iOS 5 Beta 4 Brings Wi-Fi Sync to Windows

Apple has brought Wi-Fi Sync functionality in iOS 5 Beta 4 to Windows users. iOS 5 Beta 2 turned Wi-Fi sync on for Mac users, and we posted a video walkthrough of how it worked.

In the newly-released Beta 4 version of iOS 5, Windows users can enjoy the same Wi-Fi Sync feature on their iDevices.
Wi-Fi Sync for Windows documentation in iOS 5 Beta 4,
Wi-Fi Sync in iOS 5 lets you sync content to and from iTunes and your iDevice wirelessly over your local network.

If you’ve got Beta 4 already and you’re on Windows, give this Wi-Fi Sync feature a try and let us know how it works.

iTunes 10.5 Beta 4 for Mac and Windows Released for Developers

As you all know just a few hours ago, Apple just released the fourth pre-release version of iOS 5. As with all beta builds, iOS 5 beta 4 is only seeded for those who have enrolled an account in Apple's iOS Dev Center. The smaller release timeframe between beta 3 and beta 4 indicates that this pre-release version offers performance and stability enhancements as well as numerous bug fixes. Although, iOS 5 beta 4 does come with a new feature, it is the first ever iOS that supports Over-The-Air (OTA) updates. Alongside the release of iOS 5 beta 4, Apple also pushed out iTunes 10.5 Beta 4.

If you are planning to upgrade to iOS 5 Beta 4, then it is strongly suggested that you download iTunes 10.5 Beta 4 since it is a major requirement. Most especially if you are upgrading to beta 4 without the aid of OTA updates.

You have to keep in mind that in this iTunes update will only work with iOS 5 beta 4, so if you are in iOS 5 beta 3 and below, do not install iTunes 10.5 beta 4. If you do, you may find that iTunes may return an error that your current firmware is not compatible. Anyway here's the full release notes of iTunes 10.5 beta 4 for your convenience:
If you are still under iOS 5 beta 3 and below, then it is highly recommended that you upgrade to beta 4 right away. There is simply no point in staying with an older firmware especially when there's already an improved version of it. Unless of course you have jailbroken your device to iOS 5 beta 3 and below or you've installed iOS 5 without a developer's account, then we don't suggest you upgrade to beta 4 because Apple will have no doubt patched all the vulnerabilities with this update.

If you have a developer's account, just head over to Apple's Developer Center and download iOS 5 beta 4 together with iTunes 10.5 beta 4.

1 Billion Smartphone Sales a Year Expected by 2016

Smartphones are already growing to be more and more popular by the year, with marquee devices like Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S proving popular with buyers across the globe.

With smartphone sales between the 298 million and 321 million marks, depending on who you listen to, it’s fair to say that the industry is on the up already. But, according to new research, it is believed that smartphones could hit the magic 1 billion sales mark as soon as 2016.

That’s a lot of phones….
The mind blowing number comes courtesy of Juniper Research, who believes that the key to selling more smartphones is to get existing feature phone users to upgrade. While we’re not ones to knock research, we’re not sure that stating the blindingly obvious is really research, but moving on…

Juniper’s Daniel Ashdown goes on to explain that the real target is the developing countries around the world, where so called ‘dumb phones’ are the norm. Low income coupled with carriers reluctant to subsidise handsets means any potential smartphone sales will come from handsets that keep below a certain price scale. That’s not the iPhone, then.

This is no doubt where Android really comes into its own.

We’ve already seen some fairly low budget handsets come out of the likes of ZTE and Motorola in Europe, and the hardware will only get cheaper as time moves on
Here’s hoping someone comes up with the magic recipe for bringing low-cost, yet capable smartphones to the people that need them.

Facebook App Gets an Update

The Facebook app for iOS just got an update. We usually don’t post about app updates, but as the most popular iPhone app, I felt like we had to let you guys know.

As usual, this update contains a bunch of bug fixes that caused the app to crash. Additionally, this update restored the Send button for comments, chat, and messages. It also restored the friend lists to the News Feed filter…
If you want to get this update, fire up the App Store app on your iPhone and check for updates.

Oh, and by the way, where is my Facebook app for iPad? I can’t be the only one wondering where this app is.