What Apple Didn't Announce

http://readwrite.com/2014/09/10/apple-didnt-announce-omissions-missing-iphone-6-watch-

Omissions from the iPhones 6 and Watch event.


Apple’s whiz-bang press event today at the Flint Center in Cupertino, Calif. yielded a stream of announcements, landing at breakneck speed—the iPhone 6, the Apple Watch, Apple Pay, and so forth.

For all that excitement, there were also some big omissions. (Apart from Apple vice president Craig Federighi and his spectacular hair, that is.)

iPod Touch And Apple TV

The iPod touch and the Apple TV were glaringly MIA today. The iPod—that MP3 player-turned-smart gadget—used to be the highlight of Apple’s end of summer–to–early fall event. But it was nowhere to be seen, apart from a cameo in a promo image touting Apple’s music line-up.

And Apple TV, a streaming set-top box, is sorely in need of an update after two years. (For instance, unlike most other streaming setups out there, it still has no app store of any kind.)

iPad

There was no sign of a new iPad, either. Of course, if Apple keeps to its recent pattern, it will probably hold a separate press conference in October to show off its new tablet—which, like the iPhones, is rumored to be getting bigger and to offer a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

If that’s the case, then Apple might be saving a sixth-generation iPod touch and new Apple TV for then as well. Fingers crossed.

For Apple CEO Tim Cook, iPhone, Smartwatch Launch Is Biggest Test

http://online.wsj.com/articles/for-apple-ceo-launch-is-biggest-test-1410217913?mod=e2fb

After three years of closely guarding his strategy for Apple Inc., AAPL +1.16% Chief Executive Tim Cook will show his hand Tuesday, with an ambitious blitz of new products and services that aim to resolve questions about the company's ability to innovate.

Apple is expected to unveil two new iPhones with larger screens, its first wearable device—a smartwatch—accompanied by new services around healthcare, home automation and digital payments. It's the type of new-product wave that Apple fans have been waiting for since Mr. Cook succeeded Steve Jobs in August 2011.

"It seems really clear that Apple intends to make a big splash," said Forrester principal analyst James McQuivey.

Apple's iPhone Event

Apple will have a whole bag of goodies to show off Tuesday.Here's what you can expect at the event , based on reporting by the Journal and others, along with some plausible rumors that fill out the bigger picture. The Journal's live blog begins at noon ET on WSJD.com..

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Apple is trying to prove that it can still deliver the type of groundbreaking products that vaulted it from the brink of bankruptcy to become the world's most valuable company by market capitalization. It established itself as a leading innovator by redefining the mobile phone in 2007 with the iPhone, and the tablet computer in 2010 with the iPad.

More recently, Apple's technological ambition has seemed to pale, compared with rivals like Google Inc., GOOGL -1.15% Facebook Inc. FB 0.00% and Amazon.com Inc. Google is tinkering with driverless cars, aerial drones and a network of connected home devices through Nest, started by ex-Apple employees. Facebook is buying virtual reality headset maker Oculus and paying $19 billion for messaging service WhatsApp. Amazon is making set-top boxes and phones, and recently bought Twitch, a popular network for watching videogames.

By revealing new hardware products together with service offerings, Apple is trying to show how it can create experiences that can't easily be replicated by competitors, to keep users loyal at a time when Google's Android mobile-operating system runs about 85% of smartphones.

WSJ personal technology editor Wilson Rothman joins Simon Constable on Digits to outline three key things consumers and investors will look for at Apple's new product event on Tuesday. Photo: Getty

Google, Facebook and Amazon all are essentially software companies that are trying to find their stride in hardware. Amazon Monday cut the price of its two-month-old Fire phone to 99 cents, a signal it hasn't been selling well. Apple's most prominent hardware rival in terms of sales and market share, Samsung Electronics Co., is weaker on software and services.

Mr. Cook started raising expectations for a wave of new products in October 2013, when he told investors they would see "some exciting new products from us in the fall of this year and across 2014." In April, he said he felt "really great" about forthcoming products. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president in charge of online services, recently said Apple has the "best product pipeline" he's seen in 25 years at the company.

