With iTunes Match’s release yesterday, Apple has moved one step closer to its promise of “PC-Free” operation of iOS devices.
iOS 5’s wireless features currently include:
- Contact and calendar syncing
- Software updates
- Importing photos from the Camera Roll via Photo Stream
- Download music from the iTunes Store, or your own library
- iPhone backups
By my count, these things still require syncing with iTunes:
- Syncing/updating iPhoto Events back to an iOS device
- Syncing new ringtones and alerts that aren’t purchased on the device
- Importing videos (Photo Stream just does photos)
- Syncing podcasts[1. I forgot about this initially. Instacast is that good.]
Imagine a world where any iPhoto event could become its own Photo Stream, or videos would be added to the application OTA.
These features would be great — and would totally cut the cord between my iOS devices and my iMac. That’s the vision I think Apple has for iCloud, but I think it’s going to take some time.