe for irritating splash screens, badly designed ads or appalling user interfaces - but for many internet users, a Flash blocker is the first thing they install in a new browser.

NOT JUST JOBS: Flash remains a powerful design tool, but in the wrong hands it can be a powerful force for evil

8. iTunes for Windows

Steve Jobs called iTunes for Windows "like giving a glass of ice water to someone in hell". The reality distortion field was strong that day, because rather than show Windows users the joys of Apple software, iTunes on Windows seems merely designed to depress them. As we've said previously, "the Windows version is a sluggish, resource-hungry mess. Apple has Windows users worldwide loving its iOS devices and despising iTunes, and this needs to change."

SLOOOOOOW: iTunes is proof that Apple doesn't always get it right. On Windows it's a donkey

9. Windows Me and Windows Vista

Yes, we know these are operating systems. This one's a joint nomination: Windows Me because it was a largely pointless update of Windows 98, and Windows Vista because it didn't work properly. Vista in particular should have been a great OS, but show-stopping bugs - copying a file could easily take four million years - and a lack of initial driver support turned a potential racehorse into a donkey.

WOW NOW: The wow starts... now! No... now! Now! NOW! Oh okay, let's just wait for Windows 7 then

10. Internet Explorer 6

Imagine a pristine swimming pool with crystal clear water. That's the internet. Now imagine an enormous poo floating past. That's IE6.

You know something's bad when even its creator dances on its grave. The problem wasn't the browser as such, which was fairly modern when it was released in 2001; it was Microsoft's refusal to update it significantly for years and years, breaking websites and leaving internet users vulnerable to all kinds of online unpleasantness. IE6 was Microsoft at its worst.

TERRIBLE: "Imagine an enormous poo... that's IE6". IE6 is officially pronounced "Aieeeeeee"

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From time to time even jaded tech hacks get a "wow!" moment. I had one last night when I saw that Avid had launched an iPad app.

Avid? The high-end video and ProTools firm? An iPad app? Yep, yep and yep.

Avid reckons the iPad makes a great wee video editor, and its Avid Studio plays happily with the firm's high-end desktop software. It's right, and it's not the only firm thinking along the same lines. Apple, of course, already does Garageband and iMovie, Adobe has Photoshop Touch, and there are stacks of digital audio products such as Auria and the tasty-looking Bitwig music studio.

Not bad for toys, eh?

Getting better all the time

What's really great about this is that we're still in the very early stages, both in terms of technology - we've gone from single core to dual core to quad core tablets already; imagine what horsepower tablets will have in five years - and in terms of what's possible for our tablets to do.

Take music, for example. You can use your tablet as a quick and dirty composition device, or as a controller for a desktop music production program, or as a fully-fledged studio, or you can slot it into another bit of hardware such as Behringer's utterly brilliant/completely demented iAxe or its faintly frightening iPad mixers.

This isn't about whether tablets are better than PCs or vice-versa; it's about people, and what they can do, and the ever-expanding universe of possibilities today's technology delivers and tomorrow's promises.

We've only had iPad-y tablets for two years. What on earth will we be doing with them in ten?

A new patent application put in by Apple hints that there could be a touchscreen iMac in the works.

The application, posted this week to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, outlines the concept of a desktop computer with a touchscreen GUI (graphical user interface).

Now, Apple is certainly not the first to come up with a touchscreen all-in-one. The likes of Dell and HP have been churning these out for years but Apple's patent application is more to do with virtual controls on the screen, which make a touchscreen computer easier to use.

Touch control

These controls include a number of virtual knobs and sliders which would allow users of music and editing programmers to control the software without the need of a mouse or pen and tablet.

As the patent explains: "The visual augmentation could include displaying an outline and/or fill region (eg a colour or pattern fill) around the knob element, displaying text labels for minimum and maximum range limit values and displaying a slider element with the knob element."

The rumour that Apple is working on a touchscreen iMac has been around since 2008, but the appearance of virtual sliders adds more fuel to the fire that Apple is looking to get touchy feely with its iMac range.