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Apple iCloud also offers cloud backup. The service backs up iOS devices to the cloud once each day. And new iOS devices automatically sync to the iCloud when users type in their Apple ID and password. The backups, which are done over Wi-Fi include photos, videos, settings, apps and app data.
And like Apple's other cloud competitors, namely Google Apps, iCloud saves Pages documents to the cloud that are created on the iPad. Those documents are pushed to other devices that have Apple Pages installed. iCloud also saves Numbers and Keynote to the cloud, as well.
iWork can also store documents in iCloud. iCloud pushes documents automatically, and documents get updated on all devices. To make this happen, there are new iCloud storage APIs for developers.
It has also been speculated for months that Apple was preparing a cloud-based version of iTunes. According to Jobs, iTunes in the cloud is available now and adds the ability for music that has already been downloaded by a user to be "re-downloaded" to another device. Meanwhile, new purchases in iTunes will automatically appear on all devices. Users can manually re-download, purchased music to other devices or adjust settings so it's automatic when iTunes is opened on a different device.
Apple also showcased iTunes Match, which lets users store their entire music collection, including music ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere, in the cloud while also converting it to high quality 256 kbps AAC files. Music stored with iTunes Match can also be accessed from any device. iTunes Match costs $24.99 per year.
According to Apple, users that sign up for iCloud get 5 GB of storage for free for mail, documents, Camera Role, account information, setting and other app data. Purchased music, apps, books and Photo Stream do not count against the free storage limits.
Apple said iCloud will be available in iOS 5, which will be released this fall.
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