Apple today announced that iCloud — a breakthrough set of free cloud services that includes iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, and Documents in the Cloud — will be available on October 12. iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars, documents, and more, keeping them up to date across all your devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.

Apple today announced great new features and more affordable pricing for both
iPod touch and
iPod nano. iPod touch, which includes iOS 5 and iCloud, will be available in new black and white models starting at just $199. The new iPod nano is available today starting at just $129 and features a redesigned user interface, 16 new digital clock faces, and improved built-in fitness features.

Apple has topped the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in the personal computer category for an eighth consecutive year, achieving a score of 87 points. This is Apple’s highest score ever on the index and nine points ahead of second place HP. The ACSI includes tablets in the PC category, and the organization says in its press release, “Apple’s winning combination of innovation and product diversification — including spinning off technologies into entirely new directions — has kept the company consistently at the leading edge.”

Stephanie Reitz of Associated Press reports on the growing use of
iPad in public secondary school classrooms this fall, noting a “move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.” Educator benefits range from using iPad for interactive demonstrations of math solutions to teaching children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. Principal Patrick Larkin of Boston’s Burlington High School calls iPad a better long-term investment than textbooks, saying, “The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Ian Sherr reports on the tablet war, noting that “people don’t have tablet fever, it seems they simply have a mania for iPads.” He writes that HP, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., and Research In Motion Ltd. have entered the tablet market this year “trying to close the gap with Apple,” but that they “have been routed so far.” Sherr closes with a quote from Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin, who observes: “There’s an iPad market and then there’s everyone else.”

At the world-famous Missouri School of Journalism, the MacBook Pro is now a universal presence in a curriculum designed to give students the hands-on experience they need to produce work at the same level as any professional journalist. Students use their Mac notebooks with iLife and Final Cut Pro to report, write, edit, and produce stories for the school’s newspaper, TV station, and online news service. Says Associate Dean Brian Brooks, “The Mac can really transform how we teach journalism in this country.”

Reviewer Jim Dalrymple writes in The Loop that the new 13-inch
MacBook Air combines all the capabilities required for doing day-to-day work with optimal screen size and resolution. Dalrymple also praises the device’s spacious keyboard, “amazing” battery life, and pre-installed OS X Lion. He concludes: “The 13-inch MacBook Air is the computer that all other laptops will be measured against. It has power, portability, and a sleek design that is only matched by other MacBooks.”