iPhoto for iPad/iPhone available & other updates

Coinciding with the announcement of the new iPad, Apple also released iPhoto for the iPad/iPhone. The other components of the iLife suite (iMovie and GarageBand) as well as the complete iWork Suite (Keynote, Pages, Numbers) have been updated as well and have been adapted to take advantage of the new high resolution screen and 1080p full HD video capabilities of the new iPad.

With iPhoto for iOS, Apple brings its popular iPhoto photo editing and browsing tool to the iPad/iPhone. The new app takes full advantage of the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures on iPad and iPhone as well as the high resolution of the new Retina displays.

Using simple gestures you can select and compare images. Editing capabilities include auto-enhancements such as straightening photos and fixing exposure, contrast, and colour. Editing tools such as red-eye removal, lighten, sharpen, soften, and darken are also present; simply use your fingertips as brush to paint in the effects. iPhoto can handle images up to 19 megapixels.

Posting photos to Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter is easy and you can also send photos between your iPhone and iPad, stream photos and slideshows to an Apple TV with AirPlay, and use iCloud to publish photo journals to the web to share them with friends and family in a whole new way.

Photo, iMovie 1.3 and GarageBand 1.2 are available for only $4.99/€3.99 each in the iTunes App Store. Keynote 1.6, Pages 1.6 and Numbers 1.6 are slightly more expensive, but still cost only $9.99/€7.99 each in the iTunes App Store. (Updates are free to existing customers)

New iPad and Apple TV

Apple just announced new versions for the iPad and Apple TV. The “iPad 3” (unofficial name, officially it is called “the new iPad”) was highly anticipated for a while now, but the announcement of a new Apple TV came as a bit of a (welcome) surprise.

The most welcome update of the new iPad would certainly be the improved resolution of 2048x1536 pixels, great for showing off your photos to others! The support of full HD on the apple TV, will be welcomed by many too.

Specs for the new iPad:

• Retina display, with a resolution of 2048×1536, 3.1 million pixels at 264ppi
• A5X Processor, quad-core graphics
• 5 megapixel iSight camera
• Full HD (1080p) video recording
• Voice dictation, similar to Siri
• 3G & 4G LTE connectivity
• 10 hour battery life, 9 hour battery life when on 4G
• 9.4mm thick, weighs 1.4lbs/635g
• Pre-orders start TODAY, available on March 16 (in the US)
• iOS 5.1

Pricing:
16GB Wi-Fi – $499/€499
32GB Wi-Fi – $599/€599
64GB Wi-Fi – $699/€699
16GB 4G LTE – $629/€629
32GB 4G LTE – $729/€729
64GB 4G LTE – $829/€829

Specs for the new Apple TV

• Full HD (1080p) support
• New user interface
• Further integration with iCloud; no need to store your (purchased) content locally any longer
• Airplay streams video from iPod/iPad/iPhone to your TV

Pricing:
AppleTV – $99/€109

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion announced

Today, Apple announced it has released the first developer preview of the next version of the Mac OS X operating system, named OS X Mountain Lion.

With this new release the integration with Apple's iCloud services and iOS (iPhone, iPad, …) is taken to the next level. Mountain Lion will bring over 100 new features, including those familiar from the iOS: Messages, Notes, Reminders, Game Center, Notification Center, Twitter integration, and AirPlay Mirroring.
Integration with iCloud is extended and now automatically configures services like Mail, FaceTime, and Find My Mac. iCloud Documents now also handles syncing of documents across devices. By allowing users to specify from which sources apps may be installed on their computers, Gatekeeper, is intended to improve security without hampering the user.

Mountain Lion is scheduled to become available (through the App Store) late/end summer. However, if you are a registered developer, you can download the developer preview and play with Mountain Lion today!

Note: If you have a Mac and make use of the Messages app on your iOS device, be sure to download the Messages application for Mac OS X (currently in beta)
Update: Apple's servers are very busy at the moment and downloading may not work for you. Retry at a later time when the servers are less busy.