Amongst other things we got a new MacBook Pro and previews of iOS 6 and Mountain Lion. There's plenty to talk about and I'm gonna jump straight into it
Here comes the Pro
The star of the show was the new MacBook Pro. Claim to fame? Retina display. Retina Display is Apple's branding for a screen who's resolution is so awesome that the individual pixels cannot be discerned by the retina. It started with the iPhone 4 and went on the the iPad and now it has finally made its way to the Mac. The 15" MacBook Pro screen sports a screen resolution of 2880-by-1800. Pixel density is 220 pixels per inch. Specs apart, the screen is simply delicious. If you mind is prone to getting blown then I suggest you keep your eyes away from this baby.
Display isn't the only department where the MacBook Pro makes me drool. Some really clever engineering and sacrificing the optical drive has helped trim the device down to just 1.8cm thick. AND... the device weighs just 2 kg. Stellar considering that the machine is well endowed internally. All this power and the battery is gonna be terrible. The device will still churn out 7 hours of use and 30 days of standby. Slick.
A new Lion
With Mountain Lion, Apple bridges the gap between iOS and OS X. Messages, Notification Centre, iCloud, Messages all connect the Mac to iOS devices for a seamless experience. Amongst the hundreds of new features here are the ones that stand out :
Messages: iMessage, a way to share text and media across iOS devices, has come to the Mac now. One can now send texts/media across Mountain Lion or iOS devices. Data sent/received is updated on each device to create a coherent experience.
iCloud: Mountain Lion is closely knit with iCloud. Here's how it works, when you type a document on your iPad the data is automatically uploaded to the cloud. So when you leave you iPad and start working on your Mac the changes are reflected. Any changes made to mail, calendars, contacts, reminders, documents, notes, etc are reflected across all platforms. This is called place-shifting and that's exactly what iCloud does.
Notification Centre: Notification Centre made its debut on the iPhone/iPad and surprise surprise it has now made its way to the iMac. Notification Centre takes care of your notification needs in an elegant manner i.e. the Apple way.
AirPlay: AirPlay Mirroring (self-explanatory) mirrors your screen to any TV. No rocket science here but AirPlay makes streaming your Mac's output feed easier. No need for any setup or configuration, "it just works".
All in all there are 200+ features on Mountain Lion. The OS would be released in July. At a mere $19.99 this upgrade is a MUST for all Mac users.
The Sixth One
Keeping up with tradition the WWDC witnessed yet another iteration of the iOS mobile operating system. No major UI overhaul but Apple did add tons of new features. Here are the biggies :
Maps: The internet was ablaze with rumours of Maps prior to the WWDC and Apple sure didn't disappoint. Apple ditched Google Maps in favour of an in-house mapping solution. With features like flyover and turn-by-turn navigation Apple caused plenty of jaws to drop and minds to blow. Whether it was a good idea to bid adieu to Google Maps and its huge expanse of mapping data remains to be seen.
Passbook: This is Apple's solution to the oft-risky possession of coffee cards, movie tickets, boarding passes and coupons. Passbook doesn't just hold a scan of the aforementioned paperwork but keeps a track of them as well. For instance a gate change for your flight will immediately reflect in your passbook and your iPhone will notify you for the same.
Redesigned Stores: Apple has revamped all of its digital stores for iOS. Not only do they look better now but they work better too.
These are just three amongst a vast array of improvements brought to iOS this year. The developer beta of iOS 6 is out now and the final build should be out by fall this year.
You can catch your breath now. This was all that happened at the WWDC 2012 keynote address. If you are dying for the keynote video then here you go...
Messages: iMessage, a way to share text and media across iOS devices, has come to the Mac now. One can now send texts/media across Mountain Lion or iOS devices. Data sent/received is updated on each device to create a coherent experience.
iCloud: Mountain Lion is closely knit with iCloud. Here's how it works, when you type a document on your iPad the data is automatically uploaded to the cloud. So when you leave you iPad and start working on your Mac the changes are reflected. Any changes made to mail, calendars, contacts, reminders, documents, notes, etc are reflected across all platforms. This is called place-shifting and that's exactly what iCloud does.
Notification Centre: Notification Centre made its debut on the iPhone/iPad and surprise surprise it has now made its way to the iMac. Notification Centre takes care of your notification needs in an elegant manner i.e. the Apple way.
AirPlay: AirPlay Mirroring (self-explanatory) mirrors your screen to any TV. No rocket science here but AirPlay makes streaming your Mac's output feed easier. No need for any setup or configuration, "it just works".
All in all there are 200+ features on Mountain Lion. The OS would be released in July. At a mere $19.99 this upgrade is a MUST for all Mac users.
The Sixth One
Maps: The internet was ablaze with rumours of Maps prior to the WWDC and Apple sure didn't disappoint. Apple ditched Google Maps in favour of an in-house mapping solution. With features like flyover and turn-by-turn navigation Apple caused plenty of jaws to drop and minds to blow. Whether it was a good idea to bid adieu to Google Maps and its huge expanse of mapping data remains to be seen.
Passbook: This is Apple's solution to the oft-risky possession of coffee cards, movie tickets, boarding passes and coupons. Passbook doesn't just hold a scan of the aforementioned paperwork but keeps a track of them as well. For instance a gate change for your flight will immediately reflect in your passbook and your iPhone will notify you for the same.
Redesigned Stores: Apple has revamped all of its digital stores for iOS. Not only do they look better now but they work better too.
These are just three amongst a vast array of improvements brought to iOS this year. The developer beta of iOS 6 is out now and the final build should be out by fall this year.
You can catch your breath now. This was all that happened at the WWDC 2012 keynote address. If you are dying for the keynote video then here you go...
Tweet
Passbook moves on the lines of Google Wallet at its formative stage. That disappoints me about Apple. Wait for an update or two to passbook, it'll be exactly like Google Wallet. You can't start something that they did here and leave it there. You have to add payment features to something like that. Something like, pay for your flight right from passbook, or enter your flight not showing your ticket, but this iPhone app.
ReplyDeleteYeah! Totally agree with you...
ReplyDeleteAs for the wallet maybe Apple is just trying to make deals with banks and stuff. Also the NFC tech has scope of improvement and Apple prefers doing things perfectly no matter how long it takes.