There are a couple of things you should know about us. First of all, we love seeing how people have all of their Apple gear set up, because some people go to some serious effort to make their home or office look amazing, and secondly we have a cupboard full of prizes that we really need to get rid of.

After a few weeks of pondering these points, we came up with a brilliant solution – combine them for a fantastic giveaway! Here’s the deal: All you need to do is take a snap of your desk with your Mac, iPad, iPod, iPhone etc (or any combination of those items) sitting proudly in place, and then post it below in the comments section of this post. We don’t care whether your desk is a complete mess or the epitome of cleanliness, as long as your Apple set up is incredibly cool and fantastically functional you’re in with a chance of winning. We also don’t mind if you’re running a little MacBook all on it’s own; you have just as much chance of winning a prize as those with three Thunderbolt Displays, two MacBooks, an iMac, a Mac Mini, four iPads, six iPods and an iPhone 1G (we’re sure there’s someone out there…).

To post your picture you’ll need to upload it to a hosting site, such as Flickr, Instagram or ImageShack, then copy the link of your picture and post it below. We’ll check all of them out and update this post as regularly as possible when new set-ups are posted. The competition closes on the 14th of February at 10am GMT, and by that point we should hopefully have a Set-up Gallery, from which we will be picking our three favourite set-ups. These three lucky people will win a prize or two from our cupboard – we have all kinds of things in there, for iPads, Macs, iPhone and iPods, so there’s sure to be something you will use!

If you prefer, you can also email us a photo of your set-up to iCreate@imagine-publishing.co.uk, or tweet it to us @iCreateMagazine. So there you have it! You have everything you need to enter, you know that the closing date is a week from today, and you know that we have some incredibly cool prizes to give away. What are you waiting for?!

Imagine Publishing has launched a new digital-only, Multi-Touch ebook, iCloud For Beginners, specifically designed for Apple’s iBooks 2. Featuring slideshows, interactive images and more, it is one of the first ebooks of its type in the world. And it’s awesome.

Using iBooks Author’s fantastic tools, iCloud For Beginners teaches everything users need to know about iCloud, the free new back-up and sync service, with a Multi-Touch twist. From how to set-up your free iCloud account to sharing your information across your Apple devices, the ebook uses cutting-edge technology to deliver enhanced, easy-to-use tutorials that not only contain some incredible information, but also look great.

“At Imagine, we’re always excited by cool new ways to deliver our world-leading content,” said Editor In Chief Aaron Asadi. “iBooks Author is another great opportunity for us to create more products we love for a whole new type of audience. It’s this sort of game-changing innovation that makes us do what we do. ”

“With the speed that the publishing industry is changing, there’s nothing more exhilarating than grabbing hold of new technologies and seeing how we can get the most out of them to serve-up the content we’re so passionate about,” added Ross Andrews, Head of Design. “What could be better than going from saying ‘we should try that’ to a fully published product in just a few days? It’s hard to think of a more exciting time for the industry.”

iCloud For Beginners is available now on iTunes and iBookstore worldwide for just £0.99 in the UK and $1.99 in the US.

Over the last few weeks there seems to have been a huge increase in the number of rumours about Apple making a TV set of its own. Several sources claim the company plans to create a TV for release in the next year or two, and when this many people seem to have the same information about a product, it seriously increases the likelihood that it’s correct.

This got us thinking. Of course, with the Mac, iPhone, Apple TV and most recently the iPad, Apple has been slowly edging their way further into our day-to-day lives. For some people, it’s now common to step into their home and use Apple devices for a full evening, watching movies, doing work, talking to friends, playing games and even reading.

What if Apple’s TV set (which we will henceforth be referring to as iTV to distinguish it from Apple TV) is just the next step in their plan for your life to be completely locked into their own products? Considering Apple TV runs iOS, the same operating system as iPhone and iPad, it’s fair to assume that the iTV would also use this system. And with many suggesting that Mac’s OS X and iOS will be merging into one system in the future, it’s possible that all your gadgets will be running the same system, communicating wirelessly, and working as one large device.

