“Apple Inc. is preparing to unveil sweeping changes to the software powering iPhones and iPads, seeking to reignite desire for its products and blunt the advance of Google Inc.’s Android mobile operating system,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg.
“Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will kick off Apple’s 24th annual developers conference in San Francisco today by unveiling a new version of iOS with a simpler user interface that will scrap design features such as simulated paper and faux-wood bookshelves, according to people familiar with the plans,” Satariano reports. “The period since the iPad mini debuted in October marks one of Apple’s longest product gaps in more than a decade, coinciding with a 37 percent share slide from a record set the previous month.”
Satariano reports, “he redesign of the software behind the devices that generate more than 70 percent of Apple’s sales is a crucial first step toward renewing consumers’ interest, according to Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Barclays Plc in New York. ‘Apple has been in a funk and this is an important event to highlight how they are innovating,’ Reitzes said in an interview. ‘We need to see that next big innovation.'”
“Apple will also unveil a music-streaming service, people familiar with the plans said last week,” Satariano reports. “The feature won’t be available until iOS 7 is released later this year. Apple may also announce enhancements to its maps and Siri voice-recognition software.”
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