Tue 7th of June 2011, filed under Design
Wireless world
New software and services from Apple were unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday.
Steve Jobs took to the stage at 6pm BST to deliver a keynote speech to 5200 developers. The hotly anticipated iCloud was finally announced, which Jobs claimed is much more than "a hard disk in the sky". Rather, it's a new "digital hub", keeping the user's contacts, mail, calendar, documents, photos and downloads automatically in sync across all their Apple devices. For example, a photo taken on an iPhone will be accessible on the user's Mac, while an update to the Mac calendar can be viewed on the iPhone – all automatically.
Apple's existing sync service MobileMe will be gradually phased out, and iCloud will be available – free – this autumn. Jobs claimed this is a step towards being "PC free", as wireless syncing removes the need for a PC as a file storage hub or base from which to manage devices.
Twitter: the chosen one
Software update iOS5 was also unveiled at the conference. Despite more than 200 new features being incorporated, one in particular has caused a stir: Twitter integration. One-tap tweeting from any Apple application on any Apple device effectively makes it the default social network for users, while Facebook is nowhere to be seen.
Some of the other new features in iOS5 include iMessage – labelled "BBM for Apple products" by Mashable – a to-do list app, and better photo editing functionality. Meanwhile, Mac OSX Lion – also showcased at the event – boasts 250 new features, and works with multi touch gestures, similar to the Windows 8 prototype previewed last week.
Posted by Rachel Hand