Of course, if this is the plan, there’s no reason that it couldn’t cover your whole house. Imagine stepping into your home and have Siri welcome you back. An iPhone and iPad app would turn the devices into controls for things like the lighting system or iTV, or you’d have the option to speak to Siri to get things done. Your iTV would not only receive HD content from iTunes, it’s specially-designed interface would enable you to quickly choose between watching live TV channels or playing the shows you’ve previously recorded to your Mac’s hard drive. Of course, if you wish, you can also use iTV to play games; with it’s dedicated graphics card, the iTV would let you play HD titles in full 1080p, controlling it with your iPad or iPhone, or even your mouse if you wanted. The iTV would be the epicentre of your entertainment experience, and everything you needed would be built into the mouth-watering hardware.

Of course, if you’re not in front of the iTV, you still have access to all your media, as well as other services. In the kitchen, for example, your surface would contain a large, tough touchscreen, that would allow you to look up recipes, write shopping lists and check what you have in your cupboards and fridge. In your bedroom the large picture frame on the wall would be a screen that cycles through the latest pictures that you added to your holiday album, and when you want it to, switches to the iTV function to let you catch up on your favourite shows in bed.

All of these features may still be science fiction, but this is surely the direction that technology is moving. Just over ten years ago, Apple really only made one kind of device – the Mac. It sat on a desk in your office and was used for work and, perhaps, getting creative, and the rest of the time it would be left alone. Now, millions of people carry around an Apple device in their pockets all day, get home and play games and read books on the iPad, and use Apple TV to watch the latest movies. Apple is slowly making its way more and more into our lives, and making it even easier to do the things we love. In the next few years, with the advances in technology that will surely be made, just think where we could be, and what we might be able to achieve with our Apple products. It may be a bit of a leap to say that you will be able to control your entire house with your voice, like Tony Stark, but if Siri makes its way into more than just the iPhone 4S in the next few years, just remember – we called it.

Below is just a glimpse at what your home might look like in the future. Click the image for a larger view:

CES is a pretty big deal. The electronics show sees more than 150,000 journalists, bloggers and other tech-industry people swarm to a huge Convention Centre in Las Vegas to see the coolest new gadgets, innovations and downright strange ideas.

This year was no different, and now that the week of madness is over, we’re taking a short look back over the highlights of the show, focusing on some of the coolest gadgets and accessories that will be available for your Mac and iOS device in the next few months and years.

Before we start, we also think it’s worth mentioning that while Apple didn’t have a stand of any kind at the show, and officially weren’t present, it was revealed during the week that they actually had around 250 employees circulating the show floor, scouting out everything on show. One keen-eyed journalist managed to spot Greg Joswiak, Head of iOS Product Marketing at Apple, and chat with him briefly about why he was there.

Apple are, of course, very interested in keeping an eye on developments in the tech industry, but Joswiak was specifically observing how companies were representing themselves, from things like booth layout to which products were highlighted. The reporter noted that he didn’t seem all that impressed by Sony’s stand, but didn’t get much more from the Apple man.

Anyway, onto the products that we’ll hopefully be reviewing in the next few months…

LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt RAID array
After jumping into the Thunderbolt market late last year with its high-end Little Big Disk (which features SSD storage alongside the super-fast transfer technology), LaCie are back with more Thunderbolt-powered brilliance. This time they coming in with a RAID array, most likely in an attempt to combat Promise‘s line of Thunderbolt enabled drives that are currently on sale on the Apple Online Store.
Because it’s a RAID system, speeds won’t be quite as high as the norm for Thunderbolt (which is around 700 MB/s), but LaCie have said we can expect around 311 MB/s, which is still three times faster than we are used to with FireWire 800. It will come in flavours up to 8TB, and allow for daisychaining, so you can add more storage if necessary. LaCie also announced a Thunderbolt Hub that includes support for eSATA drives, which will surely please users who have a range of drives that they’d love to connect up to their Mac. We saw a lot of Thunderbolt accessories on display at CES, but LaCie’s are some of the most exciting, closely followed by this…

