1. The main people giving the presentation:
- Steve Jobs (1)
- Scott Forstall (1)
2. We will see iOS 5 ripping adding features that have been on Android/BlackBerry for a while -
- *the pull-down status bar of Android (1),
- the push messaging of BBM (1) , amongst other things.
- Also, big on the Twitter integration (1).
3. We will see OS X Lion adding features that have been seen in developer previews -
- Launch Control = Exposé + Spaces + Pages in iOS (1),
- Instapaper-like feature (1),
- App Store improvements (1),
- Find My Mac (1).
4. We will see iCloud and how it interacts with Lion and iOS5 -
- it'll be an online locker for music (1),
- files (1),
- and apps (1).
- Also could be the basis for the BBM-like messaging service and FaceTime (a bit sketchy on this one, so 0 for now)
5. Release dates -
- iOS5: 2 weeks' time (0). [Fall]
- Lion: 2 months' time, to give Devs a chance to test OS/UI compatibility. (0.5) [close enough - late July would arguably be 2 months.]
- iCloud: 2 weeks' time (0), in time for iOS5 (0.5). [Fall, too]
6. Not happening today -
- new Mac hardware (1)
- FCP (1, hurts me to say it's not happening today, since I've seen the FCP X demoes, and love it).
7. One More Thing...
- iPhone 4s (0): [never happened, did it?]
- release date late August (0).
Overall score: 15/20. Not too shabby...
Now, more on the keynote itself.
Since the keynote was at WWDC, it's obviously going to be aimed at developers - OS X Lion, iOS5 and iCloud to sync.
On OS X Lion
OS X Lion, as Apple talked about before, borrows features from their sister iOS on the iPad, especially in terms of the UI elements, with Multi-touch, Launchpad, and Full-screen applications. They've also refined the core OS X user experience features, merging Exposé and Spaces into "Mission Control", which can be activated with a multi-touch gesture. With over 70% of Mac sales being in the form of notebooks, and with the new desktop Macs now shipping with a multi-touch mouse (or trackpad, even), Apple seems adamant that multi-touch experience is THE way users should interact with their computer. This seems like a natural progression from what they've done in the mobile space with the iPhone.
However, it could alienate certain users. For one, you need a multi-touch mouse or trackpad to get the experience of OS X Lion as intended. Furthermore, there's a pretty steep learning curve, as you try to figure out how many fingers are needed to to activate something, and how to move your fingers. I know everyone who's tried using my MacBook Pro baffled and annoyed, because they're unfamiliar with Multitouch on OS X Snow Leopard. Since Lion has MORE gestures, it'll probably be more difficult for them!
Apart from the UI changes, Apple's made some new, nice improvements that you'd think are in computers already, but turns out, they're not. Resume (i.e.: resume the state from last log-off/shut-down), Auto-Save (when working on documents) and Versions (which works with Auto-Save to be a Time Machine for documents), might potentially be time-savers (or even life-savers). Oh, and AirDrop - Why are we still passing files over thumbdrives, even when the computers are connected over the same network?
And the App Store - I'm not going to talk about how this should have been around since the beginning of the Internet. A downloads catalogue, much like Download.com, but tailored to the platform, why didn't this exist in OS X 10.0? Anyway, I want to compliment Apple for leading by example - no longer selling their software product on DVDs, and going exclusively on the App Store.
- International Voices
- Search Tokens (i.e.: metadata-based search)
- Recovery Mode Partition - a separate Partition created by OS X Lion, which you can boot into to Restore. Quite important that they've figured this out, or else, how do we reinstall the OS without a OS X DVD?
- Full Screen Chess. Chess. In Full Screen.
- Auto-correct, like on the iPhone.
- Quick Look in Spotlight.
- New PhotoBooth Effect. I don't love it, but I bet to you, your cam-whoring friends will love them.
- Bind Apps to a Space - will definitely help clear the clutter on my desktop. Ever tried looking through a pile of open windows that look almost the same? Your Safari windows, your Mail, your iTunes/Spotify, Word/Excel/PPT, Twitter, Skype, iCal, etc. Rather than manually assigning apps to a space, why not make the OS do it?
On iOS 5
Features I Love...
- Wireless Sync via WiFi (finally!)
- non-intrusive notifications (though I still wished the pull-down notification panel would give options for Bluetooth/GPS/3G/Mobile Data/WiFi/Airplane Mode settings
- OTA updates (finally!)
- Multi-touch gestures on iPad (have it already, actually)
- Auto-exposure & Auto-focus locking (they didn't explain how you do it, but this feature will be handy for taking proper nice photos in high-contrast situations)
- Edit photos on-screen (basic photo editing in the photos app, at last!)
- Reminders (I know the same could be done in iCal, but this one's location-aware! how cool is that?)
- Tabbed browsing on the iPad - the screen's big enough for it, so why not?
