Between E3 and Apple’s WWDC 2013, this week is a complete cluster F…you get the point. Nonetheless, the Cupertino-based company made several announcements today. Consumers who were hoping to get a glimpse of the new iPhone and iPad were surely disappointed, as the conference focused more on Apple’s next-gen desktop and laptop lineup, as well numerous software updates for iOS 7. Here’s a breakdown of what was shown at WWDC 2013 today.
iOS 7
Apple’s chief mobile OS receives a major makeover, with the company looking to provide a more simpler user experience that’s enjoyable for consumers. The Notification Center will inform users of new mail, missed calls, and support a new featured called “Today,” which gives users a convenient summary of what is happening on that day. Safari will now present a bigger and bolder web browsing experience that allows users to view more on-screen content. And if you want to go back to a page, simply swipe the screen.
Other Apple products supporting iOS 7: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod Touch, iPad 2, iPad Mini, and New iPad.
Apps Near Me
This new update available through the App Store shows you a collection of popular apps for children. Instead of performing manual updates, your apps will do it automatically.
iRadio
Jumping into the music-streaming lane, Apple looks to take on Pandora and Spotify with its new music service. iTunes Radio lets you purchase songs heard on the service without any trouble. Also, iTunes Match customers will get an ad-free version of the service. I don’t know if iTunes can compete with other music apps, but at least they’re trying.
PhotoStream
Apple’s photography service will automatically send images to the cloud. Multiple people can now post to the same shared photo-stream easily, but with privacy-controlled sharing—accommodating iOS7’s social network-heavy presence. It will also group pictures by location and time into a “Moments” folder and then attempted to place that into “Collections.”
Siri
Every iPhone user has had their issues with Apple’s voice assistant. Apple’s updated the app with a male and secondary female voiceover, along with French and German support. The company promises more languages will be available in the future. You can also have Siri answering questions using Wikipedia, plus have it perform other actions like brighten screen resolution.
New MacBook Air and Mac Pro Desktop
Lastly, Apple showed off its upcoming Mac Pro desktop and MacBook Air lines, with the latter promising all-day battery life. According to Apple Marketing Chief, Phill Schiller, the new Pro will be “a machine unlike anything we’ve ever made, both inside and out.” He also went on to say it would be completely designed and manufactured in the U.S. At an eighth of the volume of the previous Mac Pro, the new offering is said to double performance with help from a new Intel (INTC) Xenon chip.
The Air, which will be offered in the same screen sizes, doubles battery life of earlier Airs with Intel’s Haswell chipset.
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