From San Francisco – With the release of two major software downloads Apple plans to introduce hundreds of new features and tweaks this year to their current line of Mac computers and mobile devices. Many of the changes offer the usual tweaks and updates, but significantly this time, the  company plans to help users looking to get by with just an iPad to ditch their computer, help Apple fans copy paid iTunes content across all their devices,and tackle the popularity of RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger with a new service aptly named iMessage.

Mobile Updates

iMessage is just one of many new features included in the free iOS 5 software download, coming this fall for the iPad, iPhone, and even iPod Touch (3^rd gen and up). The chat software allows those who use Apple’s mobile devices to easily share text messages, photos, videos, and even contact information with each other instantly. Messages are pushed automatically between all devices and encrypted for secure transit.

Apple’s twist with iMessage is that it offers digital receipts, confirming that messages have been received, and displays a typing indicator to let you know an answer is being composed on the other end.

Other new mobile features include an improved system for notifications that seems to be inspired by the way Google’s Android software handles such updates. Users simply swipe from the top of the screen to pull down a quick summary of notification messages, swiping again each one individually to launch the related app.

News Stand seems to be an off-shoot of the iBooks store, offering a separate set of virtual bookshelves for newspapers and magazines. The advantage is the improved way it organizes such content, but also in the way it downloads subscribed material as a background operation.

Twitter is now integrated into Apple’s own software apps, allowing you to tweet photos from the camera, contacts, Safari browser, and even YouTube itself. Your initial sign-in to Twitter will then be used again for all other Twitter-related apps.

Reminders is a new app that allows users to create lists and to-dos for better organization while reminders can be set both for specifictimes, dates, and with the use of GPS, chosen locations.

The Mail and Safari apps have been given special tweaks. The web browser now includes full tabbed browsing and Reader messages to better display and share web content while Mail has been updated with support for enriched content, better message search, and draggable user addresses.

GameCenter, an online network for those who often play mobile games, will be updated so that users can compare their achievements, friends of friends, and get recommendations. The service will allow for direct game purchases and now include support for turn-based games.

A very popular set of changes will no doubt be the ones planned for mobile cameras. A shortcut on the main screen makes it easy to quick grab a picture when needed and the volume up button can now be used aphysical shutter button (a popular adjustment once offered by a third-party appthat Apple initially forbade).

The Camera app will also include built-in editing features such as cropping, editing, quality adjustments, and optional grid lines for those needed guidance to line up a shot.

Apple claims we can expect more than 200 such features whenthe iOS5 download is made available this fall.

Mobile Freedom

Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs revealed on stage today that his company has been focused on finding ways to reduce the frustration users experience in trying to juggle between the many devices people now carryand use.

Their first change is to introduce a new mobile policy called “PC Free”, meaning that with the next iOS 5 update, iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches will no longer need to connect to a computer using a USB cable inorder set-up, back-up, sync, or activated.

All of those transitions with iTuens and Apple’s online services can now be done directly and wirelessly. Apple is also working to transfer over computer-specific tasks to their mobile space which is why their iWorks suite is now available as a mobile version and the upcoming Camera update will include photo-editing features.

If you’re looking to ditch your computer and try and just to survive on mobile devices alone, Apple is trying to help with that rather ambitious and adventurous endeavour.

iCloud

Also part of the iOS 5 download, iCloud is a new free online service that takes all of the content you create and own and makes sure that copies exist on all of your Apple devices. Everything is uploaded and pushed wirelessly through Apple’s own servers which take the place of your home computer in being your central storage hub.

If you create a new calendar entry, a new e-mail, write a new document or presentation, it gets saved to your iCloud account and then sent to the rest of your Apple devices so that everything is up to date.

While this matches in some ways the similar wireless syncservices offered by Google and RIM, Apple says their differs in that its integrated with all the apps you own, it includes the content you have associated with apps too.

Since they can take up so much storage space, photographs are handled differently with a new feature called PhotoStream. It shares only the last 1,000 photos you’ve taken across all devices, leaving your PC or Mac to be the main storage for them all while only allowing the iCloud accounts to hold onto them for 30 days.

Perhaps the biggest advantage will come from the way you can use iCloud with Apple’s online stores. Music you’ve bought from iTunes you can now download again on your other devices, and the same goes for content from iBooks.

An added bonus is iTunes for the Cloud, a service that scans your existing music library for songs you’ve ripped from CDs. It includes them in the way iCloud shares content across devices, but can also upgrade those tracks with iTune’s own match versions (if available). Unlike iCloud itself, this extra feature costs $24.99 per year and for now is only available in theUS.

New Mac Features

As much as Apple may support the idea of ditching your home computer, they haven’t ignored those who won’t and plan to add new features to their Macs with the release of a new version of their operating system, OSX Lion.

Apple promises 250 new features, among them the inclusion of full, multi-touch gestures, fullscreen apps with ability to swipe to “go back” to the desktop or other apps, a built-in version of the Mac App Store, and a new version of Mail with updates inspired by the iPhone included search suggestions, an improved conversation view, and message snippets.

New powerful concepts include AirDrop, a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network you can quickly establish amongst computers to easily drag n’drop files amongst your colleagues and friends.

Resume means that when you launch an app it will instantly open to the same content and settings that you had the last time you use it and AutoSave is a feature that will keep track of every change you make while you work, allowing you to browse through all the different versions of a documentor e-mail yet still only share or copy the most recent version when needed.

OSX Lion for the Mac is due out in July as 4Gb download from the Mac App Store for $29.99. Not only is Apple finished with using discs, but they promise that software updates like these announced will be “Delta updates”, meaning they will only change pieces of the software needed instead of forcing you to download the entire package each time.

For those who were curious to see if Apple has any newhardware to offer this year, such as the next iPhone, the wait remains.