iCloud

June 11. That's the date we've long suspected but just this week had confirmed. Apple's 2012 World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) is now official hurtling towards us (or us towards it). But it's not the only things going on this week, so let's get to it.

Everything you need to know about setting up, backing up, restoring, and updating your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and managing your iTunes apps, books, music, TV shows, movies, Match, and Photo Stream in the cloud

iCloud is Apple's online service designed to make managing your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple TV, and your iTunes content easier and more automatic than ever. Like the name implies, iCloud is based in the "cloud", which is a trendy way of saying giant data centers filled with servers that you can access from your device over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G internet, wherever you are, whenever you want. It consists of several services that work with the apps on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and with iTunes and a handful of desktop apps on Mac and Windows. Most iCloud services are completely free, although additional storage and services are available for purchase.

Everything you need to know about setting up and using iCloud's location-basded meet-up service, Find my Friends

Find My Friends lets you easily locate your friends and family from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Whether you're on a family trip to a theme park or just want to meet up with some acquaintances for a drink, Find my Friends can make sure everyone knows where everyone else is.

Everything you need to know about setting up, tracking, messaging, locking, and wiping a lost or stolen iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with Find my iPhone

Find my iPhone -- or Find my iPod or Find my iPad -- keeps track of your iCloud enabled devices so you can track them down if they're lost or stolen, and even remotely message, lock, and erase it to keep your data secure.

Everything you need to know about setting up, creating, importing, editing, and using Documents in the Cloud

With iCloud you no longer have to fuss with traditional computer files and folders or worry about forgetting where you put a document when you go back to look for it later. For apps that support Documents in the Cloud, all you have to remember is which app (or apps) opens the type of file you want to work on. From then on, iCloud manages everything, storing any changes you make back up to the server, and pushing down those updates to every device you have logged into your account. Create a Keynote presentation on your iPad at home, get to work and it's ready and waiting for you on your iPhone.

Everything you need to know about setting up and using Apple's picture backup and distribution service, Photo Stream

Photo Stream is iCloud image backup and distribution component. Take a picture (or screen shot) on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, and -- when you're on Wi-Fi -- iCloud will store a copy of that picture on Apple's servers and push copies down to all your other iOS devices, as well as your Mac and/or Windows PC. On iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, iCloud will store up to 1000 photos, or 30 days of photos. On your Mac and/or Windows PC, iCloud will store all your photos. Photo Stream will also let you view your photos on the Apple TV.

Apple is trying to encourage users of its MobileMe service to switch over to iCloud by offering a free Snow Leopard upgrade DVD. Snow Leopard usually costs $29 from the Apple Store. In order to use iCloud on your Mac, it has to be running Lion. Apparently, some percentage of MobileMe users are still running on Leopard and haven’t upgraded to Snow Leopard which is needed before you can upgrade to Lion.

Everything you need to know about subscribing to, setting up, and using Apple's digital music locker service, iTunes Match

iTunes Match is Apple's "music locker" service that allows you to store copies of all your music on Apple's servers and re-download it from any of your devices, at any time.

Greenpeace recently released a report detailing how ecologically friendly different cloud service providers were in their data center operations, and Apple ranked 15.3% on their clean energy index. The index is built on criteria such as reliance on coal and nuclear energy, transparency in energy usage, and use of renewable sources.

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h3>Everything you need to know about re-downloading apps, games, iBooks, music, TV shows, and movies from the iTunes Store and iCloud

iTunes in the Cloud lets you access content you've bought from Apple's iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, re-download it to your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and to iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, and stream your music, movies, and TV shows to your Apple TV.