Apple today previewed iOS 6, introducing over 200 new features to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and released a beta version to iOS Developer Program members. iOS 6 will be available to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users this fall as a free software update. New iOS 6 features include: an all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography, turn-by-turn navigation and an amazing new Flyover view; new Siri features, including support for more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings; Facebook integration for Contacts and Calendar, with the ability to post directly from Notification Center, Siri and Facebook-enabled apps like Photos, Safari® and Maps; Shared Photo Streams via iCloud; and Passbook, the simplest way to get all your passes in one place.
“iOS 6 continues the rapid pace of innovation that is helping Apple reinvent the phone and create the iPad category, delivering the best mobile experience available on any device,” said Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS Software, in the press release. “We can’t wait for hundreds of millions of iOS users to experience the incredible new features in iOS 6 including the new Maps app, expanded Siri support, deep Facebook integration, Shared Photo Streams and the innovative new Passbook app.”
iOS 6 includes an all new Maps app with vector-based map elements that make graphics and text smooth, and panning, tilting and zooming incredibly fluid. New turn-by-turn navigation guides you to your destination with spoken directions, and the amazing Flyover feature has photo-realistic interactive 3D views. Real-time traffic information keeps you updated on how long it will take to get to your destination and offers alternate time-saving routes if traffic conditions change significantly. Additionally, local search includes information for over 100 million businesses with info cards that offer Yelp ratings, reviews, available deals and photos.
Siri, now available for the new iPad as well as iPhone 4S, includes language support for English, French, German and Japanese, and adds support for Spanish, Italian, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese. Siri is optimized for use in 15 countries and helps you get even more done with just your voice, whether it’s finding the latest sports scores or making restaurant reservations. You also can ask Siri to update your status on Facebook, post to Twitter or launch an app. Additionally, Siri takes hands-free functionality even further with a new Eyes Free mode, enabling you to interact with your iPhone using nothing more than your voice.
Built-in Facebook integration is the best ever in a mobile device, allowing you to sign in once and post from Notification Center, Siri and Facebook-enabled apps, including Photos, Safari and Maps. Your Facebook friends’ information is kept up to date across all your iOS devices, automatically updating details in Contacts when they change, and scheduling events and birthdays in your Calendar. You can also “Like” content directly from the App Store™ and iTunes® and see what your friends recommend.
With more than 125 million users already enjoying iCloud, iOS 6 introduces new ways to share photos with friends and family using Shared Photo Streams. Simply select the photos you want to share, pick which friends you want to receive the album, and the Shared Photo Stream album is instantly available on their iOS devices, iPhoto and Aperture on their Mac, via the web or even through Apple TV. You and your friends can leave comments on or “Like” any photo in a shared album.
The new Passbook app is the simplest way to get all your passes in one place, such as boarding passes and baseball tickets. Passbook lets you scan your iPhone or iPod touch to use a coupon, get into a concert or check into your hotel. Passbook automatically displays your passes on your Lock Screen based on a specific time or location, so when you walk into your favorite coffee shop your loyalty card appears and you can scan it to buy a coffee or check your balance. Passbook can even alert you to last minute gate changes or flight delays at the airport.
Building on Apple’s commitment to provide innovative solutions for education and accessibility, iOS 6 introduces Guided Access. This new feature allows a parent, teacher or administrator to disable hardware buttons to lock an iOS device into a single app, especially useful for test taking or helping someone with a disability stay focused on learning. Guided Access also includes the ability to confine touch input to certain parts of the screen.
Additional new iOS 6 features include:
• enhancements to Safari, the world’s most popular mobile browser, such as iCloud tabs, offline reading lists, photo uploads and full screen view;
• support for FaceTime® calls over cellular networks;
• the ability to set up a VIP Mailbox, making it easier to quickly view messages from important people you designate as VIPs;
• the option to decline incoming calls with a quick message, set a callback reminder and enable a new Do Not Disturb option; and
• a whole new set of improvements and services specifically for iOS users in China, such as improved text input and built-in support for popular Chinese services including Baidu, Sina Weibo, Youku and Tudou.
Availability
The iOS 6 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. iOS 6 will be available as a free software update for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, the new iPad, iPad 2 and iPod touch (fourth generation) this fall. Some features may not be available on all products.
Source: Apple Inc.
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Nice but not enough. Plus apparently Tim’s presentation was less than stellar. I think he’s a very good leader but perhaps they need someone more dynamic to sell the stories especially when there’s not as much substance as is needed. Looks like the stock will drop like a rock.
I see you won the race to be the first to sniff disappointedly at Apple’s presentation. Good for you.
——RM
Just an honest observation. I’m not sure about sniffing? Disappointedly? Is that a word? A caustic remark? Eh? Oh wait, I forgot my rose colored glasses. There, that’s better. Now I can see better. Everything is wonderful! You don’t sniff disappointedly. Your 4th grade English teacher would not be happy.
