Coming as a surprise to no one — we hope — Macerkopf.de says Apple is working hard on iOS 5.0.2 and iOS 5.1 beyond that. iOS 5.0.2 should address battery life issues that remained following the iOS 5.0.1 release and it’s initial batch of battery fixes. iOS 5.1, they say, will bring some new features to Siri, including the ability to take pictures and video, and toggle Bluetooth, Wi-Fi.

Here’s to hoping for another beta release in the coming days, and a full release soon after!

Source: Macerkopf.de via; MacRumors

Apple has announced that it intends to reset developer iCloud Backup data on Thursday, September 22^nd. The announcement was made on the Apple Developer Boards. The reason may be that Apple is getting ready to release the iOS 5 GM.

On Thursday, September 22, the iCloud Backup data will be reset. Backing up to iCloud or restoring from an iCloud backup will be unavailable from 9 AM PDT – 5 PM PDT. If you attempt a backup or restore during this time, you will receive an alert that the backup or restore was not successful. After this reset, you will be unable to restore from any backup created prior to September 22. A full backup will happen automatically the next time your device backs up to iCloud.

[9to5 Mac]

RockMelt has released a free iPhone version of its popular desktop app, a social-network, orientated web browser, that integrates with your Facebook/Twitter accounts, to share sites with your friends/followers as you surf, or you can update your social network statuses directly from the app. RockMelt for iPhone, brings all of these to the iPhone.

Since RockMelt uses your Facebook login, the iPhone App offers real-time syncing for your bookmarks, RSS feeds or social networks, between your iPhone and other computer. As well as offering their new “View Later” feature, which allows you bookmark specific items, like sites or tweets which you can read on your computer.

Unfortunately, there is no iPad app, as of yet.

Are you a RockMelt user? Will the iPhone app be replacing your current iPhone browser? Check out screenshots and a video after the break.

[FREE - iTunes Link]

Apple has announced not one, but two huge products set to launch in Japan — iTunes movies and iAds. Movies first. To start, there will be over 1,000 movies available for purchase and download. Movies will be available in standard definition and high definition. As usual, all rentals and purchases will require a valid credit card on file with iTunes, nothing new there.

HD rental prices start at ¥300 while new release rentals will run ¥500. SD rental prices are ¥200 and ¥400 respectively. Purchases prices range from ¥1,000 to ¥2,500 depending, of course, upon whether they are HD or SD and whether they are an older title or a new release. For those keeping track, ¥2,500 is about $30 USD. This seems pretty pricey to me. Right now, titles like Toy Story 3 in HD are only $19.99 on the US version of the iTunes store. Do these prices for Japan seem high to anyone else?

Aside from movie purchases and rentals, Apple is also extending their highly successful iAd service to Japan as well. The Dentsu Group in Japan will be responsible for selling and executing iAd while Apple will deliver the ad content to customers. The Dentsu Group is one of the most successful brand agencies not only in Japan, but in the world.

Andy Miller, Vice President of iAd had this to say about the rollout -

“After an incredibly successful launch in the US where we’ve already doubled the number of brands on the network, we’re excited to bring iAd to Japan,”…“Dentsu is one of the world’s most prestigious advertising agencies, making them an ideal partner for iAds in Japan.”

It’s good to see Apple is extending more of the more sought after services to other parts of the globe. Any of our readers in Japan have any thoughts? What do you think about the iTunes Store pricing for movies?

[Apple iAd Press Release, Apple iTunes Press Release]

Amazon has released Windowshop for iPad. If you use Amazon as frequently as I do, you may already realize that the current iPhone and iPad offerings are pretty grim.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the Amazon app as it seems to just be a mobile version of the site shoved into an app.  Windowshop seems to bridge that gap quite nicely on the iPad and it’s now available in the App Store as a free download.

It does an extremely nice job of separating categories and allowing you to quickly switch between them.  To me, this is a lot less tedious compared to weeding through search results and refining them.  Your categories will simply appear at the top and you’ll be presented with columns of search results.  From there, you can simply pick the best category at the top that best suits what you’re looking for and just search within that section.  If they could make a scaled down version of this for the iPhone as well, I’d be all set!  Pick it up and give it a shot, and of course, let us know what you think!

[iTunes Link]

Farmville by Zynga is finally available to iPad owners, in all its HD farming goodness. First made popular on Facebook, we saw Farmville for iPhone. The iPad version is also a free download and as usual, all your normal stuff from your Facebook profile should come down just like it does on the iPhone version. I’m personally not a Farmville user, but I’m sure Leanna is jumping up and down right about now.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

[iTunes Link]

First year, Apple showed off the original iPhone (2G or 1,1) and iPhone OS 1.0 in January at Macworld 2007, gave us a release date at WWDC 2007, and shipped both together at the end of June. Second year, Apple showed off iPhone OS 2.0 in March at the SDK Event but didn’t introduce iPhone 3G (1,2) until WWDC 2008 in June, and announced the release date for both — the same release date for both — July 11.

This year Apple once again showed off iPhone OS 3.0 at March at the Sneak Preview event, and is rumored to be introducing iPhone v3 (2,1) at WWDC 2009 on June 8. If that comes to pass, we also expect them to announce the release date as they have in the past. But will it once again be the same release date for both?

• Pros: Apple likes big events and big news. Nothing is bigger than simultaneous releases. Apple also seems to like to stick to their patterns, and for the last two years software and hardware releases were one and the same. 2007 saw iPhone 3G alongside iPhone 2.0, App Store, and MobileMe (yeah, we’ll get to that in the cons…)

• Cons: That simultaneous release last year? iTunes went down. No one could activate. MobileMe’s lack of readiness caused months of bad PR. As big a news bomb as it was, it brought the negative every bit as much as the positive.

Frequent reader, Icebike, makes a great case for a staged released in our comments. It lets Apple control the roll-out, manage expectations, and better assure quality experiences for all involved.

But that simultaneous release is just so tempting, will Apple simply charge ahead with it anyway? Should they? Is the Circus Maximus worth the attention, good and bad?

As an iPhone user and potential 3.0 and next-gen iPhone user, what would you prefer Apple do?