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Keep Your iTunes Music in the Cloud With mSpot
Apple has yet to introduce either a streaming iTunes subscription, or a good way for MobileMe users to store their music library in the cloud for remote access. However, a service called mSpot is here to remedy that problem, by providing free online space for your music.

Once you’ve downloaded the mSpot uploader application for OS X (or Windows, if that’s how you roll), you can grab 2GB of free storage space simply by entering your email address and a password. Once you've done that, the uploader should automatically start uploading your iTunes library to mSpot. If not, you can start a sync using the menu bar icon. If you have an iTunes library larger than the 2GB limit, there are two options; either you can let the uploader keep going until it hits the limit, or you can upgrade to 40GB worth of space for $4 per month.

The next thing to do is grab the free mSpot iPhone application from the App Store (it’s also available for Android). Sign in on the device with the account you created using the desktop app, and you’re all set to start streaming your music over 3G. The mSpot application is fairly similar to the iPod app, so controls should be familiar. When you tap on a song, if you haven’t played it using mSpot before, it’ll be downloaded to your device so you only have to pay for the data once if you replay the track, instead of streaming it repeatedly.

Of course, the main reason for wanting to stream to your device is that your entirely library won’t fit on your device in the first place. In that case, having mSpot download the music each time isn’t really all that useful. Luckily, you can turn on the “Stream Only” option to prevent local storage. Just watch out if you have a small data plan, because streaming music will eat through it quickly.

The app also works on iPad, but it isn’t universal, so you’ll just see the standard iPhone interface. Still, it’s good news for owners of the 16GB iPad who need a little extra space for their music. Another nice thing about mSpot is that you don’t even need a device at all; you can also listen to your music in any web browser just by signing in at the mSpot homepage.

One last thing that mSpot allows for is selecting certain folders of music to upload, rather than your entire iTunes library. If you want to keep under the 2GB limit, but you have a large music library, this is the way to do it. You can manage folder selection through mSpot Preferences, accesible via the menu bar icon.

mSpot is available for both Mac and Windows, and supports streaming to both iOS and Android devices. If you know another solution for streaming music over 3G, let us know in the comments.

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iBooks Update Brings Illustrated Books, Collections, AirPrint
As we reported earlier, Apple today introduced new illustrated titles to the iBookstore. The titles come alongside an update for the iBooks app, which delivers enhanced support for illustrated books, a new Collections feature and the ability to print PDFs and notes via AirPrint.

The new Collections features allows you to organize your books and PDFs into custom, user-created categories. To get started with Collections, tap the button formerly used to switch between Books and PDFs at the top of the iBooks interface, and you can create new collections or edit ones that already exist. On the iPad, there’s a Collections button next to the one for the Store. Moving titles to collections is as easy as tapping the Edit button on the shelf where they’re currently displayed, selecting the books or PDFs you’re interested in rearranging, and tapping the Move button. PDFs and e-books can intermingle in the new categories, and your Collections automatically sync over-the-air if you have multiple iOS devices with iBooks installed.

Using AirPrint, you can now send PDF documents and any notes you’ve made in iBooks (though not e-books themselves) directly to an AirPlay-enabled HP printer, or to any printer if you have Printopia or another workaround in place. You can also email PDF’s and notes if you don’t have an AirPlay-compatible printer.

New, enhanced, illustrated book support will let you enjoy eye-catching art books, coffee table titles and children’s books in a way that might actually be better suited to photo-rich works than paper, since iBooks can present a vista unbroken by a traditional book’s spine.

Finally, little changes like the introduction of an automatic hyphenation option, and slight changes to the colour of the woodgrain texture in both the app icon and the shelves it uses to display e-books and PDFs show that Apple is dedicated to making the iBooks reading experience as pleasant as possible. Probably a good idea in light of new competition entering the fray.

iBooks 1.2 is live now in the App Store, but be warned that some users are reporting early bugs with this version. I haven’t had any trouble so far, but I haven’t yet done very extensive testing. Let us know how you’re finding the update (and the new features) in the comments.

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Earthquakes, Bieber and iPads: Apple's Year in Web Trends
The three biggest names in global web trends – Google, Facebook and Twitter – have released their top ten lists for 2010. In lists filled with global recession worries and natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Justin Bieber) it says a lot that Apple is still popping up everywhere. More on that in a minute, but first let’s look at the results.

Facebook 2010 Memology

According to Facebook, the iPhone 4 and iPad came in together at number four in their overall top ten “memes” of 2010:

In May, Apple surpassed long-time rival Microsoft in market capitalization, thanks in large part to two of the most discussed products of the year: the iPad and iPhone 4. These two products combined to account for over 25 million bragging, lusting or the occasional condemning posts during the year.