My, sensitive, aren’t we? I’m sorry I rained on your parade of being the first poster to announce that the presentation didn’t meet your lofty expectations.
——RM
Always nice to “sniff” out fanboys and show them for what they are ; children.
aaah the irony
Awful high and mighty for some one trying to manipulate AAPL, aren’t we?
Manipulate? Listen dumbshit I own AAPL. I’m not just some stupid kid posting on a site. Geez, who the hell do you think you are?
You own apple eh? Hmm well that is interesting. And guys please think about it. We are on a lump of rock in the middle of the universe and you guys couldn’t do any better than argue about some petty thing on a blog? Get a life.
Come on, folks. People are allowed to make negative comments on this forum without being tagged as trolls. GM expected more out of the WWDC kickoff, and he said so. He went a bit over the top with the “stock dropping like a rock” statement, but that’s OK. But Tim will probably never have the briefing charisma of SJ. So I recommend that you stop beating that horse. Tim is a heck of a lot better than Ballmer.
AAPL revealed lots of great new products, functions, and system integration. Some people felt slighted – e.g., the understated Mac Pro update – but I believe that iOS 6 and Mountain Lion represent a strong step forward with many more to come.
Wow, trolls are out in full force already. Record time, gents. Record time.
Troll? What part of my observation don’t you like? Fanboy. I’m a user of all Apple products for decades and an AAPL investor. So crawl back in your momma’s basement fanboy. My observation is just that, an honest observation. AAPL is down $6.43 and dropping. Sorry I didn’t gush but I save that for really appropriate times. Grow up.
Whoa, you… are awesome. How stunning that within the constraints of a mere 9 fragmented sentences you’ve sniffed me out; I’m an Apple Fanboy. I own AAPL stock, I’ve been an all Apple user for decades now, and I know what it takes to give a WWDC keynote worthy of much jubilation. Reality; short of Steve Jobs walking out of the grave and giving us the iPhone 10 ahead of an iPhone 5, you’re just not going to be satisfied. It’s just too bad Apple doesn’t have you on their team. Man, that would be awesome. We’re all done here.
You were done (finished) before you started. Fanboy.
No, really, it’s cute that you keep calling us all fanboys and making jokes about living in momma’s basement repeatedly. The fact that you are missing all this is rich. Your comments are drenched in awesome sauce. Keep up all the stellar work, champ. We’re all rooting for you.
Gosh thanks. Nice to get a response from you. But I’m curious. Why do you say “us”? You speak for everyone on this site? Wow, you are important! There’s a clinical term for that but I won’t bother you as I doubt you’d admit to being “that type of personality”. Good luck.
No, you see “us” is a pronoun that indicates a group of people of which the speaker is a part of, which I am in this case. I am a part of a small group who has realized your silliness, made note of it to you, and you referred to us all (all = those who have responded to your series of comments) as fanboys or people living in their momma’s basements. Now, if I would have said “everyone”, then that would reference the entirety of this comment section, but I didn’t.
I’m curious; you’ve somehow mastered the DSM-IV well enough to diagnosis personality disorders, but somehow missed basic language arts and reading comprehension skills? We should all applaud you though; you’ve managed to make it this far. Good job, little buddy.
The whole market is down you yutz, not just apple. Jeez, learn something about investing.
Has nothing to do with the market asswipe. AAPL was up over $7 until the WWDC was finished. Then it tanked. Please don’t act like you understand investing as I doubt you’re old enough to open an account. I have been investing probably longer than you have been alive. If you call living in your momma’s basement living?
Your powers of observation and analytical skills qualify you for a job as Enderle’s intern.
The stock only drops because of assholes like you. Please explain to the class, in detail, just exactly what’s missing.
Or rather, what *you* think is missing. All the rest of us are pretty happy with what’s been shown. iOS6 mapping looks fabulous, I’m very impressed with that.
Apple’s share price almost *always* drops immediately after new production announcements. It appears to be a silver lining (as in, “every silver lining has a cloud”) effect suffered by analysts and some investors.
And mostly fed by preceding irrational/excessive expectations driven by rumor.
Anyone who doesn’t know this hasn’t been paying attention to Apple for the past couple of decades.
Not only does your foul post not belong here but your actual opinion is clueless and naive because you have no idea of how the markets work. Maybe you should go back to your biker bar and take more lessons about the stock market.
iPhone 5 and the new iOS based TV – hyped by the analysts and talking heads, AAPL bought based on said hype. Products didn’t happen, stock takes a hit.
Simple, if annoying, logic for those who do not take what the analysts and talking heads say as the ultimate in truth and prognostication.
If they would have announced instant teleportation to cities as far as 100 km away, you would decry the feature as being useless because you can’t go to the moon.
On a scale of 1 to Steve Balmer, you would rate a Dvorak on this post.
No, instant teleportation is insufficient. What is required is time travel, so that one can undo the egregious mistakes made by Apple’s tepid leadership, sure to prove their undoing. All well and good, however, as Google is our new champion and those clever lads are darkly rumored to be building just such an exotic travel capability.