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock
Until now, pretty much the only way to use the full potential of your Thunderbolt port was to buy an Apple Thunderbolt display for nigh on £900/$1000. Thankfully, that is set to no longer be the case when Belkin release their Thunderbolt Dock in September of this year. The small dock houses one FireWire 800, one HDMI, one Gigabit Ethernet, one 3.5mm audio, one Thunderbolt and three USB ports. This is set to really change the way people work with Thunderbolt, and when the dock, which will reportedly cost around $299 (around £200), is released in a few months we will finally see people using the full power of their new Macs.

Mobee Magic Feet and Power Bar
We’ve been big fans of Mobee‘s products for a while now, after they released solutions for one of the most consistent annoyances with our Macs – the wireless Magic Mouse and Keyboard using hundreds of batteries. Their solution involved inductive charging technology that allows you to simply place your accessory onto a powered charging station and watch as they filled with extra juice. Not only did this save money in the long-run, it was also an incredibly slick procedure. Now the company have a new way to power up your Magic Trackpad (called the Power Bar), plus an all-in-one solution for your Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse – the Magic Feet. The latter does look a little on the large side, but the Power Bar looks both incredibly slick and exceedingly simple to use, without losing the wireless nature of the accessory. We’re really looking forward to trying these out when they’re released in late March; you may find a huge pile of dead batteries outside iCreate Towers if you happen to be passing on the day, too.

Oregon Scientific Time and Wireless Charging Station+
Another one to jump on the brilliant bandwagon that is inductive charging, Oregon Scientific announced the first charging mat that actually functions as something useful when your iPhone isn’t sitting on it. The iPhone case included with the charging-clock also doesn’t look bad at all, meaning it’s something you might, potentially, consider having on your phone at all times. The mat/clock itself is a little on the large side, so you might have to reorganise your bedside table a little to get it on, but it looks great in action and will be available with cases for the 4 (and 4S), the 3G (and 3GS), as well as a few Android and Blackberry handsets, if you fancy mixing things up. This isn’t their first charging mat and clock combo, so we have high hopes for the new design.

Padintosh iPad case
This stunningly simple iPad case from thumbsUp! is not only guaranteed to evoke true feelings of nostalgia in all Apple’s fans, it will also function perfectly with the iPad 2′s Smart Cover. The case will be available in Q2 and clips on to the back of the iPad to perfectly mimic the very first Macintosh computer that debuted in 1984. It looks great, and we can’t wait to see it on the back of our iPad 2s at iCreate Towers in the next few months – we’re suckers for nostalgia.

Blue Spark Digital
Blue have long been known for producing fantastic microphones for all kinds of recordings, and now they are back with the Spark Digital, a microphone that will not only play nice with your iOS device, but will sound great at the same time. The new microphone uses the same technology inside as the (much more analogue) Stark did when it launched last year. The difference here is a MicroUSB port on the bottom that allows you to connect up to an iPad or iPhone using the Camera Connection Kit, or a Mac via a USB cable. As with all Blue’s mics, the Spark Digital has an amazing build-quality, and a few features that make it really stand out, including a condenser capsule that physically contracts to catch a more specific area of sound. It should be available in the Spring for around £130 from what we’re hearing, and we’ll try to record a podcast with it when we get one to review so you guys can also compare the sound quality (we currently use Blue’s brilliant Yeti mics).

iCade Mobile
The iCADE Arcade Cabinet garnered a fair bit of attention last year when it launched for the iPad and added an old-skool arcade stick and buttons to go along with an app that let you play loads of retro games. Now, iCade is back, and this time it’s going portable. The iCade Mobile add-on allows you to slot in an iPhone 4/4S, or an iPod Touch, connecting via Bluetooth to your device. The pad adds buttons, a directional pad, and shoulder triggers to your iOS device, and allows you to rotate your screen into both portrait and landscape modes. It doesn’t look like it’s going to win any design awards, but it’s worth noting that it’s still in the development stage and may look quite different by the time it launches in May for $79.99. It will also only work with around 100 games at launch, which is a bit of a shame, but if you’re one of the many people who don’t like gaming on the iPhone or iPod simply because of the way the touch screen works you may enjoy using this little peripheral.