Investors are also feeling bullish. Apple's share price has risen 38% over the last year, reaching all-time highs earlier this month before pulling back last week. On Monday, Apple shares closed down 0.6%, or 61 cents, to $98.36.

Click the image above to see the interactive.

Tuesday, Apple is expected to unveil two new iPhones with larger 4.7- and 5.5-inch screens. The larger displays are expected to fuel a big upgrade cycle because Apple has stuck with smaller screens even as customer demand started shifting to larger smartphones. Apple last increased the iPhone's screen size in 2012, to four inches from 3.5 inches.

The company is expected to announce that it is entering a new product category with a smartwatch with a curved display. Engineering snafus may prevent Apple from selling the watch during this year's holiday shopping season. If it doesn't go on sale until next year, Mr. Cook will have failed to deliver on his promise of entering a new product category in 2014.

People line up outside an Apple store in New York City this week—even before a new iPhone is unveiled.Reuters

Tuesday's announcements won't be just new hardware. Apple is set to unveil new approaches to tackle thorny issues that have confounded technology companies—and their customers—for years. It is expected to demonstrate how the new devices will help people track and monitor their health, while equipping the new iPhones and wearable device with wireless technology for digital payments.

The venue—the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the De Anza College campus about 1 ½ miles from its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters—carries a historic meaning for Apple. The company hasn't held a new product unveiling there in 15 years, often choosing smaller venues such as the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco or a Town Hall building on its Cupertino campus.

Mr. Jobs unveiled the Macintosh computer at the Flint Center in 1984, and the iMac there in 1998, after he returned to the company. "The very fact that they are holding it at the Flint is a signal that they are expecting this to be big," said Mr. McQuivey.

Apple's New iOS 7: What You Need To Know Now

http://readwrite.com/2013/06/10/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ios-7#awesm=~o8Dhjd8ZUiowN0

Apple just changed the operating system for the iPhone and iPad in a big way. On Monday at its World Wide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled iOS 7, a redesigned version of the software that runs its mobile devices. It is almost everything that we expected from Apple… and a little bit more.

Apple has several primary new features in iOS 7 to go along with a new design from its top developer, Jony Ive. The new iOS is sleeker and has gone “flat,” eschewing shadows and real-life objects (like notebooks and bookshelves) to give the operating system a more modern look, which is a big departure from how Apple has presented iOS in the past. 

Outside the simplified design, here are the biggest new features to in iOS 7:

Multi-tasking: Apple has brought multi-tasking to every single app, not just a select few. The new multi-tasking features will allow apps to interact with the operating system and sometimes other apps. A new multi-tasking application programming interface (API) will allow all apps to run in the background and allow users to switch between apps. iOS 7 will know what apps that consumers use most and keep those running in the background.

Control Center: The new settings menu for iOS that will control features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mute, screen brightness and so forth. If you are familiar with Google’s Android operating system, the iOS 7 Control Center will seem quite familiar, but instead of accessing the settings by dragging from the top of the smartphone screen, users in iOS 7drag from the bottom. 

Notification Center: The drop-down notification center is now available from the lock screen on your iOS device and will provide you with details of your day, such as calendar appointments or weather updates. 

AirDrop: This is a new content sharing feature that works wirelessly. AirDrop allows you to share content with your contacts that are close to you. Select who you want to share with, select what you want to share and AirDrop will send that content to the person. By doing it through Wi-Fi or cellular data, Apple has essentially said that Near Field Communications (NFC, a technology that allows sharing with a “tap”) is not coming to the new iPhone later this year.

Camera features: Apple has long been known to push the camera functionality of its iPhones. We will likely see more of what Apple has up its sleeve with its camera when the new iPhone is announced later this year. But iOS 7 gives us a sneak peek. Apple thinks it is four cameras in one as it has several different settings like a “square mode.” The other three modes of the camera are video, normal photos and panorama. Users will be able to flip between the different modes with a swipe.

Photo gallery: More than any other new feature in iOS 7, the photo gallery benefits from Apple’s personal cloud product, iCloud. The Photos app features the iCloud Photo Stream that aggregates all of your pictures through the years into one long timeline. The iCloud Photo Stream will allow users to easily share photos with other iCloud users.

