Apple Unveils iOS 5's 'Socialized' Game Center, iCloud Syncing

Apple revealed changes it will introduce in its iOS 5 update coming this fall, including additions meant to offer a more "socialized" Game Center, and details for its cloud-based service. Since the social gaming network launched for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad in September 2010, Game Center has attracted 50 million registered users -- Apple took care to point out that Microsoft's Xbox Live service has only 30 million users. When the company releases iOS 5 later this year, Game Center will receive several enhancements, including a cummulative point system added to the current achievements setup (similar to Xbox Live's Gamerscores). The more "socialized" Game Center will also enable users to see who their friends are following ("friends of friends"), receive friend and game recommendations, download games from within the service, and more, according to Technologizer. Apple also offered a first look at its free iCloud service, which is slated to replace the company's current MobileMe solution. The service keeps track of purchased music, apps, books, and more -- allowing users to access those items on multiple iOS/PC/Mac systems. iCloud will enable some apps to save information such as contacts and documents, which users can then pull up on other devices. Apple didn't specify if this could apply to game saves/accounts, but it's offering API access to third-party developers of iOS and Mac apps.