Parrot AR Drone 2.0
Probably the most exciting announement of CES for the big kids in us all came from Parrot, who announced the second generation of their unbelievably awesome Parrot AR Drone. The inventively named AR Drone 2.0 boasts a new 720p HD camera that sends a live feed back to your device, as well as a pressure sensor for better altitude control and an autopilot mode that lets you set a distance and altitude and watch as the Drone goes there and snaps a photo. We expect fantastic things from this, as the original Drone was so much fun it should probably have had a warning on the box.

Now, onto AirPlay, which really dominated the Apple-based announcements this year…

Band & Olufsen Play: BeoLit12 Speaker
If you miss the old-style speakers of yore, you may also be very excited about the newly announced BeoLit12 speaker, the first product in the B&O Play range. This new product line aims to bring high-quality audio into your home without the need to take out a second mortgage and with a distinctly retro design. The little box of joy boasts a 120-watt amp, an aluminium shell, two 5cm tweeters and a 10cm woofer, which come together to produce one heck of a sound. The BeoLit12 also comes with AirPlay functionality, allowing to play your music through your Wi-Fi connection, as well as USB and 3.5mm stereo-out jacks. And if this is starting to sound just a little unlike the old wireless you used to have in your front room, you’ll be pleased to hear that the battery should provide around four hours of playback while streaming, or eight hours if you connect directly. It will be on sale at the end of January, but beware that this thing still won’t come cheap – it’s expected start at around £520.

Griffin Twenty
If you own a pair of high-quality speakers, but they aren’t enabled with AirPlay, you might feel like you’re missing out on the very best wireless music experience. If so, Griffin’s new Twenty might be just what you’ve been looking for. The small box allows you to clip in an AirPort Express and connect up to your speaker set-up with a single cable, giving you access to all your tunes wirelessly. The box itself looks great in a sleek white that fits perfectly with the AirPort Express, although this design could change before release. The most exciting thing is the giant silver dial on the top, however, as it not only looks and feels great, it simplifies the controls to just one interface, and is ultimately all you really need. No release date or pricing information on this one, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Klipsch Stadium Speaker
We’re big fans of Klipsch‘s products, after we tired a few of their headphones in a recent issue of iCreate, so we are naturally very excited about the prospect of their new AirPlay speaker – especially because it looks like it might be seriously powerful. With two 1-inch tweeters, two 3-inch mid-range woofers and two 5.25-inch subwoofers this isn’t going to be one for the faint hearted. Plus, as they’re all uncovered, you’re likely to feel these at the same time as you hear them. The AirPlay functionality means there is no ugly dock sticking out anywhere, but there is a USB port for when you’re not in range of your computer, offering a tethered connection that will also charge iPhones and iPods (but probably not the power-hungry iPads). It should be out around September, and there are no announcements on pricing just yet so expect something around £300 (our estimate, based on no facts at all).

ZIK Parrot Headphones by Starck
We recently tried out Parrot’s ZIKMU AirPlay speakers and while they might look a bit like trombones, they also provide some absolutely astounding performance when it comes to sound quality. So naturally we are rather excited about this pair of AirPlay headphones from the same company. We are sure that they are going to be incredibly expensive, and there are still no announcements about their release date, but these Bluetooth-enabled speakers feature four(!) microphones for some serious noise-cancelling action, as well as Parrot’s ‘Digital Music Hall’ effect, which is supposed to give the impression that you’re listening to your music in a much larger room. You’ll be able to connect them to your iPhone etc using a quarter inch cable if you prefer an analogue sound to the digital one they provide wirelessly, and most importantly they look really rather sexy.