- Quick Photo App Access from Lock Screen - not sure how safe this actually is, but nice feature to have for the quick Kodak moment. Hang on, next to the lock slide? I expect accidental snaps.
I'm not sure why, maybe it's just me, but iOS updates seem to excite me more than OS X updates in recent times. To be fair, OS X is a matured OS, whereas iOS is still young, and even though I like it, there's definitely a fair share of flaws and room for improvement, especially compared to the jailbroken OS and competing OSes (Android and RIM, specifically).
Speaking of competitors, Apple has evidently been watching around and you can see they're not staying still. iMessage is Apple's BBM, Notification is better than it used to be arguably because Android has a better implementation of it, and Apple's probably the only company to make phones that are reliant on the PC/Mac (e.g.: for activation, updates and files), and that's been fixed with the PC-free features (Over-the-air updates being one that caught my eyes, and worries me somewhat, after seeing how is hasn't worked that well on Android. Will wait and see on this one).
Apple also seem to be responding to their publishing partners, too. Newsstand is a nice idea - grouping all the different magazine apps into one (cuts on the clutter online), and gives Apple a way to make money from subscriptions.
One thing I've noticed is how Apple seems to be rubbing shoulders with the guys at Twitter HQ - Twitter on Ping (oh, wait, nobody uses that) and now, all over iOS. Just one question: What about Facebook? Sure, Twitter's popular, but not amongst people I know! Yes, I admit, I was looking at it from my own point of view, but the truth stands - why is Apple aligning itself with Twitter and only Twitter?
And on the subject of rubbing shoulders, why did Apple add features that are hurting other developers? Instapaper won't be too happy with Reading Lists, and Whatsapp is probably not too pleased with iMessage. Oh, how many camera apps on the iTunes Store tried adding the "volume button as a camera button" feature? Oh, and iCloud...
On iCloud
It's no secret that Apple's had MobileMe (previously iDisk). And let's face it, MobileMe was not value for money - the things it have, you can get elsewhere. Push Mail/Calendar is now in Yahoo! and Gmail, and mobile storage is free with DropBox. The only reason for MobileMe was Find My iPhone/iPad. Now, though, it's been replaced with iCloud. Apparently, this was the reason why Apple bought that plot of land in North Carolina for a data server farm. Exciting stuff, there.
Apple sees iCloud as a way to level the playing field between devices. In the past, the computer/PC was king - everything syncs with it. Now, Apple hopes the "cloud" will be the brain, and everything else its "subordinates" - essentially, downgrading the status of the PC.
Although details are still a bit confusing at the moment, it seems like iCloud will sync the MobileMe stuff (contacts, calendar, mail, documents and photos), and now, books and backup.
iCloud looks more Dev-friendly, and now, there's APIs for Developers to use/access iCloud Storage for documents in their apps.
Notice I didn't mention apps and music in the list of things that iCloud will sync, because let's face it, it's essentially letting you re-download apps/music you already have the right to, because you've bought them. Apple's just decided to be nice and not make you pay again. I just hope that when they say "App Syncing", they know not to sync iPhone apps onto my iPad and vice versa.
What's interesting, though, is the iTunes Match Service - the US$24.99/year service which lets iTunes scan the songs you have in your catalogue that wasn't bought on iTunes, and gives you access to them from the iTunes Store/iCloud.
Why I said this was interesting: what about the "MmmBop" track you pirated in 1999? If that's still in your library, with the appropriate metadata, and iTunes scans it, will the service (a) report you to the RIAA? and/or (b) give you legal access to the iTunes copy of the same song, even though the copy you have isn't legit? Is this Apple's proposal to the recording labels of a way to make money from pirates? If yes, will piracy rise again, because people have essentially "paid away" their "sin"?
Also, is this anti-competitive? Because now, you have an incentive to buy music from Apple rather than Amazon, because although Amazon tend to be cheaper, you have to foot the $24.99/year bill if you want to sync with iCloud. And unless you're buying 25 albums a year (disclaimer: very dodgy calculations), it's probably more worth it to buy your songs from Apple if you need iCloud.
Which you don't. I mean, what's wrong with good old USB? It's probably faster, it doesn't eat up bandwidth, and best of all, it charges your battery, rather than drain it! Honestly, though, is this innovative? Not really. But heck, it's free (for the syncing, plus $24.99 for the iTunes match service), and if it actually works well, I guess it's a nice freebie to make people feel like they're in the digital age.
Let's just hope iCloud's not just all-hype-and-no-function. I genuinely hope it works as advertised. Because look at what a disappointment Apple's past web product has been.
Things I'm looking forward to in iCloud
- iTunes Match (if it works)
- Backup (if it works without eating into my data allowance too much)
- Apps Syncing (Just so I know which apps I've bought)
- iBooks Sync (Thank you, Amazon Whispersync)
- Music Sync (let me have access to songs I own, but forgot to sync, on my iPhone for free! And no need to upload every single track I own. Smart, efficient way to go about the problem of music syncing over the cloud)
