By Graham K. Rogers

Needless to say that with the updates to the iPad and the iOS there were several app updates too, some of which were pretty large. Apple released new iOS versions of GarageBand (801MB), Remote, Find My Friends, iTunesU, iBooks, Keynote (327MB) as well as the other iWork apps, iMovie (404MB) and Find my iPhone. I also saw updates for What's App available, Linkedin, Bump and Postcard on the Run. These updates took quite a while to download. I also bought the new iPhone app for the iPad although it needs iOS 5.1 to run.

On the Mac a new version of iTunes (10.6) was also ready for download as well as updates for iPhoto and GarageBand, probably to match features in the iOS app releases.

The iTunes update (111.1MB) adds the ability to play 1080p HD movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store.

The release also includes many improvements for iTunes Match, including:

• Improved song matching
• Improved album artwork handling, downloading, and display
• Addresses an issue where songs may skip when playing from iCloud

Information on the security content of this update is available at support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The update to iPhoto (256.9MB) brings it to version 9.2.2 and the details shown are:

• Photos can now be deleted from Photo Stream
• Addresses compatibility with iCloud and iOS 5
• Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in Magnify (1-up) view
• Previously imported photos are now displayed in a separate section of the Import window
• Book/calendar themes and card categories can now be selected using a pop-up menu in the carousel view
• Resolves an issue that could cause some pages of books to print incorrectly
• Rebuilding a library now correctly preserves saved slideshows and books

The GarageBand update (6.0.5) was some 49.4MB and it supports general compatibility and addresses overall stability and performance, including:

• Updates compatibility with GarageBand for iOS projects
• Fixes a playback issue with the GarageBand Lesson preview videos
• Corrects issues with some software instruments triggering incorrect or stuck notes

There will be more on the iPad release including comments when I have looked at all the information available (no rush as there are others already online with information). There will also be a comment on iOS 5.1 when that arrives.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.