Apple to Unveil iOS 5 tonight

Apple will demonstrate the new iOS 5 tonight. The market is rife with plenty of speculation regarding the changes and additions to this new version.

Here is a list of the most common speculations doing the rounds.

iCloud Integration:

iOS 5 is expected to feature excellent integration with iCloud. It will allow one to upload music to the cloud and stream it over the internet at any time. iCloud has the ability to upload/backup other kinds of data such as movies, contacts, bookmarks, game saves, application settings, etc. to the cloud and then transfer it to another device or restore it to the same device later. One need connect the iOS devices to a PC for using it.

Improved Notifications System:

It is expected that there will be some updation in iOS 5 notification system. If the rumours are to be believed, Apple has accomplished a pretty decent job. Some notable changes expected to be found in iOS 5 include a new top bar - for displaying notifications especially new tweets - which has doubled up in size, and a much better dark-gray camera icon.

Widgets:

It is expected that Apple may follow Android, WebOS, Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and implement widgets in iOS 5. This is the one major feature that Apple has missed so far.

The current iOS homescreen is designed in such a way that it places application icons at the forefront rather than in a separate list. Implementing widgets would probably involve reworking the entire system. And if the above screenshot is authentic, Apple hasn’t done that in iOS 5.

New Multitasking System:

iOS 5 will be based on new multitasking system. It is expected to beat the current multitasking system.

Twitter Integration:

Another big speculation is about Twitter integration. A Twitter app will be there with system-level integration which will allow Pictures app and share a picture there on Twitter without the need for any application. The phone also notifies the new tweets and market is guessing that any app with access to the notification API would be able to do that.

Automatic Download for Apps:

iTunes application update was hinting at an option that currently does not exist in the current iOS, but will allow apps on the device to automatically update themselves over-the-air as and when a new version is available.

Let us see how many of these expectations are going to be met when Apple releases its iOS 5.