Apple Watch gets much smarter and more useful with watchOS 2
I own an Apple Watch, and I like it, but like so many Watch owners I appreciate that this is a device whose future is coming, but isn’t quite here yet. In my first impressions review I said "What it can do right now is great, but what it will be able to do in the future will be amazing", and it seems as if the future might be coming sooner than I expected.
At the WWDC 2015 keynote Apple revealed watchOS 2, and to say it’s impressive is an understatement. With the upgrade Apple is seriously improving the usefulness of its wearable.
iOS 9 public beta coming in July with split-screen apps and improved battery life
Expectations were high for iOS 9 news at WWDC, and Apple delivered. At the keynote speech at the developer conference we were introduced to the latest version of the operating system that will power iPhones and iPads the world over, with the promise that it has been "refined from the ground up".
What is there to look forward to? Lots. There are updates to Apple Pay, a new News app, updates to Notes, as well as an updated keyboard, split-screen app display, and even a picture-in-picture option. But the news that will get a lot of people excited is that there will be a public beta of iOS released.
App Store hits 100 billion downloads
The App Store is unquestionably one of the main reasons for Apple’s continuing success. It certainly revolutionized the smartphone, and despite a serious challenge from Android it remains the top store for apps across the world.
At WWDC 2015, CEO Tim Cook revealed a couple of major numbers -- the biggest being that over 100 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store since it opened.
Apple's Newsstand is dead; long live News, baked into iOS 9
Newsstand is set to disappear from the screens of iPhones and iPads all over the world. At today's WWDC keynote speech, Apple announced the Flipboard-inspired News. A customizable news aggregator, News presents users with a selection of content from media partners that include the New York Times, Conde Nast, and ESPN, and it will be built into iOS 9.
Like Flipboard et al, News learns from the types of media you consume and suggests content you might like to read. Noting the current levels of interest in privacy, Apple stressed that personal preferences and habits will never be shared with third parties. This is a theme that cropped up again and again during the keynote, with strong emphasis being placed on the fact that no data is shared externally and articles are not linked to other Apple services.
Apple Pay comes to UK next month
As expected at this year’s WWDC, Apple has revealed that the Apple Pay payment system is coming to the UK in July. As revealed by Jennifer Bailey, Apple Pay chief (and a woman!), it will be accepted at over 250,000 UK merchant locations including Marks and Spender, Costa, Waitrose, Boots, and MacDonald’s.
That’s quite a bit shy of the million plus locations now accepted in the US, but it’s still a good start.
OnePlus One is best Android value -- gets permanent price cut and DropBox Pro option
While the world awaits Apple's WWDC conference to learn of all the new iOS news, many of us Android users are simply shrugging our shoulders in a collective "meh". Sure, Apple makes great products, including the iPhone, but they are very expensive. Android is better positioned for those of us with more meager bank balances.
One of the best value smartphones is the OnePlus One. Normally $299, the company recently offered a temporary price drop to an eye-popping $249 for the 16GB model. Guess what fellow bargain hunters? Today, the company makes that price drop permanent. However, the fun does not stop there. You can also get a majorly discounted year of DropBox Pro if you buy the 64GB model -- a $99 value.
The end of Apple's 'i' era is nigh
If Apple's streaming music service launches tomorrow at WWDC and is branded with the company's name/logo, look for broad naming changes ahead. My guess, and it's only that: the lower-case letter before products like iMac or iPhone will disappear; over time. Under CEO Tim Cook, the branding strategy differs from Steve Jobs. That's sensible considering where the company is today compared to 1998 when the cofounder introduced iMac.
Apple Watch foreshadows the new nomenclature. Contrary to months of iWatch rumors before launch, the device is identified by sound as Apple Watch, but what you see is the company's logo, which is one of the most recognizable brand icons ever created. If Apple Music turns out to be more than just streaming, but the replacement for or displacement of iTunes, consider that as sign of future naming conventions to come. If I am mistaken -- well, Apple should do what I predict.