Keep an eye out for future issues of iCreate Magazine, as we’re already excited about getting out hands on all these products for review.

We’ve pulled out all the stops for our first issue of the New Year – whether you’ve got yourself a shiny new Mac or iOS device or your simply looking to start a fresh with your old one. We’ve got some amazing features, designed to help you get the most out of iLife, give your Mac a makeover and get gaming without a console. That, of course, sits happily alongside 98 pages of tutorials and advice and a cover disc with 50 minutes of amazing video tutorials.

Our cover feature this month sees us rack our brains for the 50 most important tips, tricks and hacks to help you get the most out of iLife. Whether you’re an iPhoto power user or an iMovie novice, there’s plenty of Mac secrets to really push these programs to their limits. Once you’ve mastered this amazing suite of programs, you can get stuck in to the tutorials and master iPhoto’s hugely underrated smart album.

If you’re looking to give your Mac a new look for the new year, our Customise Your Mac feature has everything you need to know. It’s packed with tips, advice, software and tricks to make your Mac almost unrecognisable from the traditional OS X aesthetic. Love it or hate it, you’re bound to find something you want to customise on your Mac, and there’s no better way to learn how to do it than taking a look at this guide.

By popular demand, we’ve delved into the worlds of Aperture and Final Cut Pro X to bring you two, four-page ultimate beginners guides to this pair of amazing pro software. Ideal for those moving up in the ranks from iMovie and iPhoto, these expert guides will have you flying through Apple’s best professional software in no time at all. You asked for it, so we included it.

We’ve rounded this issue with an in-depth look at the exciting world of OnLive – the streaming service that’s taking the gaming world by storm. Without giving too much away, with OnLive, you need never buy a console again. Forget expensive extra kit, you can now play almost any game on your iPad or Mac and we’ve taken six pages to show you just how it all works and why it’s worth doing.

iCreate 103 is available in all good shops and newsagents, on our Newsstand app, and via subscription now. In fact, if you’re a subscriber, chances are you’ll already have the mag sitting on your coffee table, and you’ll have saved a little on the high-street price too. Sound appealing? Check out our subscriptions site now and grab yourself a great deal.

It’s that time again, where we all decide after eating and drinking way too much, that this is the year we do things properly, that this is the year we get our lives in order. We here at iCreate are having exactly the same thoughts and So I  have decided to share some my favourite Mac, iPhone and iPad apps for doing just that with you. Here are my top productivity, health and fitness and general ‘new start’ apps for 2012.

Productivity Mac apps

For me, at least, the new year provides an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and make good on all of those ideas that surfaced in the previous year but that you never got around to getting started. I always find that a great app can add a huge amount to your creative process, allowing you to plan more effectively and execute those plans in a more timely fashion – whats more a great app invites you to use it again and again adding an element of interest to tasks that might usually put you off. My first pick is a note taking and todo app that will help you get all of the ideas you have on a daily basis down and organised in a really cool, minimal, Apple kind of way. Its called Thoughts (click here for the website) and it is available from the Mac App Store (click here). The reason I like this app so much is that it lets me organise my thoughts into books. So I can easily separate my work projects from my home projects and my serious ideas from the slightly more wacky ones. The interface is really clean but when you need it, all of the formatting options you’d expect from a great app are at your disposal. This is a really well considered and brilliantly executed app.

My next productivity app is actually two apps that I use in tandem. They are both iCal add-ons in as much as they prevent me from ever having to open it. It’s not that I really dislike iCal, it’s just that its a pain and it gets in my way . These two apps make the pain go away. The first is called Blotter (website here, Mac App Store link here) and it basically throws your iCal info onto a transparent viewer that lives on your desktop. So iCal is always there – without you having to load it. The app that works perfectly with this is called QuickCal(web here , App Store here) and it is beautiful. Launch a tiny window from your menu bar at any time and then type an event or meeting name in normal English like ‘meeting tomorrow at 2pm with Jon’ and it will figure out the details and add them to iCal. For more specific elements just type ‘to-do’ or  ’all-day’ and the app will figure it out. If you are like me and you love the idea of being organised but don’t want to load iCal and bugger about with a million options to do so, then (while we wait for Apple to bring Siri to the desktop) use these two wonderfully crafted apps and get your life in order in just a few clicks.

