Category Archives: Apple

iOS 7 – all the new stuff – and there is loads

Apple demonstrated iOS 7 at WWDC yesterday, and it certainly looked fresh. Massive attention to detail and over 1,500 new API’s for developers including support for game controllers. So what was new –

-Completely redesigned interface
-New Lockscreen
-New translucency and Parallax allows you to see layers of info
-Weather app has interactive displays
-Calendar has new minimalist UI
-Multiple page support in Folders
-Notification Center now available on Lock Screen
-FaceTime audio calls
-Notification syncing
-Phone and Message blocking
-Activation lock disables phone if stolen
-iPhone beta available now to developers
-Coming September / October

-Control Center – Swipe up from bottom of device to access toggles quickly, turn on Airplane Mode, adjust brightness, AirDrop and more.

-Multitasking – New interface shows app cards, Multi-tasking for all apps with great battery life,Puts apps into scheduled background cycles, Adapts to network conditions.

-Safari – New full-screen look, Pull down from top brings up smart search field, iCloud Keychain support

-Camera – Redesigned UI, New filters, Accessible from Control Center

– New Photos App – Collect photos into ‘Moments’ based on location, date, or people, Look across photo collection by pinch-to-zooming through Photostream, Share photos via AirDrop, Twitter, Facebook, iMessage, See comments from people you’ve shared the picture with directly in image

– AirDrop – Share images with friends, System-wide support with apps with share-sheets, Works on iPhone 5, iPad 4, 5th Gen iPod Touch

– Siri – New interface with wave animation, All new female and male voices, Can now control more of your device such as adjusting brigthness, Wikipedia and Bing search results integrated directly into Siri

– iOS in the Car – Get iOS on your car’s dashboard screen, Get directions, play music, have iMessages dictated to you and more, eyes free,Supported by more than 12 car manufacturers in 2014

– App Store – Search for apps by age range, Find apps based on current location, Apps are updated automatically

– iTunes Radio- Built directly into iOS Music app, Featured Stations stream music based on its theme., Share stations with friends, or create your own based on favourite artists, Preview and purchase songs directly in the app, Support on Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV
Free for all users, Completely ad-free for iTunes Match subscribers, Launches in the U.S. at first with other countries following later on

This is just the summary of the new features. The keynote speech highlighted many others, and the design elements were fantastic. And with 1,500 new API’s more is clearly available but not known yet.

So what did you think?

Below are some samples of the new look and screens.

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WWDC – Apple is set to take the world by storm

Next week Apple will be holding its WWWDC. The key excitement lies around what iOS 7 will look like and reveal. This is the work of Mr Ive. And according to the man himself, it will be the best mobile operating system when launched.
WWDC

The banner for WWDC is in place, and it reveals the type of icon style we might expect to see next week. Or are the colours indicating something else, something hardware related?

What do you think?

Personally, 10th June cannot come soon enough.

iOS 7, iRadio and Apple WWDC

In 5 days time, Apple will be commencing its WWDC.

Rumours floating around the Internet at the moment suggest Apple is ready to launch its streaming music/radio service at WWDC.

iOS 7 is meant to be a more flattened design. I noticed that the official Apple WWDC app, featured a flat icon and this surely is a clue of what the rest of the icons will look like. The notification centre on the iPhone will also get a slight makeover with some extra options.

Other rumours suggest Apple will announce wifi sharing with the iPhone range, new Macs and potentially the iPhone 5S.

However, apart from the visual makeover and a number of new features, I don’t expect iOS 7 to be a night and day difference from iOS 6. Why? iOS 6 is already polished. So to make it substantially different would be impossible.

Just how good is the iPhone 5 camera? Good enough for a newspaper to lay off its photographers

Unbelievably, the Chicago Sun-Times, has sacked its entire photography staff of 28 people. Now its reporters will start receiving “iPhone photography basics” training to start producing their own photos and videos.

The DSLR camera is moving to the grave yard shift more and more as smartphone cameras become more powerful, smart and are able to edit and share photos with speed.

As the expression goes, the best camera is always the one in your pocket.

Apple TV is just a hobby. Some hobby as Apple share of the market is staggering

Tim Cook was on All Things Digital Conference a few days ago and revealed that they had sold 13m Apple TV boxes, and 6m of those were last year. But still this is a hobby for Apple.

Well this hobby has 71% of the market share for digital media receivers according to Fortune. That does not include dedicated gaming systems such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The popular Roku box has sold more than 5 million units, giving it a 27% share of the market.

And when Apple decides to move this from a hobby to a proper product launch, things could get rather interesting.