Apple TV's 4K Future
On June 8th at the Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), CEO Tim Cook will reportedly introduce a new and improved Apple TV. For those who live under rocks this doesn’t mean a television made by Apple but rather a new version of the Apple TV set top box that 25 million people have bought to download and stream video from the Internet. But this new Apple TV -- the first Apple TV hardware update in three years -- will not, we’re told, support 3840-by-2160 UHD (popularly called 4K) video and will be limited to plain old 1920-by-1080 HD. Can this be true? Well, yes and no. The new Apple TV will be 4K capable, but not 4K enabled. This distinction is critical to understanding what’s really happening with Apple and television.
First we need to understand Apple’s big number problem. This is a problem faced by many segment-leading companies as they become enormous and rich. The bigger these companies get the harder it is to find new business categories worth entering. Most companies, as they enter new market segments with new products, hope those products come to represent at least five percent of their company’s gross revenue over time. The iPhone, for example, now drives more than 60 percent of Apple’s revenue. Well the Apple TV has been around now for a decade and has yet to approach that five percent threshold, which is why they’ve referred to the Apple TV since its beginning as a hobby.
Apple Pay to launch in Europe this summer
Apple Pay is still a US-only service, despite it being available for seven months, but the European launch is reportedly coming as soon as this summer.
That’s according to Belgium’s KBC Bank, confirming on Twitter that Apple Pay support will be available this summer. Even though KBC Bank removed the tweet after a few hours, it suggests that the Apple Pay European launch is coming sooner than expected.
Apple releases first iOS 8.4 beta with new Music app in tow
Apple has released the iOS 8.4 beta and with it, the upcoming revamped Music app.
The new music app features a stylish design (as we would expect from Apple), and a well thought-through interface, which includes a mini-player that remains visible while you’re looking around the app.
Apple launches OS X 10.10 Yosemite Beta 2
In late-July, Apple launched the public beta testing program for OS X 10.10 Yosemite, which it previewed at WWDC 2014. It was the first time the fruit logo company gave its non-developer Mac-toting users the ability to install a pre-release version of its long-lasting operating system. As an early adopter, I was eager to try it out as soon as possible. Sadly, the first public beta, as it was likely to happen, had its kinks.
But Apple has launched the second public beta of OS X 10.10 Yosemite (dubbed Beta 2), which brings with it a number of important changes over its predecessor, including some necessary bug fixes. Maybe the second time's the charm for those of us who ran into trouble with the first public beta.
Android owners spend less on apps than Apple users do
Many Google fans and developers are still excited in the wake of an eventful Google I/O 2014. From a transcendent show-opener where a metaphor-heavy Rube Goldberg device crossed through the physical and digital space to more discussion on the expansion of wearable technology, there was something for everyone at this developer conference.
The US tech giant's big hitter of this year was an emphasis on improving the integration of Android apps more seamlessly into users' everyday lives. Conference attendants were also granted an unprecedented look at the figures behind Android users' buying habits in the Play Store.
iOS 8 multitasking: What’s the holdup?
Has Apple painted itself into a corner with iOS 8 multitasking? I ask because, like many technology enthusiasts, I came away from WWDC feeling a bit let down. After all, everyone and their grandmother was expecting Apple to announce some sort of split-screen multitasking capability for iOS 8. Yet when Mr. Cook and friends took the stage there was no mention of the feature.
So, what happened? According to my sources, it all comes down to a programming mechanism known as "Auto Layout". Introduced with iOS 6, Auto Layout allows developers to create apps that support dynamic resizing, using pre-defined rules for object spacing to adapt an app’s UI to fit a particular screen resolution or orientation.
Apple showcases OS X 10.10 Yosemite in new video
In early-June, at WWDC 2014, Apple took the wraps off the latest iteration of its Mac operating system, named OS X 10.10 Yosemite. It is now undergoing beta testing, being available only to registered developers. The official launch is set for this fall.
If you want to take a peek at how OS X 10.10 Yosemite looks and some of the new features it brings on Macs, Apple has released a new video, titled The New Look of OS X Yosemite, which showcases the new OS.
Apple hints big iPhone is underway
Apple has all-but confirmed that iPhones with larger screens are on the way after developers made a discovery that allows them to simulate different screen sizes for both the smartphone and iPad.
9to5Mac reports that XCode 6 includes a new iOS simulator that allows developers to resize the simulated screen to any resolution thus leading most to suggest that this is the another step that will eventually lead to larger screen iPhones and iPads.
