As announced in the WWDC yesterday, iOS 6 has officially been launched as Apple's newest upgrade to their famous platform. Apple also announced and discussed several of the key features that have been integrated into the OS. Here they are:
Apple Maps
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| Apple has incorporated several essential features into it's Maps application including turn by turn navigation (right), 3D Mapping (center) and Traffic data (not shown) |
Through "a coordinated worldwide effort", Apple has set up its own Maps application, getting rid of Google's Maps application which was previously the standard on iOS. Apple's maps application sounds thoroughly promising with turn by turn navigation, Siri-integration, alternative routes, 3D Mapping, anonymous, real time traffic, etc.
Read the full article.
Siri
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| Siri, after being heavily beefed up, has made it's way to the iPad too with Rotten Tomatoes, Open Tablem, Sports Information and Yelp integrated. |
The new and improved Siri has now made its way to iPad. With yelp and open table integration, Siri is better than ever and it's now on the iPad 2 and also on The New iPad. Another great addition to Siri (For iPhone and iPad) is the new "Eyes-Free" capability. Essentially this is just a 'Siri button' on the Steering Wheel of car manufactured by several major car companies that plan to add it within 12 months. Car manufacturers include BMW, GM, Audi, Land Rover, Jaguar, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes.
Siri has also been beefed up with its integration with Yelp, OpenTable, RottenTomatoes and Sports information. It can now also launch applications and post to Facebook. Lastly, Siri's finally gone international!
Passbook
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| Passbook scans and organizes your Gift Cards, Admission Tickets, Boarding Passes. |
A new stock application in iOS 6 which allows you to scan your gift cards, admission tickets, boarding passes and more onto your iPhone and then simply whip out your iPhone whenever you need them. Several major flight companies are apparently agreeing to this. Passbook also seems to be very efficient considering that it alerts you (push notification) to things such as a gate or terminal change. Also it appears to group multiple tickets together. So if you're boarding a train with two other people you needn't search your iPhone for all of your tickets, merely for one.
iPhone: Do Not Disturb
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| Reply with a text, Get reminded, Switch on do not disturb mode and screen your calls. It couldn't get any better |
Everyone's been in a situation where they can't answer someone's call but can't simply hang up either for fear of offending the person. For such situations, Apple has provided a solution. There's now a new option on the incoming call to swipe up and you have the option of:
- Sending a preset text message such as "Can't talk right now... I'll call you later" or type a custom one.
- You can tell your iPhone to remind you to call the person back - in one hours, when you leave, when you get home or when you get to work.
If all else fails and you need a solution, simply go to your settings and enable "Do Not Disturb". Calls and Text Message will still be received but they won't light up your phone and neither will they make it ring or vibrate.
Another great addition to this is that you can screen your calls. So important calls such as from your boss will still come through but the more trivial ones will not. Also you'll have the ability to allow a call to come through it the person has called more than twice in three minutes. Apple couldn't have made this any better.
Facebook Integration
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| Facebook has been integrated throughout the OS adding some amazing functionality too. |
Just as Twitter was last year, Facebook has been integrated into iOS this year. Facebook - Integration on iOS 6 allows you to do everything you can with twitter-integration: Post updates, Share links, photos, emails, notes, etc. But it also includes some amazing new features such as: Contact and Calendar integration (Including contact info, pictures, email and birthday alerts) and also the ability to 'like' (Facebook like) Apps and Songs on the App Store and iTunes Store. You can even see which apps and songs your friends have liked.
Accessibility
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| Accessibility and Guided Access will greatly help the the disabled |
After a lot of heartwarming stories of how the iPad has helped the disabled, Apple revealed their new Guided Access feature for iOS 6 which allows better access for the disabled. Parents of autistic children who have been greatly helped by the advent of the iPad can now disable certain inputs such as hardware buttons so that the child doesn't accidentally exit the application.
Other Features
Of the '200+' new features on iOS 6, here are some others that we currently know of:
- Safari gets upgraded with iCloud tabs, offline reading list and full-screen landscape view.
- The Stores get a makeover to bring 'a new kind of shopping experience'
- Mail too has a few new features such as VIP contacts (important) and the ability to add photos and videos to an email straight from the app.
- Find my iPhone and Find my Friends have too been upgraded presumably with Apple Maps.
- The iPad seems to have gained a clock application but so far, no Weather' or 'Stocks' applications on iPad.
- FaceTime now works over cellular. (Pretty cool)
- Shared Photo Stream - You can now share your photo stream with whoever you choose, over the cloud.
The Shortcomings
I've already
listed most of the shortcomings of the WWDC 2012 but one of the major disappointments in relation to iOS 6 is it's incompatibility with the original iPad. Original iPad owners are now forced to make a choice: Buy "The New iPad" or stick with iOS 5.
Overall
Summing up, the WWDC '12 had some major announcements for Mac and iOS Users as well as for Prospective buyers. iOS 6 was a major part of the event, and aside from the obvious disappointments, it seems to be quite promising.
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