11 Cool Copied Features in iOS 5 that May Power iPhone 5, iPad 2

Usually, the belief is that Apple innovates and everyone else copies, but the recent unveiling of iOS 5 shows a different truth altogether. There are quite a few features that are directly lifted from the Android to iOS 5. Here is a look at the cool features that already existed in Android phones before they came to the iPhone.

Notification Bar:

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The top gray bar on the Android screen displays important information about the Android phone. The Android notifications have always appeared in the top bar of their operating system. It shows time, battery state, network state, Bluetooth and GPS, among other icons. Android also shows icons in the notification bar when there is an update about a text message, email or voicemail. One of the biggest advantages of the notification bar is that one can pull it down by touching the bar and then swipe one's finger at the bottom of the screen to stretch and open up the bar, just like a window shade.

The recently unveiled iOS 5 also has a "notification bar" enabled in it. This is perhaps the most blatant copy of an Android feature to the iOS. The recently added "notification center" in the Apple iOS will help users get all their alerts in one place. Now, users who buy the Apple iPhone or iPad will get new email and text notifications, stock ticker, friend requests and weather updates, among other things, all in one convenient location, just by swiping down from the top of any screen to enter the notification center.

In fact, the biggest advantage of having a notification bar is that notifications don't interrupt you, and the bar disappears quickly.

Cloud Synchronization:

The main idea of the cloud synchronization is that your notes are synced using a web server, so you don't need to be near your PC - You can perform the synchronization anywhere you have access to the Internet.

Today, more and more people are relying on the cloud sync option, mostly because users can store large amounts of data (in the gigabyte range), perform word processing and computationally intensive work. Before Cloud Syncing became a reality, the users had to ensure that data was secured somewhere, like in an external hard drive, and then copy it back onto a phone's SD card. One of the biggest advantages of using cloud technology is the ability to access one's data on multiple devices.

The list of popular cloud applications include Acrobat.com, Animoto, Google Apps, Dropbox (service), Google Cloud Connect, Google Docs, Google Fusion Tables, MobileMe, LiveChat, Evernote, OurGroceries, Amazon's Cloud Player, Gmail, Google Music Beta and Kindle etc.

On Android phones, when a user signs into his or her Google account, it syncs all of his or her personal data using Google's popular services.

When the user changes phone, it restores apps, settings and personalized features like desktop wallpaper.