Getting healthy with iOS

For some reason, because of the ‘always there’ nature of the iPhone, it seems to be considered an incredibly useful tool for helping people stay healthy or get fit. There are literally thousands of apps out there that profess to help you do it but sadly none of them can actually make you eat less or exercise more. So, you need to find an app that will keep you interested enough to keep going back and keep being reminded of your goals. Fortunately in my years of writing app reviews for iCreate and for various related bookazines, I have experienced a vast number of health and fitness apps and I can say that the best ones are the ones that appeal to your geeky nature. iMapMyRun is the perfect example (link), offering you the ability to track where you jog or cycle on a map and offering some cool additional information like the pace you are going at and connectivity to some other third-party monitors. The upshot of all this wizadry is that you can set yourself goals based on more than just distance and you can become a statistician for your own progress – which makes the whole endeavour much more enjoyable.

Stay creative

When it comes to the iPad, there isn’t much it can help with exercise-wise (in the same way that the iPhone can – you could try strapping it to your bike I suppose?) but it can help keep your creative juices flowing and healthy, keeping those all important ideas bubbling at the surface. The reason for its success in this department is simple, it has a much more usable interface compared with an iPhone and it has portability advantages over a laptop. So, for me at least, the iPad is the perfect way to have a dabble at making something cool, which in turn fuels all kinds of fires for projects at work and at home. The app I’m most into at the moment and the one I’m recommending is called Snapseed (link). It’s an image editor that lets you add all kinds of new dimensions to your snaps. What I like most about it is the way that each of the effects can be dialled up or down and the way that different combinations of effects can be added in different measures to incredibly varying effect. Its one of those apps that can take a seemingly ordinary image and turn into something incredible and it has enough features to ensure that no picture ends up looking the same. If you are into image manipulation at all, or have ever fancied it, then this app is perfect. Beginners and pros can get something from it.

So, there you have it, a quick guide to my favourite apps for the new year. If you want to add your own to the list please do so in the comments. If there are any we haven’t featured in the magazine we will do our upmost to get them in there. Check back soon for some favourite hardware for the new year too.

It’s that wonderful time of year where the gift of giving is in abundance, and whether you’re on the giving or receiving end, we’ve plenty ideas to make the most of your Christmas hauls packed into issue 102. There’s more about all of that below, but needless to say, as ever we’ve packed all manner of reviews, news and tutorials as well as an excellent cover disc featuring some great tutorials and resources into this month’s mag.

Whether you’re taking advantage of the ability to gift apps, or you’ve found yourself flush with iTunes and App Store gift cards this festive season, you’ll undoubtedly want to see what you can apps you can get for your virtual dollar. With that in mind, we’ve put together our definitive guide to the 50 best iOS apps and some of the most amazing Mac apps to ever grace the app store. There’s a wide range of apps on offer in both features, ranging from games to digital gadgets, and we’ve even thrown in a few of our personal favourites for good measure. Consider it the ultimate buyer’s guides to the best digital stores on the planet.

If you wake up on Christmas Day to a new Mac, you know you’ve been good all year, but if you want to be good when it comes to using your Mac, you may want to check out our ’30 Lion Lessons’ feature. We’re going back to school with this one, taking you through some of the most essential pieces of advice we can give you when it comes to getting going with your Mac. Even if you’ve had you machine for years, there’s bound to be a tip or two amongst this feature that you’ve never heard of and, who knows, it could just change the way you work – for the better!

