After demoing the MobileMe replacement, iCloud at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this summer, we've been eagerly awaiting a chance to play with the service. Earlier this week, the company launched the web-based version of iCloud beta. However, there is still some confusion about how to register for this service, we’ll show you the steps required to convert your Apple ID into an iCloud-ready account.
Note: Apple is shutting down iOS devices that aren't attahed to developer accounts with iOS 5.
>> An Apple ID
>> An iOS 5 beta device
>> or iCloud beta for Mac OS X Lion
To upgrade your Apple ID, you will need to have an Apple ID that is in an email address format (ex. me@domain.com) rather than just a username format (ex. “me”). If your Apple ID isn’t in this format, you can go to appleid.apple.com and login to change your ID to meet this requirement.
After installing the iCloud beta for Mac OS X Lion (found in the paid member area of the Apple developer site), you will be able to navigate to System Preferences > Mail, Contacts, and Calendars. Once there, click on the iCloud service in the right-hand section of the window.
Enter your Apple ID and password, and then click the Sign In button. After that, you will be able to select the services you’d like to enable on your Mac.
Note that if you are currently signed into MobileMe, iCloud will ask that you sign out before proceeding.
You can also sign into iCloud using your Apple ID on an iOS 5 beta device. Simply sign in whenever you get the welcome set up screen on your device, or after the fact, you can go to Settings > iCloud.
From this screen, you will be able to sign into your account as well as change the enabled services for iCloud.
After you have signed in and activated your iCloud account either through Mac OS X or iOS 5 beta, you will be able to log in through the new iCloud.com service. Simply navigate to iCloud.com and login to get access to the following services: Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Find My iPhone, and iWork.
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