iCloud

Apple has increased the convenience of owning an iOS device with the introduction of iCloud. Backing up multiple devices has never been easier, and you can restore on the go. The only catch is that using more than 5 GB of online storage requires an annual subscription.

You can help keep your storage needs to a minimum by managing your iCloud device backups. Sometimes backup files get damaged, and other times you'll just run out of space. It's a simple process to delete old iCloud backups and free up space for other content.

According to the interwebs (via Cult of Mac), a woman has been tracking her stolen iPhone via pictures that the thief has been taking with her phone.

Katy McCaffrey's iPhone was stolen on board the Disney Wonder cruiseline back in April. When the alleged thief named "Nelson" started using the phone to take pictures, they were uploaded to McCaffrey's Photo Stream. McCaffrey then started a public Facebook page entitled Stolen iPhone Adventures to keep track of Nelson's personal exploits.

Apple is working on powering its massive data centers from 100% renewable energy sources. A 20-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility has just been approved for the Maiden, NC facility. 60 percent of the facility's electricity consumption will be generated on site by solar and fuel cells, with the remaining 40 percent coming from external renewable energy providers.

A new data center in Prineville, OR will come online with 100 percent renewable energy from the start. Apple also plans to renovate its Newark, CA data center starting in 2013, and will move that location to clean energy as well. The announcements come on the heels of several Greenpeace actions to bring attention to data center power consumption.

Apple is rolling out its iTunes Match service to several new countries today, including Austria, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia. A full report on the launches was first revealed by MacStories. Even though iTunes Match is now live in Italy and terms of service have been changed to include Match in other countries, Apple has yet to update its official iTunes Match availability document.

iTunes Match was first launched in the US in November 2011, followed by further rollouts in December and January. The service is now officially available in 37 countries around the globe including Australia, Brazil, the UK and others. Although Japan was rumored to be getting the service in February, Apple has yet to launch it there.

New and existing Sprint customers can pre-order the iPhone 4 with iOS 5 for $99 starting on Thursday. The iPhone 4S can be pre-ordered at 12:01 AM PST (3:01 EST) on Friday via their online store. AT&T or Verizon customers can visit Apple’s website or call 1-800-MY-APPLE to order the iPhone 4S tomorrow.

The iPhone 4S features Apple's dual-core A5 processor, 8-megapixel camera, 1080p HD resolution video recording, iCloud and Apple's new voice command assistant Siri. The iPhone 4S is $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299.99 for the 32GB model and $399.99 for the 64GB model. All prices require a new or upgraded contract.

Apple could have a variety of cloud-based services up its sleeve for iPhone owners. The company is expected to announce a complete revamp of its current MobileMe service, possibly at the 2011 WWDC in San Francisco this June. With the recent launches of Google's and Amazon's own streaming media services, the time is ripe for Apple to jump in the game.

Rumors have coalesced around the completion of a giant Apple data center in North Carolina as well as a purported email from Steve Jobs claiming that MobileMe is headed for changes. Not only this, but developers have discovered a cloud-based service (codenamed Castle) in the latest developer preview of Lion, Mac OS X 10.7. Apple reportedly even purchased the domain iCloud.com for $4.5 million from a company that has changed its name to CloudMe.