Finally, we’ve got a five-page guide to creating a perfect iPhoto calendar, which could provide you with an ideal last-minute Christmas gift for friends or loved ones. Apple will even deliver it to your door so you can beat that Christmas Eve rush in retain outlets across the country. Personalised calendars are gift that keeps on giving, they last all year and the lucky recipient will conveniently need a new one right around this time in 2012. You’ll never be stuck for present ideas again.

Consider this issue our gift to you this festive season.

With love,

iCreate

P.S. Here’s a Christmas gift guide tip from us: If you want to really treat that Apple-loving, creative in your life, why not grab them an iCreate subscription? For a pinch over £25 you’ll give them the beautiful gift of six issues of the best Magazine for Mac, iPhone and iPads delivered to their door way before it hits the shelves in your local store. It saves a snow-filled trip to the shops and will certainly guarantee you stay on their Christmas card list for at least another year.

P.P.S. Did you know we’re also on Apple’s Newsstand? You can buy subscriptions (and single issues, including back issues) on there too!

Issue 101 of iCreate tells you everything you need to know about iCloud, and we have to say we think this is the best issue we’ve ever made. We’ve gone through every aspect of Apple’s new Cloud service, with tutorials and features dedicated to explaining the basics and helping you completely control your online content.

We have also reviewed a little item known as the iPhone 4S, with our full opinion on the new hardware and some interesting discussions about what Siri could mean for the future of Apple. For those craving a little creativity, we’ve got a full 9-page Practical Guide for taking incredible photos every time, with everything from shooting tips to the best kit to make the most your shots.

As ever we have over 95 pages of tutorials and advice for getting the most out of your Mac, iPhone and iPad, and over $150 worth of content on our disk for use with our tutorials if you buy the hard copy. If you prefer to live digitally, you can also pick up issue 101 on Apple’s Newsstand at a lower price than a print copy, as well as subscribing in the app at a discount.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed putting this issue together, and are incredibly proud of the result. If you want to pick up a copy, head down to any good newsagents, your local WH Smiths or supermarket and grab one for yourself. Alternatively, you can always subscribe to iCreate and get a new copy delivered to your door every month – this also makes a great Christmas Gift for your favourite Apple user.

Take a quick look at the previews we’ve included below and then go grab your copy – you won’t regret it!

Others you may like:

Issue 100 On Sale Now!
The iCreate iOS App

We’ve thought long and hard about how we should celebrate reaching 100 issues of iCreate, and we came to the conclusion that there’s no better way to do it than to give you 100 Mac Power Tips – the ultimate guide to getting more from your Mac. In this very special centenary edition you’ll find 100 different ways to make the most of your Mac – from Apps to keyboard shortcuts and accessories to upgrades – we’ve worked tirelessly to give you the best advice for the ultimate in creativity and productivity.

That’s not all though, oh no! For this very special 100th issue, we’ve ditched the usual free CD and teamed up with our digital friends to bring you an extra special celebratory DVD, on which you’ll find 100 free creative tutorials, over £100s worth of free software, the first five issues of iCreate in full, all 100 iCreate covers and an interactive history of Apple timeline. We’ve also created a very special and striking front cover, and for those of you who pick up iCreate from a shop, we’ve housed it all in a bespoke slipcase.

As ever, we’ve got some great tutorials for you to try out covering iOS, OS X, iLife and iWeb, as well as a look back at ten years of the iPod. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it, it’s certainly a special one for us and we’d like to say thank you for your support as a reader, without you we wouldn’t be celebrating 100 issues. Here’s to issue 200!

P.S. If you want to get your next 100 issue delivered to your door (and possibly a few days before they hit the shelves), why not consider a subscription? They’re great value and with the festive season just around the corner, they make great presents, too.

It is also our wish to express just how influential Steve Jobs has been to all of us here at iCreate. His philosophy towards technology and how it sat at the crossroads with the liberal arts is one that iCreate has taken as it’s inspiration from day one, seeking to help others understand and embrace the creative power that Apple computers are able to give to people.

