I’ve already written up my thoughts on iOS 7’s new look, and particularly its new icons. But I’m interested in how you feel about it. Am I the only one who thinks Apple took a step in the wrong direction when it was designed certain aspects of its next-generation mobile operating system?

OS X Mavericks has some crazy new power-saving technologies, as demoed yesterday at the WWDC Keynote. Most of these are system-based: the OS stops wasting CPU cycles running animations that are hidden behind another window, for example. But some, like this neat addition to the battery menu, are about advising the user what’s sucking the juice.

Every year a few quality apps are selected to win the coveted Apple Design Award at WWDC. It’s a developer’s dream to be recognized by Apple for making great software, and the Design Award is the pinnacle of accolades in the Apple developer community. This year’s winners include some very popular titles you may have heard of, like Letterpress and the newest iOS version of Evernote.

Ironically, one of the apps Apple selected for a Design Award this year has been killed in iOS 7.

The first betas for iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks and are now available for registered developers to download in Apple’s Dev Center. The iOS 7 beta is only available for iPhone models and the iPod touch. Apple has said that an iPad version will be coming in a few weeks.

OS X Mavericks is available as well for Mac developers. The Xcode 5 developer preview is available with support for iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks. Apple has released an iOS 7 beta for the Apple TV as well. Lastly, there’s a new beta of the Find My iPhone app with support for the new security features Apple has in iOS 7.

Source: Apple

During today’s WWDC keynote, Apple’s Eddy Cue briefly mentioned Bing integration in iOS 7. While demoing new features in Siri, Cue mentioned that Bing is used to power web searches. Nothing was said about Google, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Apple has been distancing itself from Google for quite some time. For instance, Apple Maps is now on iOS and OS X. Bing integration in Siri, while a more subtle move, is definitely a knife jab at Google. And Microsoft couldn’t be happier.

Just a few short weeks before today’s WWDC keynote went down, Tim Cook was grilled by John McCain at the Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple, Inc. Before the hearing was over, Senator McCain let off a joke to Cook that Apple needs to hurry up and add automatic app updates to the App Store:

Sir, there’s only one thing I wanted to ask you today: why do I keep on having to update all the apps on my iPhone? Can’t you guys fix that already?

Turns out that Tim Cook was actually listening, and now iOS 7 is going to get the feature all thanks in part to the efforts of our illustrious senator from Arizona.

McCain even tweeted his thanks to Cook for adding the feature that had most likely been in the works for months before Cook’s Senate appearance, but it’s good to know if we ever need new features added to iOS, just ask John McCain to tell Tim.

Today Apple unveiled iOS 7, the software’s biggest redesign since the debut of the original iPhone. We’ve already told you everything that was just announced at WWDC, so now it’s time to take a closer look at what iOS 7 looks like.

Apple has posted some gorgeous new images on its website alongside video walkthroughs. Here’s iOS 7 in action:

Apple has really started to rally around its identity as an American company. During Tim Cook’s recent appearance in Washington he repeatedly stressed the point that Apple is proud to be an American company. Phil Schiller also made sure to note that the new Mac Pro is designed and assembled in America.

At the end of WWDC Apple revealed a new ad, ‘Designed by Apple in California’ which talks about the passion Apple puts into its products. Cook said the ad will start appearing on TV later today.

We’re still waiting for Apple’s Developer Portal to come online so we can install the beta of iOS 7, but one of our readers noticed a neat little feature that wasn’t discussed during the keynote – the iOS 7 Clock app icon now updates to show you the real time.

Not sure if third-party apps will get the same abilities, but things are looking really promising in iOS 7. Check out out round-up post for all the details on everything Apple announced today.

Thanks: Chris!

WWDC is about to kick off in a little under an hour at the Moscone West in San Francsisco. We’ve seen all the decorum on the outside of the Moscone Center, and the banners in the hallways, but this keynote room is where all the action is going to go down.

Tim Cook and company are set to take the stage in less than an hour. iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 will certainly be introduced, along with some new hardware. Press hasn’t been let in yet, but TNW grabbed this shot of the keynote room before it gets crowded.

Source: Twitter