Tag: Ios6 »

iOS 6 Roundup

Last week, Apple announced the iPhone 5, much to the surprise of everyone I’m sure (that's sarcasm). The new phone has some pretty nifty features, but not everyone will be waiting in line for days in order to get their hands on one. Those of us who don’t want to trade-up just yet still have a way to scratch that “new Apple gadget” itch, however: iOS 6. This new iOS will be compatible with most older devices, including the iPhone 3GS (Yay!) and above, the fourth generation iPod Touch and up, and the iPad 2 and later. So while I might not be able to get my hands on a 5 just yet, I can still feel special when my phone starts to do new and exciting things!

iOS 6 - Plenty of changes to some old favorites

Before we get in to all the major changes and new features I want to take a moment to go over some of the smaller tweaks to the apps many iOS users can’t live without. The camera has gotten a bit more attention this time around. Users can take panoramic photos now with their iPhone 4S/5 and iPod Touch 4th/5th generation, up to 240 degrees both horizontally and vertically. They have simply to sweep the camera along using a predefined motion and the device and software takes care of the rest. Then, said photos and everything else on the camera roll can be shown off to friends quickly and easily with the Photo app. Video chatting with friends and family via FaceTime has also gotten much simpler now that the app can work over a cellular network and Wi-Fi is no longer required--provided the carrier allows for that sort of thing, naturally.

Even the Notification Center has been revamped with Twitter or Facebook posting allowed directly from the notifications window and the option to quiet those irritating 3am notices, thanks to the new Do Not Disturb feature (more on that later). Last, but certainly not least to the accident prone, Find My Phone has been updated to include a Lost Mode which allows users to remotely lock their misplaced phone with a 4-digit code and display contact information for honest folks to use in order to return the lost device. This goes hand-in-hand with Find My Friends, an app that uses GPS to keep track of friends and family, even going so far as to issue alerts when certain individuals have left or reached specific destinations. It sounds weird, but think of it in terms of the kids leaving school and getting home. Pretty nifty, I know, but this is just the beginning.

iTunes, App Store, iBookstore - Refurbishing the storefronts

iTunes, the App Store, and the iBookstore are also getting adjustments by way of some slightly revamped storefronts, Facebook integration (“like” items in the store or view items that friends like), and a new preview feature that automatically keeps track of any apps/music/books that you browse through. You can view this list from within any of the three stores--and across any of their iOS devices thanks to iCloud--and make purchases from it directly.

Apple held a special event in San Francisco today to announce the iPhone 5 and a few other things. While just about everything about the new device had already been leaked, in typical Apple style, the event still held a few surprises.

Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know about the event today.

It's in the numbers...

As Apple does at just about every event they started out with a recap of some recent numbers showing how well they have done recently. And this time around it was no less impressive. Here's a quick rundown of the amazing numbers all in one place for quick reference:

iPads
The iPad continues to impress and dominate the tablet market. In the words of Tim Cook, Apple CEO: "The iPad has 91% of the tablet web traffic. I don't know what these other tablets are doing? Perhaps they are sitting in a drawer."

17 million iPads sold last quarter (April-June 2012), that's more iPads than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line
84 million total iPads sold through June 2012
iPad Market Share, June 2011 - 62% market share
iPad Market Share, June 2012 - 68% market share
iPads represent 91% of web traffic from tablet devices
94% of the Fortune 500 companies are testing / deploying iPads

App Store
700,000 iOS Apps in the App Store
250,000 iPad Apps in the App Store (iPad and Universal)
90% of apps in the App Store are downloaded each month
The average iOS customer uses over 100 apps

Devices
400 million iOS devices sold through June 2012
150 million Game Center users
600 million sets of those standard iPod headphones produced

iTunes
26 million songs
20 billion total downloads
iTunes store available in 63 countries
435 million iTunes accounts with 1-click purchase
66% of downloads come from iOS devices

That's a lot of really impressive stats.

iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 takes the iPhone 4S and makes just about everything better. When it took center stage we finally got to see the new specs of this oh so lust-worthy new iPhone.

The iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order this Friday, the 14th. With delivery and store availability a week later on the 21st. The prices end up being the same as the 4S, $199/299/399 for 16GB/32GB/64GB with two year contract.

In the US it will be available on the carriers that currently offer the 4S, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

The major new features include a larger screen, about 15% taller than the current iPhone screen. That doesn't seem like much, but it lets you get an extra row in just about every list app. And it will give you that much more screen in games -- or that much more screen that your thumbs won't cover.

For apps that are not yet optimized for the iPhone 5, you will see those apps just as you do now. No stretching, you'll just have small black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

The other big change in the phone is a new dock connector, called Lightning. This is an all digital connector that adapts the pins to what your connected device needs to do -- audio, video, charging, etc. It's build much more robust than the current dock connector and can be inserted either way.

The downside to the new connector is that you are going to need to buy $30 Lightning converters for all of the devices that you need to use that have the old style dock connector. This could get expensive. Not to mention the 20+ dock connector cables I have in a drawer.

A much faster processor, a better camera (though still 8MP), a much better screen that supports a larger color gamut, a FaceTime HD (720p) front camera, all in a a thinner and lighter phone.

Oh yeah, and it has LTE as well. Major speed bump there.

It's a great upgrade and worth it if you use your iPhone a lot. It's not a drop everything and upgrade new device as there's no feature that is just going to make you really crave it. If anything, the new dock connector will make this an expensive update for many. But it is a good feature bump and if you are due for an upgrade, it's the one to go for.

iOS 6 Release Next Week

We got a quick recap of iOS 6 and the features we had already seen. They have gone through testing and iOS 6 is ready to release next week on September 19th.

The one new iOS 6 feature discussed was the ability to create Panorama images. It's done quickly and easily by selecting Panorama from the camera options menu and sweeping the camera from left to right. It was shown working on the iPhone 5 and the new iPod touch. It's not know at this point if this will work on other devices.

iPod touch is a first class citizen again

The iPod touch has been a bit ignored in recent years. The upgrade announced today gives it a huge update and brings it in line with the iPhone 4S / 5 hybrid specs. It's a great upgrade to what is, but is not marketed as, the biggest selling portable gaming device.

The 5th generation iPod touch will sport the same screen as the iPhone 5, and will have the same processor as the 4S and a similar camera to the iPhone 4. It's a great update.

The updated iPod touch will be available in five colors in October for $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB versions.

Earpods - 3 years in the making

Apple also introduced new earbud that were three years in the making. The Earpods are really quite good, if a bit badly named. They will also ship with the new iPhone and iPod touch.

Great bass response, amazing for earbuds. They don't seal in your ear, so no outside noise reduction. But the flip side is that they are much more comfortable.

So that's it, the rundown of what you need to know. A great event and some great new products.

We can expect more news from Apple before the end of the year. I wonder what it will be...

Google today released an official YouTube app in preparation for the launch of iOS 6, which drops the Apple-made YouTube application. Apple and Google have had their issues lately and one fallout of that is that Apple will be dropping Google Maps and YouTube from iOS 6.