As promised, Steve Jobs and Apple made sweeping software-related announcements at the WWDC keynote in San Francisco Monday.
While much of the functionality previewed by the Cupertino, CA technology behemoth will not be available to users until sometime this fall, several companies and technology purveyors have got to be quaking in their boots as a result of seeing Apple’s roadmap to the future.
Today, Apple announced a new service called iCloud which will be available this fall. Apple’s iCloud will be free for iOS 5 and OS X Lion users. Users that sign up for iCloud will be able to retain their me.com or mac.com email address and all of their MobileMe mail, calendars, contacts, and bookmarks will move to the new service.
Looks like the small tweaks are starting to roll in. A couple of our Twitter followers sent us pictures of a new feature for the App Store on their iPhones that allows them to view their recent app purchase. The app lets you view not only what you’ve purchased, but also what apps aren’t installed on the current iOS device you’re using.
Apple added a new video to their website that introduces viewers to the exciting new features of iOS 5. With Scott Forstall and his team touting a lot of the new cloud capabilities, camera, iMessaging and other features, what are you most excited for about iOS 5? Click through for the video link.
Is your head still spinning from the smackdown of new details Steve Jobs and the Apple crew just slammed you with? Apple’s iCloud page just went live so you can get all the details on the new software that Apple is bringing to you for free later this fall. Of course, Cult of Mac will be posting all new material throughout the day breaking down iCloud and it’s features, so don’t stray too far.
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When Steve takes the stage tomorrow morning, it’s pretty much a sure bet that he will use the words, magical, amazing, beautiful, and extraordinary a few dozen times each as he introduces the new iOS 5, iCloud and OS X Lion. We’re sure that iOS 5 is going to be great, but the iOSMagic Team has dreamed up something more amazing than even Steve Jobs can deliver.
I’ve been asking for four years who would be first to ship the future of computing, a real desktop tablet: Apple, Microsoft or Google?
The WIMP (windows, icons, menus and pointing devices) interface you’re using right now was invented during the Nixon administration. It’s old.
With the incredible success of the iPad, the world is definitely ready for the next evolutionary leap into the future, which will of course be desktop touch tablets. Google and Microsoft have already revealed how they’ll make their transitions. Yet Apple has revealed nothing. Will tomorrow be the day?
In an unprecedented move, last Tuesday Apple outlined what they would be announcing at next week’s WWDC keynote. This, in combination with plenty of plausible rumors floating round the blogosphere, leaves little left to speculate about. But I’m going to have a go anyway. I think the main theme for iOS5 will be independence from iTunes and the Mac/PC, and the big surprise for iCloud will be Facebook-style apps.
Read on after the break.
After yesterday’s story about Apple enforcing third-party promotions and possibly nixing iPad giveaways, we followed up with companies who are trying to give away the magical tablet.
One of them got back to us with the following email from Apple, stating that an app had just been rejected because the company was found in violation of Apple’s giveaway guidelines.
Apple’s iCloud service, expected to be unveiled next week, completes a perfect storm of features that could accelerate Apple’s growing dominance of computing and seriously undermine Google’s cloud strategy.
(Picture courtesy of FreakingNews.com)
We don’t know about you, but personally we are more excited about the next version of iOS than we are the next version of the iPhone. The iPhone 4 is fairly adequate and meets most of our needs, but iOS has a lot of room for improvement. WWDC 2011 is just around the corner and we know that Apple will be announcing iOS 5 there so here is a round-up of the current rumors surrounding the next version of iOS.
Creating a new iOS app can be a daunting task. Keeping track of all the ideas, pricing schemes, graphics, and collaborations can leave a developer feel swamped. The guys behind App Cooker hope to solve all those problems by providing the most advanced iOS mockup tool made exclusively for the iPad.
