An iPhone running iOS 5 will automatically recognize AirPort Base Station hardware that needs to be set up, and users will be able to accomplish this task through the Wi-Fi Networks option in the Settings application. The new feature was discovered by an AppleInsider tipster, who sent along the included screenshots.
Under Wi-Fi Networks, a new option reads "Set up an AirPort Base Station..." In setting up a Time Capsule, users are given the option to create a Wi-Fi network, complete with password, or "Do something different."
Selecting the latter option gives users the option to join an existing network, or to replace a base station. Users are also given appropriate error messages or details on how to fix any issues directly from the iOS Settings application.
Upon setting up a Wi-Fi network, users can also select "Show Passwords," which will display any applicable network password, base station password and disk password so that users may save them for later.
The ability to set up a Time Capsule or AirPort hardware with iOS 5 is yet another piece of Apple's PC-free philosophy that is a major component of the forthcoming mobile operating system upgrade. Using iCloud, users will be able to activate and set up their iOS device without tethering to a computer via USB.
Apple will also be able to deliver software updates to devices running iOS 5 and later wirelessly, also without the need to connect to iTunes. Developers began testing this feature with iOS 5 beta 4, released last Friday.
Apple also made efforts to cut the cord with improvements to the Calendar application found in iOS 5. When the software update arrives this fall, iPhone and iPad users will be able to add, rename and delete calendars directly from their device. Previously, these activities required tethering to a PC via USB.
For more, see AppleInsider's extensive coverage of iOS 5, including some of the latest reports featured below:
21 Comments
Further blending of iOS and OSX.
I'm pretty sure that Steve Jobs demoed this at the iOS 5 announcement quite some time ago... I'm not sure but I remember seeing this in the same timeframe.
...The new feature was discovered in by AppleInsider reader Cameron Pierson, who sent along the included screenshots….
Hope Cameron didn't just re-up if he was a developer since he just violated the NDA he would have to agree too if he was a developer. Of course could be he just got it from someone else that isn't willing to live up to their word (the NDA). Either way doesn't seem like the most reputable of sources.
Those pinstripes really need to go. They look very dated.
Yes Apple. Please continue to make your post PC devices as stand alone units. The freer we are from PCs the better.
I'm buying the next version of the iPod Touch and I'm wondering if I can make an Apple TV and the iPod Touch my new computer system. Does anybody know how this could work? Please tell me. There are no Apple stores in rural America so I'm only able to learn about such things via web forums.
In the past the only thing I did on my Mac that couldn't be done on an iPad was to edit videos. Now that can be done on the iPod Touch, which means I really don't need a Mac anymore. With Google Docs and the coming iCloud I don't need a hard drive to store documents. Picasa can store my photos or I could continue to use my Box.net account for storage.
Perhaps Google with their Chromebook has taken the lead into computing on the Internet instead of with a home computer. Apples iDevice line can do the same things a Chromebook can do with the benefit of using Netflix videos right away. If I just get an external keyboard I'll have a really tiny portable computer.
Is anybody else doing this now?