Safari: Apple could not update its mobile operating system without giving its browser a big update. Mobile Safari should be faster, have simplified search and a new browser tab interface that is based on rotating tiles. It will also save your passwords with the iCloud Keychain and has enhanced parental controls.

Siri: Apple’s virtual assistant got a little bit better. Siri now hooks straight to Twitter, Wikipedia and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Users will also be able to control device features straight from Siri, such as turning on Wi-Fi or adjusting screen brightness. Siri will also have male and female voices as well as being available in several new languages. Siri will also have new features for automobiles.

iTunes Radio: The worst-kept secret before the WWDC keynote was the fact that Apple was coming out with a streaming radio music player. The rumors were not quite right in calling it iRadio though, as the new music app’s streaming capabilities are called iTunes Radio. It is similar to Pandora or Spotify’s radio app and has distinct similarities to Google’s Play All Access music service. iTunes Radio is meant for music discovery and will be free to users. If you are an iTunes subscriber, it will be served without advertisements.

Auto Updates For Apps: No longer will your iOS device has a long backlog of apps that you have not gotten around to updating. Apple will now update those apps automatically for you. 

Apple also has a slew of secondary features in iOS 7 such as an “Activation Lock” for the “Find My iPhone” feature that integrates your iCloud Apple ID password to thwart people from stealing your phone and accessing your information. Night Mode responds to ambient light and adjusts the brightness of the screen to help you see. 

Apple has nearly 1,500 new software developer kit (SDK) features for developers to access within iOS 7. That is a fairly considerable update. Developers will have access to iOS 7 beta today and users will see it this fall when Apple releases the next iPhone. 

Summary; Apple has announced iOS 7, the newest version of the operating system that runs iPhones and iPads.

Apple Unveils iOS 7: Here's Everything That's About To Change On Your iPhone And iPad

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-ios-7-2013-6

Apple just announced iOS 7, the new operating system for iPhones and iPads that will be available as a free download later this year. 

It's a massive overhaul of the iOS you're probably used to –– a top-to-bottom redesign.

As previous reports have stated, the new iOS adopts a "flat" design with a bright color scheme. That means design elements on the iPhone no longer mimic real-world objects.

All of the standard apps that come with the iPhone like Mail, Phone, Messages, Calendar, etc. have been redesigned with a cleaner look. We've included photos of iOS 7 at the bottom of this post. 

There's way too much new in iOS 7 to go over right now, so here's a breakdown of the most important stuff:

• Control Center: This menu appears when you swipe up from the bottom of your screen. It lets you control basic settings like WiFi, Bluetooth, and screen brightness. It even has a flashlight option.
• Multitasking: Now all apps can make use of full multitasking. iOS 7 is smart enough to manage the apps without draining your device's battery. This means you can pick up where you left off in any app. There's also a handy swiping gesture for closing out apps.
• Safari: The Web browser has a much cleaner look. It also has 3D tabbed browsing that makes switching between windows easier.
• AirDrop: Lets you swap files with other iPhones and iPads via WiFi.
• Camera: The camera app has a new look that makes it easier to switch between each different mode. There are also several Instagram-like filters built in.
• Photos: The new photos app can automatically build new albums for you based on when and where you snapped the photo. You can quickly share your photos via iCloud, Email, Facebook, or Twitter.
• Siri: Siri has a new design too. It can control basic functions on your phone like brightness. Apple also integrated Bing search results.
• Car integration: iOS 7 can sync with certain cars, giving you full control of your iPhone while on the road.
• App Store: Apps now update automatically. You can also search for apps based on what's popular in your location.
• Music and iTunes Radio: The Music app has a new design and includes access to iTunes Radio, a streaming radio service similar to Pandora. iTunes Radio is free, but supported by ads.
• Security: A new security feature lets you wipe all the data from your phone remotely if it's lost or stolen. It also prevents the phone from being reactivated again unless the thief has your Apple password.
• WiFi Calls: You can make phone calls over a WiFi connection. This will result in clearer calls that are less likely to drop.
• Devices: iOS 7 will work on iPhone 4 or later, iPad 2 or later, and some newer models of the iPod Touch.

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