Jam packed with incredible features, App Cooker aims to be a must-have tool for all app developers and designers. Here’s a quick video of some of the things App Cooker can do for you:
Apple last update for iwork.com was released in January this year. Users were notified via e-mail, that enhancements to iWork.com Apple’s public beta online service for iWork ’09 users had been released.
This announcement came out of the blue at the time regarding a service that has definitely been off the radar for a long time and in beta for longer than I can remember. It’s future isn’t clear considering the pace at which Apple is deploying features on it. Perhaps that will change this year with the rumored release of iWork ’11 and the imminent release of Apple’s iCloud services at WWDC 2011 next week.
The iPad is so hot companies were trying to promote themselves by given them away before Steve Jobs even launched it.
Now it seems that Apple now starting to enforce a lengthy series of guidelines with would-be promoters that may signal the end of iPad giveaways.
The guys over at Alphonso Labs have put a lot of hard work into their iPad app Pulse. Despite the plethora of reader apps out there, Pulse really stands out with its sleek interface that allows users to read vast amounts of content without feeling overwhelmed by the myriad of sources.
As fans of the app, we’re stoked that the Pulse team has decided to include Cult of Mac under their main “Featured” section. If you’re looking for another way to get your Apple and Cult of Mac fix on your iPad or iPhone, then Pulse is definitely an app that you need to check out. And make sure you add our feed while you’re at it.
Apple’s one-year standard warranty is a pretty good deal for U.S. consumers, but for their European counterparts the glass is half empty.
The standard warranty in the E.U. for consumer goods is two years and that’s what is getting the Cupertino company into trouble with AppleCare, the paid extended warranty program.
Cult of Mac talked to Carlo Piana, a lawyer who worked on the EU anti-trust case against Microsoft, about why Italian regulators are after Apple now.
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One of the best things about Apple is how focused they are on allowing their users to bring out their own creativity through the use of their devices. One of our talented readers, George, tweeted us a link to his awesome guitar solo video on YouTube. We’re not a music-centric blog, but we think the composition is pretty neat when you consider that he’s made the entire song on his iPad. If you have something remarkable you’ve created on your iPad and would like to share it with us, get on Twitter and send us a link (@cultofmac). We’d love to show your work off for you.
A couple of YouTube videos have surfaced demonstrating the new interactive iPad software located next to all Apple products in the Apple Store 2.0 retail layout. Each iPad acts as a kiosk that customers can use to explore product features, perform product comparisons, and summon help from a sales associate.
Apple Store 2.0 has launched in Australia and it looks like some of the rumors are true. The new version of the store features interactive product displays using iPads.
Jack Dorsey, the head of Square and co-founder of Twitter, dropped a hint on Saturday via a cryptic Tweet about a possible deal with Apple. The Tweet simply said, “Apple @Square” along with a link to an Instagram photo of a plate of sliced Apples shaped like the Square logo.
Rumors have been circulating for the last week or so about changes to Apple’s online and retail stores. Now a new one has cropped up about the Apple Store iOS app.
Apple’s order status web page is down this week-end for maintenance. If you attempt to check the status of an existing order you’ll see the above message displayed for all online stores across the globe.
The folks at All Things Digital have obtained a statement from Apple in regards to the explosion that occurred at Foxconn’s facilities in Chengdu China where the iPad 2 is manufactured.
After an unexplained absence, Apple products have officially returned to NBC’s The Office, which wrapped up its seventh season last night.
Apple gear was prominently seen and mentioned during the show’s earlier seasons. In 2005, for example, former boss Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) gifted a then-cutting-edge 5th generation iPod Classic (“video iPod”).
But as of late, HP replaced Apple for “promotional consideration”, as evidenced by the closing credits. Apple products continued to appear on occasion, but only discretely, the logo always obscured.
We give out a fair share of free stuff via Twitter, and while today is no exception we’ve decided to spice things up by having a Twitter Trivia Giveaway. If you’d like to win a free Spiderpodium Tablet by Breffo we’d be happy to have one sent to you as long as you play by the rules.