Get a closer look at OS X Lion, the world's most advanced desktop operating system. With features like Mission Control, Launchpad, full-screen apps, and new gestures, OS X Lion takes Mac further than ever.
Tuesday
Official iOS 5 video
Get a closer look at a few of the over 200 features that make iOS 5 the best update yet for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Mozilla's Webian Shell interface will cloak your OS in a browser
With Google's fleet of Chromebooks making their way to market, Mozilla Labs has decided to release a similarly browser-based desktop interface, known as the Webian Shell. As of now, the prototype app consists of a screen-encompassing web browser, which essentially replaces your desktop interface. There's an address bar running across the top of the screen, a clock in the bottom right corner, and a tab button for all your web apps. Developed as part of the company's Mozilla Chromeless project, the tool was written entirely in HTML, CSS and JavaScript and, unlike Chrome OS, is designed to run on top of existing operating systems, rather than replace them. For now, the Shell is still in an early phase of development, looks pretty spartan and can't control a system's hardware. Mozilla, however, says it has plans to incorporate multiple home screens, split screen views and an on-screen keyboard, among other features. Windows, Linux and Mac OS X users can download the Shell now from here.
Nintendo 3DS system update is live, grab your free copy of Excitebike now
Nintendo has released a system update for anxious 3DS owners. The free update over WiFi delivers an internet browser and the eShop digital store to your multidimensional handheld. As a bonus, Ninty's offering the 3D-remastered NES game, Excitebike, for free until Tuesday with additional cash-money content coming to the store on Thursdays.
Apple has sold 200 million iOS devices
At the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) today, Apple announced some ridiculously impressive sales figures for their products. To date, they've sold 200 million iOS devices. And what's more, the relatively young iPad accounts for 25 million.
On the download end of things, Apple reported that they've distributed 14 billion App Store downloads, and 130 million downloads from the iBookstore. Those figures do include free apps, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. Developers have been paid $2.5 billion thus far. iTunes, which obviously had a head start, has sold 15 billion songs.
Apple announces iOS 5
Apple ushered its mobile operating system iOS in a new era today, announcing its fifth iteration, which brings along major updates. Steve Jobs himself took the stage at the Moscone Center in San Fransisco in the beginning of the keynote, but it was Apple's Scott Forstall who announced the inclusion of more than 200 new features in iOS 5, which is supposed to grace Apple's devices this fall.
These include the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3rd and 4th generation, as well as the iPad and iPad 2, plus whatever new phone comes later this year, of course.
After bragging about 425 000 applications in the App Store, $2.5 billion shelled out to developers, and 225 million credit card accounts linked to Apple's ecosystem, iOS 5 was unveiled, calling it a "major release", and ten new features were listed as most important.
First on the chopping block was the old intrusive way of doing notifications. We now have the so-called Notification Center, which appears when you swipe down from the top of the screen, much like on Android handsets. There you have your messages, calendar alerts, email and social networking updates and app updates, as well as stock and weather widgets on top, but no word if they will be updated live. These notifications will also jump on the lock screen, with one-swipe access directly to the app that created them.
iOS 5 Notification Center
Newsstand
Next up was Newsstand, which lists all your magazines and newspapers like on a bookshelf. A lot of major publishers seem to be onboard, and there is to be a dedicated section of the App Store for subscription stuff, so if this doesn't get us into the new era of consuming old-school printed media, we don't know what will. Newsstand integrates and manages all your subscriptions, and allows you to purchase and download issues for offline viewing.
Feature number three was deep Twitter integration with one-time login in Settings, contacts integration, and with many apps, like Camera and Photos, taking advantage of the Twitter invasion in iOS 5. Safari and Maps are also Twitter-ified, and a new API is given to developers who want to integrate the single Twitter sing-in it in their own apps.
Twitter integration in iOS 5
Mobile Safari, in its turn, gets new features too, like a button in the address bar called Safari Reader, which cleans out all the distractions while you are reading a story, sets the right font size, and leaves simply text and pictures - we certainly like the idea. Apple called Safari "the best mobile browser out there", and if by distractions it meant Flash, then no wonder why. A Reading List function is added, to save a story for reading later, which automatically appears as pending on all your iOS devices afterwards. What's more, the browser now supports tabbed browsing, which looks like, well, tabbed browsing - tap on a tab, and you are making its content active.
Next on the list of novelties in iOS 5 is the Reminders app which allows you to store multiple lists, and even assign a location to them, for example to remind you to call someone when you leave or arrive in a certain area. Reminders can sync between multiple devices, and also with your calendar.