Interestingly, no other technology vendor or consumer electronics product makes Facebook’s top ten, which is curious given the stupendous sales and market share growth of Android devices in the last twelve months. Perhaps this means that while Android owners might be ubiquitous, they’re not as keen to brag about their handsets? Or maybe they really are just settling.

Personally, I’m astonished there was no mention of Microsoft’s Kin, what with it being such a runaway smash-hit success… oh, wait…

Google Zeitgeist 2010

While Facebook might have five hundred million users, Google seems to somehow have more users than there are human beings alive on Earth, so its top ten lists are particularly interesting. Google explains;

Based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year, Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010.

Apparently, the spirit of 2010 personified is something of an Apple fanboy. The iPad appeared at number two in Google’s “Fastest Rising” top ten overall search terms, and achieved first place in the “Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics” chart, where it was joined by the iPhone 4 at number two.

An Android device did manage to make it to number four in the “Fastest Rising in Consumer Electronics” list. The HTC Evo 4G grabbed that spot. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4 also managed to appear in Google’s “In the News” top ten, at number six. “Mobile Technology” managed to nudge its way in at number 9 – a category that at least broadly includes Android handsets and tablets.

Twitter 2010: Year in Review

Over on Twitter, Apple makes some impressive appearances in the year’s top ten lists, starting with the iPad at number six in “Overall Top Trends:” a list that also features Justin Bieber (8), Harry Potter (9) and Pulpo Paul, a precognitive octopus (no, really).

Where Apple truly cleans up is in Twitter’s Technology top ten with iPad in first place (Android takes runner-up in second place), Apple iOS at number three, Apple iPhone at number four and MacBook Air bringing up the rear at number nine. HTC did appear at number seven in that same list, so with one OS mention and one hardware partner, Twitter is where Google is closest to matching Apple in mindshare.

All Your Trends Are Belong to Us

Overall, Apple gets more mentions across these charts than Google, RIM and Microsoft put together, and that’s fascinating. These companies all spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually in marketing and advertising, but these end-of-year lists surely demonstrate how much more mindshare Apple apparently commands.

One can argue about the relative merits of each company’s mobile OS, but I don’t think there’s any room for debate as to which company’s message is most effective. In 2010, everyone was talking about iPad and iPhone. As Oscar Wilde once said, “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

You might say Apple is the Justin Bieber of this year’s worldwide technology chatter. Only, y’know, a Justin Bieber with actual substance, talent and significance. And note that it’s Apple’s mobile products (even the MacBook Air is its most mobile OS X machine) that are making the biggest waves. Mobile is Apple’s future, and that includes the iPad, even if TIME’s Man of the Year doesn’t agree.

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Apple iBookstore Adding More Picture Books, Canadian Content
Apple’s iBookstore for iOS devices is getting an influx of new content. There’s a major injection of illustrated titles set to arrive today, Dec. 15, according to the New York Times, and the Canadian government has just given Apple the green light to sell Canadian content through the digital bookstore.

Apple’s plans for expanding its picture book selection includes adding over 100 such titles to the iBookstore sometime today. The NYT cites Apple itself as the source of the information, and publisher Simon & Schuster confirms its titles will be among those available. Children’s books, photography books and cookbooks make up the bulk of the new selections.

Specific titles include the Olivia series of children’s books; In the National Parks, a photo book by Ansel Adams; and Beginnings by Anne Geddes (you know, the babies-as-other-things woman). Some titles are exclusive to Apple, and some have unique features –like uninterrupted, two-page layouts — that no other e-book store will be able to offer.

The iBookstore has been around since April 2010, so why are these books only coming now to the platform? Apparently, converting picture-rich titles to e-book format isn’t easy. Authors of illustrated books are more picky about what the finished product looks like, and creating a faithful representation that satisfies everyone involved has been difficult for publishers.

In other iBookstore news, the Canadian government granted Apple the right to operate iBookstore Canada yesterday. The Canadian Heritage and Official Languages ministry has to review and approve new businesses that could potentially have an impact on Canadian culture. Amazon went through the same process very recently when it wanted to expand its operations north of the border. Apple successfully assured the government that it would use iBookstore Canada to promote Canadian authors, publishers and content.

Until now, the iBookstore was available to Canadian users, without Canadian works. Now, if you happen to have access to a Canadian iTunes account, you’ll notice that the iBookstore landing page is virtually flooded with all things great white north.

Apple’s presence in the e-book market is much stronger as a hardware-maker than as a seller of content. Many authors note that they don’t have nearly as many sales through iBooks as they do through Amazon’s Kindle store, and even through the much less popular Barnes & Noble and Sony e-book marketplaces. Broader content libraries will help Apple be more competitive, especially if that content emphasizes Apple’s device advantage. Apple needs to stand out in an increasingly crowded e-book storefront market, and being the best at picture books is one way to do that.

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