It is incredible to think that Steve Jobs had the vision in 1976 to know just how the world would grow to love the technology he was building, and then to continue predicting, anticipating and creating products that would not only be successful, but would become cultural icons.

The thing we will miss the most about Steve is the clear passion he had for the products, things like watching the gleam in his eye as he reveals he has an iPhone tucked in his pocket or the sheer amazement of seeing him pull a computer from an envelope. It’s unlikely that we’ll see another leader of his ilk in our lifetime.

Thanks for everything, Steve, you will be sorely missed.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

At their press conference in Curpetino, California this evening, Apple announced the iPhone 4S. The fifth iteration of the iPhone will be 2x faster than the iPhone 4 with a dual-core A5 processor and dual-core graphics – making gameplay and other graphics-related output seven times faster than the previous version.

An improved antenna design is also featured, promising ‘improved call quality’ – hopefully avoiding the signal issues that plagued the release of the iPhone 4.

Availability and pricing

The prices for the iPhone 4S are as follows:

16GB – $199 / 32GB – $299 / 64GB – $399

Most importantly, these will be on a 2-year contract.

Subsequently, the iPhone 3GS will be free on contract and a new 8GB iPhone 4 will cost $99.

The iPhone 4S (with its new 64GB model)  will be available from 14th October (with pre-orders from 7th October) with Apple announcing it will be available in 22 countries by 28th October.

A new camera

As widely rumoured, the iPhone 4S is now a world phone, capable of running or CDMA and GSM networks. The 4S also features a new and improved, 8 megapixel camera producing 3264 x 2248 photos – 60% more pixels than photos produced by the iPhone 4. The new camera also allows images to be captured by the iPhone 5 up to 33% faster.

The rear camera of the 4S also saw a bump in video quality from 720p to 1080p – now true HD quality along with video image stabilisation and noise reduction.

Assistant announced

Perhaps the most impressive feature to be announced though was the much rumoured Assistant. Announced under the moniker of Siri – named after the original company that developed the technology it was described as ‘the intelligent assistant that gets things done just by asking’.

Siri was demonstrated with a number of commands including “Wake me up at 6:00 am” to which it responded “I set the alarm for 6:00am” and “Find my a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto” with the response, “I’ve found 14 Greek restaurants in Palo Alto, I’ve arranged them by rating.”.

iOS 5 – available from 12th October

Scott Forstall, Senior VP for iOS Software also took to the stage to announce that iOS 5, Apple’s latest mobile operating system, would be available to download from 12th October. A new app, Cards, was also announced. Cards allows you to order and purchase prints from photos taken directly from your iOS device. The app isn’t included as part of iOS 5 but is available to download for free.

A previously unannounced iOS 5 app, Find My Friends, allows you to quickly and easily find out the location of friends who opt to share their location with you was also debuted. The interface for Find My Friends is fairly similar to Find My iPhone and works in a similar way, except you wont be able set a passcode for, or wipe, your friends…

iPod Nano and iPod Touch refreshed

Phil Schiller gave a brief presentation to the assembled media in which he announced updates to two models of the iPod family – the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch. For the Nano, Schiller showed off an improved UI (with bigger icons), improved clock faces, and built-in GPS. At $129 for the 8GB and $149 for the 16GB model, these are available to buy today.  For the iPod Touch, a white version was introduced with a slashed price point (down to $199 for the 8GB model) available from October 12th. Naturally, they’ll be running iOS 5 as well.

The event, which is also being streamed live to Apple’s Covent Garden store in London, was hosted and presented by CEO Tim Cook, a first for the long-serving employee since Steve Jobs’ departure in August.

As well the obvious product announcements, Cook told told the media that the iPhone 4 sees a 125% increase in sales year-on-year and that 95% of Fortune 500 companies are now testing or deploying the flagship mobile device. Scott Forstall announced that iOS is the no.1 mobile operating system  with a 43% market share and that one billion apps are downloaded for iOS devices each month.

More details to follow soon.