There is a new way to access Camera in iOS 5, with the app icon straight on the lock screen taking you to the interface, and pressing volume up to take a photo as you would with a dedicated one-stage shutter key. You can also now hold down your finger in the camera interface to autofocus and highlight the exposure on a precise area in the frame, which should help with the under/over exposure troubles of the shooter. Pinch-to-zoom in the frame is possible now directly in the Camera app, and some simple on-device editing like crop, rotate, red-eye reduction and automatic enhancement enter the stage with iOS 5. In the Photos app you can also organize your pictures in albums straight on the device.
The Mail app has received an overhaul, too, with RTF, flagging of messages, drag-able email addresses between address fields, and search within the whole content of the message. There is also a new formatting bar in Mail, with bold, italics, underline and indention controls. A universal dictionary has been built into iOS 5, for use across all applications.
Split-up keyboard for easier thumb typing on a tablet
The onscreen keyboard can now be split in two, for easier thumb-typing on a tablet, for example, much like what Microsoft demonstrated the other day is to come with Windows 8 on tablets. Good, no more pecking with one finger on the iPad now. On a sidenote, the iPad 2 also gets AirPlay Mirroring - the ability to mirror its screen wirelessly to an HDTV via the Apple TV hockey puck.
Gone are the activation and syncing that required hooking your device to a computer, it can now all be done wirelessly. Also, when you take it out of the box, it will activate over the Internet and that's that. And finally OTA system app updates are being introduced, which will only update what's changed in the new version, instead of reinstalling the whole thing.
Game Center with profile photos
That Game Center thing? Yes, it finds its way into iOS 5 with 50 million users already, with the ability to add photos to your profile. Game Center is quite social - it allows you to share scores and see game recommendations from your friends. Games can also be purchased and downloaded directly from Game Center.
And, finally, the dubbed BBM-killer iMessage was announced, for all iOS users, regardless if they are on an iPad, iPod touch or an iPhone, over Wi-Fi or 3G. You can send text messages, contacts, pictures, videos, and it also supports group messaging. Delivery and read receipts come standard with iMessage, and you can also see when someone on the other side is typing, with the whole conversation being encrypted.
iMessage is an instant messaging network for all iOS users
Those were the ten major feature updates announced today at Apple's WWDC 2011 event. Some of them were expected, others come as quite a surprise, and some of them were long overdue. What do you think, is this major iOS update all you've been waiting for?
iCloud
Naturally, iCloud will first before most act like a normal storage service - it will enable seamless cloud syncing for your iDevices. For example, if you have taken some new photos with your iPhone, once it gets connected to a Wi-Fi network, the pics will automatically get transferred to your iCloud, and from there - to your iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or even PC, without requiring any additional effort. Simple as that! But just how big is the scope of it?
Most of Apple's iCloud will be offered for free. The free services include:
1. Contacts, Calendar and Mail - the former MobileMe services - which have been completely rewritten in order to work with iCloud. These will be free of any (i)Ads, and the push Mail account will be hosted at me.com. So, there you have it - everything from contacts, through calendars to inboxes will be easily kept in sync.
2. App Store and iBookstore - this is pretty straightforward - purchases of apps and books can now be downloaded on all your devices. In addition, users will now be able to see their purchase history, and with the tap of a single button, will be allowed to download any apps and books to any iOS device.
3. iCloud Backup - the purpose of backup is self-explainable - everyday, while you're charging your iDevice, and it's connected to a Wi-Fi network, its content gets backed up to iCloud. The backed up content includes music, apps, books, photos, videos, settings and app data. So, now, when you decide to get a new device (by Apple, apparently), you'll simply have to enter your Apple id and pass and voila - all your data will be downloaded.
4. iCloud Storage - this service takes advantage of the new iCloud Storage APIs in order to manage your documents in the cloud (Pages, Numbers and Keynote docs). It keeps track of any changes, and makes sure to apply them to all your iDevices. The apps from the iWork suite already take advantage of that funcitonality.
5. Photo Stream - thanks to this sweet service here, you'll be able to have your photos synced across your iDevices, Mac and even PC. Note however, that iDevices will keep the last 1000 pics made, if you don't move them to an album or something. Macs and PCs won't have that limitation. Photos sent to iCloud will stay there for 30 days.
6. iTunes in the Cloud - now, music that you've previously purchased through iTunes will be downloadable on any of your iOS devices, for free. Nice, huh? Same for new purchases - those, you'll be able to automatically download to all iOS gadgets. But what about songs that are not purchased from iTunes? Thanks to a special service called iTunes Match - Apple will... match your music with content from iTunes, and if it finds a certain song, it will simply replace it with a 256kbps AAC DRM-free version. Why do that? Easy - because it would make your music available online in a matter of minutes, instead of having to upload your entire library to the cloud. The bad news is that iTunes Match will cost you something - $24.99 a year, to be exact.
Apple iCloud and its services will be available along with iOS 5 this fall. However, the good news is that iTunes in the Cloud, along with automatic download of apps and books, is available right away in the U.S. for users on iTunes 10.3 and iOS 4.3.3.
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