iOS 5 Beta 2 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Now Available

About three weeks after the launch of the beta 1, Apple released the second beta of iOS 5 to its developers earlier today. Dubbed build 9A5248d, the software is available to all registered iOS developers. Not much is known about this new beta release, except the fact that iMessage went through drastic changes, as the new version of the instant messaging client included in the release is incompatible with the previous version found in the first beta. Also, the new iTunes 10.5 beta 2 is now unable to sync with devices running the first beta of iOS 5, which implies that a lot more than iMessage has been tweaked in this new release.

Good news, WiFi sync finally works, but only with Macs for now. Lockscreen notifications also went through another round of tweaks, as pop-ups now show up as see-through, shaded windows.

Video courtesy of iphonedownloadblog

Note that Apple engineers apparently added extra security layers to this new beta, as iPhone hardware hacks such as Gevey SIM no longer work with iOS 5 beta 2. The final version of iOS 5 is expected to be made available later this year, alongside the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 allegedly entered the final stage of its design phase about 10 days ago, and is currently being tested by Apple’s engineers. iOS 5 will offer a slew of improvements, such as a vastly improved notifications system, Twitter integration, better Safari and Mail apps, the new iMessage service, iCloud integration, improved multitasking, and better overall responsiveness.