Must be Eric T Mole’s daughter or something.
+1 and with little finger to his lips he sneered, I want ….. ONE MILLION Dollars……. ( whispers in background….) er… make that ONE HUNDRED BILLION dollars….. (looking around for approval of new amount)….. Mini me agrees…
LOL
Best.Rebuttal. Evah!
@GM:
“Bitter, party of one…Bitter, party of one…”
“Ships in Fall” Translation, could be 6 months away. A little disappointing
October is four months away. It’ll be released along with the new iPhone.
Dec. 20th is over 6 months away and still Fall
Booooring.
No new Mac pros
Or 17-inch MBP, or Logic upgrade. But still- very. very impressive. I guess you have to be a visionary yourself to see this and understand why.
… or new Graphics Card, or even a new Hard Drive for ANY of the Desktop Macs.
I’m not saying there was anything wrong with Mr. Cook’s presentation – nothing that improved content wouldn’t fix. New Safari? Safari is the world’s most popular browser? Maybe if they are counting iOS Safari!
Actually, there are new Mac Pros. They just didn’t mention them during the keynote.
Entry level Mac Pro comes with one 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor and 6GB memory.
Well, they are “newer” Mac Pros. Pretty much just a speed bump, but at least it is something.
The thing that Steve understood better than anyone in recent history is that it’s the sizzle not the steak. In this set of announcements…the sizzle amounted to maps and a higher resolution display. Honestly aside from Passbook what was a “delightful surprise” the ” one more thing” that made these announcements so compelling? A thinner laptop? Facebook integration? really?…I have to say while it’s still leagues beyond what other tech firms do…the bar was set very high in the past…and this felt, well… a little weak. Couple that with no other announcements or even hints at hardware…it felt a bit underwhelming.
Careful. Honest observations like yours will draw the ire of fanboys. Legitimate comments are not allowed.
While I respect your opinion (and take it for exactly what it cost me, as one should), I think people like you are just chomping at the bit to throw out the word “fanboy” to anyone who disagrees with you. Not that it bothers me; on the contrary, I find it hilarious that grown adults would stoop to throw out an insipid catchword to incite others. It’s troll-bait, pure and simple, and you’ve succeeded in reeling them in. Good on you. Now run to class. That tardy bell is ringing, and you wouldn’t want to be late for the 6th grade, now would you?
Well, the question is he or she reall a grown adult, if they are then some mental health issues are at hand.
How soon people forget that Stevienotes got exactly the same sort of negativity from many after the event and yes the stock sank somewhat as ridiculously high expectations were dashed. Move along no change here, ‘fanboys’ or otherwise though probably better if people want to preserve some credibility to think of something a little more original and convincing than the pathetically moronic insult ‘fanboy’.
Facebook INTEGRATION YA! YES! YA!
iOS6 finally matches Android feature set from 2010 hehe
Facebook is so 2011. It is the plaything of the elderly and clueless. The move is on and FB integration is a waste of time.
Perhaps, but it is another card that Apple is playing in order to oppose the Google menace.
YES!!!!!
Up yours google!
Now fsck off and go back to search!
One of the best WWDC keynotes. All announcements better than expected! Apple is good and STRONG!
“There is a direct relationship between narcissism and disappointment” – Nasir Sulman, Dawn Magazine, 2002
+1
I’d also add these quotes by G.K. Chesterton:
“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted, or take them with gratitude.”
“The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.”
Goodbye Google you POS!
Ding Dong Androi is dead!
The fact that Andread and Windblows assholes like GM line up in Apple forums to troll proves Apple is unstoppable. Watch all the asswipes scramble to proove that Andshit and Windfart already has all this stuff, while getting into full gear to copy everything.
Let me suggest that more reasoned vocabulary might just make you not look like such a fool. Can’t you make a point without the vulgarity? If you are in junior high I am sorry because you do not know better, if you are older you should be ashamed.
…CARE LESS ABOUT FACEBOOK INTEGRATION
iOS6 not very exciting. Except for the Maps, although 3D looks nice I am not sure I like the 2D versions.
Whilst the new maps app looks pretty cool, they’ve cut a few features. There’s no longer walking or public transport directions. More importantly though, there’s no longer streetview.
I dunno about you, but for me streetview is a killer feature, and it’s very disappointing that it’s not there. Being able to look at what a location looks like from street level is invaluable in helping recognise when you’ve reached a location you’re looking for.
The Maps app looks great but I didn’t see a mention of how it updates it’s data. I took a one day trip from PA to NY and the Google Map app sucked my data plan dry doing constant map downloads. I now have copilot live and it stores it’s maps on the phone so it’s not constantly downloading data. It works great except the drain the GPS puts on the battery.
Wow, Facebook, Siri, and iCloud photos! Once again legacy pro users get stiffed but 13 year old girls will be totally giddy over these latest “upgrades”.