Now that the Labor Day holiday is behind us here in the U.S., fall is fast approaching and that can mean only one thing: iCloud time! Ever since iCloud was previewed at WWDC 2011, iOS device users have been staring at their current devices, longing for some cloud syncing magic, so let’s recap what we know about iCloud so far.

On the surface, iCloud is Apple’s new attempt to right the early wrongs of MobileMe, the annual service for keeping vital contacts, calendars, bookmarks and more synced between computers and iOS devices. First launched in 2000 as iTools, reborn two and a half years later as .Mac and ultimately rolled in MobileMe in 2008, iCloud is the culmination of years of hard work on Apple’s part to make life easier for its users.

Whether you own a Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, iCloud promises to change the way you access your data across devices -- especially when it comes to adding a new device in the future. Here’s a look at what to expect based on the information Apple has made available.

It’s Free! (For Most of Us)

The big news with iCloud is that the service is free -- at least for the first 5GB of storage, which Apple claims will be “plenty of room” for average users, since purchased music, apps, books and TV shows as well as Photo Stream images don’t count against that storage quota. That’s a huge change from MobileMe, which cost $99 per year before Apple puts a cap in its backside at WWDC 2011.

“Free gets you a lot,” Apple touts on the iCloud web page, explaining that the service will mostly be backing up your “mail, documents, Camera Roll, account information, settings and other app data.” However, keep in mind that data stored inside third-party apps will count, which means users can easily exceed 5GB in no time at all. Third-party app data could include music saved offline in Spotify, comic books in Comic Zeal 5 or documents in Readdle Docs, for example. Multiple devices also get backed up to the same shared storage pool, so users with an iPhone and iPad may hit the storage ceiling even quicker.

So what happens in that case? You’ll have to fork over your hard-earned cash for more space -- 10GB for $20 per year, 20GB for $40 per year or 50GB for $100 per year, all of which looks like a bargain compared to the 20GB MobileMe users were paying $99 each year for.

MobileMe (More or Less)

Speaking of MobileMe, iCloud may be a mixed bag for those of us who have been forking over $99 each year. iWeb publishing, Gallery and iDisk are not coming along for the ride, although existing users will be able to continue using these features until June 30, 2012 when MobileMe finally vanishes like a thief in the night. Furthermore, MobileMe users will lose the ability to sync Mac Dashboard widgets, keychains, Dock items and System Preferences, although this data will continue to be made available until you move to iCloud.

The rest of MobileMe’s feature set -- Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Find My iPhone and Back to My Mac -- will be coming along for the ride over to iCloud, along with new features outlined below. iCloud users will also have access to many of the service’s features through iCloud.com as well, including mail, contacts and calendars.

Backup, With A Side of Apps and Books

iCloud backup is one of the more exciting aspects of the new service. Gone will be the days where you bought a new iOS device and had to tether it to iTunes to sync your data. As part of Apple’s “PC-free” initiative, iCloud will maintain a daily backup of your current device over Wi-Fi whenever it’s plugged into a power source, then restore it to any new device just by signing in with your Apple ID and password.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Google’s Android already offers something similar for smartphones and tablets running this competing OS. However, Apple’s service goes much further, backing up purchased music, apps and books, photos and videos in your Camera Roll, device settings, app data, home screen and app organization, text or MMS messages and even ringtones, all of which will reappear like magic on your next device (or even the one you currently own, should you need to restore it).

Apps and iBooks are also part of the iCloud mix -- purchase them once and you can have them automatically downloaded to your other devices as well as iTunes on the desktop at no additional charge, or buy a new iBooks selection and pick up right where you left off on another device, which includes bookmarks, text highlights and notes.

iTunes and Documents in the Cloud

Apple has been publicly beta testing iTunes in the Cloud over the summer, so you may already be familiar with how it works. Buy new music via iTunes on any device and a copy is stored in your iCloud account, which can be automatically pushed to other devices you own. The feature also works with the aforementioned apps and iBooks, and you can use it with iOS 4.3 right now by going to Settings > Store and turning on automatic downloads for the media types you want.

Past purchases also show up as part of the same service, whether you’re using the desktop iTunes or an iOS device running iOS 4.3 or higher. Tap or click to see a list of purchased items and beam them straight to your device with the download button (the icon that looks like a small cloud with a downward arrow inside).

Apple’s iWork apps will also get a boost from iCloud with the new Documents in the Cloud service. Create a report in Pages, a spreadsheet in Numbers or a presentation in Keynote and have it automatically stored on iCloud and pushed to your other devices. Developers now have access to the same technology, which means you’ll soon be able to do the same with third-party apps as well.

Photo Stream

iCloud will also solve a longtime dilemma for iOS owners with Photo Stream. Snap a photo with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and it will instantly get tossed into the cloud (assuming you have internet access), where it will automatically appear on other devices as well as iPhoto on your Mac, the Pictures Library on a PC and even the Photo Stream album on a second-generation Apple TV. No more wires or even switching on AirPlay to share photos with family and friends.

Photo Stream also means you’ll never have to worry about a broken device taking your precious vacation images with it -- Apple will automatically store the last 1,000 photos in iCloud and new photos will stay there for 30 days, giving you plenty of time to import them into your program of choice. Coupled with iOS 5’s upcoming photo editing features, many users will spend a lot less time keeping their photo collection organized in the very near future.

One Last Thing: iTunes Match

Although it requires a separate $24.99 per year fee, iTunes Match is very much a part of the iCloud lineup. Despite recent rumors that the service will allow music streaming as well as downloading, iTunes Match is simply Apple’s answer to the problem of upgrading music tracks of questionable quality that may have crept into your iTunes library over the years. That includes music ripped from your own CDs, but also extends to 18 million possible tracks delivered in 256Kbps quality that you may have acquired through less honest means -- torrented MP3s, music ripped from a friend’s CD or even emailed to you.

Currently in beta for developers only, iTunes Match scans a user’s existing music collection, adding anything it fingerprints which wasn’t purchased through iTunes to your iCloud account where it can be downloaded from any iOS device or even another computer signed into your account. It’s not quite the iTunes cloud solution we all hoped it might be, but for longtime iTunes users it will certainly be a godsend for cleaning out the cruft -- regardless of where it originally came from.

Coupled with iOS 5, iCloud promises to make owning an iOS device nearly seamless when it’s released this fall, presumably alongside a new iPhone 5 and another update to OS X Lion (likely 10.7.2, which has already been seeded to developers) for adding iCloud functionality to the Mac. Are you ready to soar into the iCloud?

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter