Thread: iOS 6 - what to expect

About 2 weeks away from Apple's WWDC, where iOS 6 will be introduced and demonstrated, it's a good time to start speculations and discussions.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/05/31/may.get.unannounced.graphics.hardware/

As discussed in another thread, iOS is usually built on top of the most current OS X kernel and frameworks - and hence, iOS 6 will be based on the Mountain Lion underpinnings, with all the performance improvements we can expect from that.

This appears to hold true, based on some recent reveals - albeit it seems that this time, iOS 6 might leap ahead:

A beta release of iOS 6 has revealed some details of Apple's testing for the next-generation iPhone, according to a source for 9to5Mac. iOS 6 is currently said to be running Darwin Kernel 13.0.0, one version ahead of OS X Mountain Lion. The XNU build is also a later 21xx, as compared to Mountain Lion's 2050.5.8. Significantly, though, the code also mentions a processor, "DEVELOPMENT_ARM_S5L8950X."

This leads me to suspect strongly that Mountain Lion, beta and final, will also receive Darwin Kernel 13.x and a more recent XNU build than the current DP (it is, after all, just a cobbled together preview release).

To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less what kind of hardware the next iPhone (and, subsequently) iPhone Touch will have, and I am far more interested in what new features iOS 6 will bring to the table - both for consumers, and developers.

Yeah, yeah, we'll get a 4" display (diagonally, thus maintaining the dimensions of the iPhone for one-hand operation), and LTE (since Qualcomm has now released smaller and less battery-hungry versions of the LTE chipset used in the new iPad), but none of that is in any way unexpected (Oh, and there will still be the regular 'Home' physical button... so much for the advocates of buttonless new hardware)

What I think will be most interesting is Apple's new Maps application, which will break ranks with Google, and bringing the entire resource in-house. I have no doubt it will look fine, but I am curious about both the quality of the satellite imagery, as well as support for other countries outside of the USA. Either way, this will mark the beginning of Apple's take-down of Google, by cutting off Google's revenue streams, one by one. It will be interesting how that goes.

Aside from that, I strongly expect that Apple will announce a Siri API at WWDC, to allow developers to start taking advantage of Siri, as well as an API for inter-application communication (which is a can of worms, and why it took his long to be made available).

Lots of interesting stuff, I'm sure.

Well, now we know for sure (not that this was in doubt) that iOS 6 will be feature at wwdc - and what the new icon/logo looks like.

A bit more news, and in about 11 hours from now, we'll know all the official stuff:

Apple Releasing iOS 6 Beta Build 10A5316k and Safari 6 Developer Preview at WWDC? - Mac Rumors

Seems like iOS 6 will be running on all current iPads, and iPhones down to the iPhone 3GS (which makes sense).

There's some mumbles about it not being supported on the first generation iPad, though I would honestly think that might turn out to be untrue by tomorrow.

---Update---

Very soon, huhu will be jizzing in his pants in front of his computer from the anticipation of Tim Cook making apple announcements. He lives for this day.

I'll be happy when Apple stock goes to zero. What a non event the past 20 years in computing industry has this been. Computer as fashion. Even Phil is whining here how he's unable to find the latest iPad for his wife. What has the world come to. Die Apple, DIE!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Thes a lot to like about iOS 6 from what I'm seeing so far - and Siri has gotten a lot more sophisticated

I look forward to hearing more. Have APIs been released for Siri?

Originally Posted by buddahas

Computer as fashion

The traditional computer market catered for people who were solely concerned with raw performance, whereas the modern computer buyer also values color, form and design. So what's so bad about computers and phones that actually look beautiful? I still have nightmares of the 1990s - those brick-like mobile phones and ugly desktop computers that had sharp edges and came in a thousand shades of gray. But the appeal of Apple products goes way beyond aesthetics, otherwise their stock would never have gotten so high.

Originally Posted by Tungsten

I look forward to hearing more. Have APIs been released for Siri?

YES!

and Siri can now launch apps, and devs will now doubt start to Siri enable plenty of their apps - and Siri will now be able to speak in 60 languages/localizations, including Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese) - not sure about Thai, though that would be keen!

Apple Haters will never get it - to them, it's either Apple's tremendous marketing efforts, or they just consider everyone buying Apple products to be dumb fanboy fucktards. See, marketing is great to get your foot in the door, but you don't get people to become repeat buyers, and recommend a product to their friends, and be enthusiastic about it, unless you actually deliver on all fronts.

Cool ... 'This changes everything. Again' Siri is going to take off massively. Is there a definite date for the release of iOS 6?

Apple gave "Fall", meaning September, when new iPhone will be released.

10 cool features of iOS 6

Siri gets some much-needed added functionality in iOS 6. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired When it arrives on handsets and tablets this fall, iOS 6 won’t just be a simple operating system update — it will be Apple’s interpretation of exactly how a modern mobile OS should perform. And at Apple’s WWDC keynote Monday, the company highlighted 10 key areas of improvement to wow the masses. The new features that Apple highlighted basically focus on two key areas: convenience and accessibility. These are the cornerstones of Apple’s mobile experience. If nothing else, Apple wants to make touch-based mobile computing as easy as possible for the mass market — no matter its customers’ ages, technical inclinations, or disabilities. Here’s a look at how Apple aims to make your iDevices better than ever with iOS 6. Siri As predicted and anticipated, iOS 6 features a much-needed update for Apple’s digital assistant, Siri. Specifically, she gains additional functionality in queries relating to sports, dining, and film; gains more systemwide functionality; and expands her language support by leaps and bounds. Siri brushed up on her knowledge of baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey. You can ask questions about specific players, teams or games, as well as major league standings. With all queries, she responds with a succinct audio answer, but also provides snazzy graphical information on-screen. For example, when you ask “Who’s taller, LeBron [James] or Kobe [Bryant]?”, Siri responds with “LeBron James appears to be slightly taller.” Onscreen within Siri, you can see a picture of LeBron, his position and team name, stats like birth date, height and weight, and a collection of his career highlights. Information for Kobe Bryant appears below that. You can also get more detailed information about restaurants through Siri’s Yelp integration, and you can make restaurant reservations through OpenTable. Additional restaurant information includes the average price of menu items, and you can click on a listing to get more information, like reviews, all without leaving the Siri interface. For reservations, you leave Siri and head to the OpenTable app. iOS 6 also allows you to use Siri to get movie info, like what’s playing nearby, and information on actors and directors. You can also watch movie trailers from within Siri. Movie information is powered by Rotten Tomatoes. In iOS 6, you can also use Siri to open any app on your iDevice, so there’s no need to sift through pages of apps and folders if you’re pinched for time. You can also tweet and post Facebook status updates using Siri, something that a number of other competing digital assistant apps have been offering for a while. Siri’s new functionality feels mostly like catch-up, but nonetheless, it’s useful and appreciated. Facebook Integration iOS 6 introduces Facebook integration. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired Speaking of Facebook, iOS 6 finally brings Facebook to Apple’s mobile platform. Like with Twitter integration introduced in iOS 5, once you sign into your Facebook account in settings, you can easily Like and post from throughout the iOS ecosystem. For instance, you can like apps on the App Store, as well as movies, music, and TV shows in iTunes. You can also post photos from Camera Roll, share a map from the Maps app, or share a webpage from Safari. It’s integrated with Notification Center, so when you get some new action on your Facebook page, you’ll get the alerts right on your lock screen. Facebook integration has been a long time coming, and with its Like-ability in Apple’s digital store fronts, it looks like it could slowly fill the void left by Apple’s social music platform Ping. Just kidding. No one has ever used Ping. Maps The Maps app adds turn-by-turn navigation to iOS. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired Apple’s Maps app will be ditching Google as its backend, while picking up a ton of new functionality along the way. One of the most exciting new iOS features is turn-by-turn navigation. It’s been available on Android systems for a while, but now finally comes to iOS. Apple’s demo suggests that it’s seamless to flip from turn-by-turn mode, to an almost head-on view, to an over-the-top view. This means you can see which way you need to turn next from your own perspective, or zoom out and get your bearings on where you are in the city as a whole. Turn-by-turn directions also give you your estimated time of arrival, and will recommend a faster route when it’s available. The new Maps app also integrates traffic information, and can overlay accidents that have been identified on top of its onscreen roadway illustrations. Within Maps, Apple also introduced a super-snazzy 3-D photographic rendering feature called Flyover. It seems more like a way to get bird’s-eye views of tourist attractions than a tool to help you get to your destination. Still, for providing a photographic look at the city you’re trying to navigate, it could come in handy. In iOS 6, the new Maps app also remains persistent on the lock screen, so when you’re trying to figure out which exit to take in heavy traffic, you no longer need to fumble with unlocking your phone, and opening the app. Phone App and FaceTime Tell your friends you'll get back to them ASAP with new Phone updates. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired Phone functionality has remained relatively unchanged in iOS for years — and that’s a problem when you consider the word “phone” takes up exactly half the letters of the term “smartphone.” But now Apple is adding two new buttons that pop up when you get an incoming call: Reply With Message and Reply Later. Reply With Message lets you choose one of four texting options to send to a friend who’s calling you at a bad time (three brief preset messages as seen in the image above, and a custom message option). And with Reply Later, you can set a reminder to call back your caller based on a time or even location. That’s right, the feature is geofenced, so you can get the reminder when you get home or when you get to work. Also, FaceTime, Apple’s video conferencing service, can now be used over cellular connections and not just WiFi. Do Not Disturb iOS 6 also introduces a feature that provides sanctuary from all the messages, alerts, texts and phone calls that bombard us during all hours of the day and night. It’s called Do Not Disturb. You still get all those messages and notifications, but your device won’t ring, ping, or even light up and disturb you. It’s not just a blanket on-off switch, though. You can set exceptions, so if a close friend or family member calls you any time, those calls will still go through (you can set up groups of favorites in your phone settings). You can also set Do Not Disturb to disengage whenever someone calls from the same number twice in three minutes — a feature that recognizes how people use the phone during emergencies. Safari Safari gets smarter in iOS 6. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired

Downloading and soon testing the iOS 6 beta.

I assume it won't be as refined as Mountain Lion, so I'll start on the iPhone 3GS, and then work my way up.

---Update---

iOS 6 features you might have missed | Macworld


iOS 6 features you might have missed

by Lex Friedman, Macworld.com Jun 12, 2012 2:48 pm


On Monday, Apple offered the first glimpse of iOS 6 during the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Though the updated mobile operating system won’t arrive until sometime this fall, it’s never too early to start drooling over the new features. We already covered the flagship features of iOS 6—like seriously updated Siri, majorly overhauled Maps, and systemwide Facebook integration—so here’s a look at some cool features coming in iOS 6 that you may have missed.


A new Share screen


In iOS 5, when you tap to share a photo, you get a long list of sharing actions to choose from—whether it’s posting to Twitter, sending an email or iMessage, or some other option. iOS 6 adds Facebook sharing as an option, along with sharing to various Chinese social networks. (That’s a nod to how important the Chinese market has become to Apple.) But Apple decided against cramming more buttons into that panel.
Instead, iOS 6 presents you with a new, icon-based sharing screen. It uses icons to represent the apps and services that you can share your content with and looks quite a bit like the iPhone’s home screen.


New Siri functionality

Flagship features added to Siri include the voice-driven personal assistant’s arrival on the third-generation iPad. Siri also gains the ability to answer questions about sports and movies in iOS 6, and it will be integrated with turn-by-turn directions in Maps. But the virtual assistant gains several other new features as well that might have escaped your attention.

In iOS 6, you’ll be able to compose new tweets and Facebook status updates with Siri—and both capabilities appear to be implemented smartly: If you link your friends’ Twitter usernames to their Contacts entries, Siri automatically translates their real names as you dictate. That is, if I say, “Tweet ‘Excellent dinner last night with Jason Snell, Dan Moren, and Serenity Caldwell,’” Siri will automatically compose a tweet like “Excellent dinner last night with @jsnell, @dmoren, and @settern.”

On the new iPad, Siri can answer questions about weather and stocks, even though Apple hasn’t (yet) ported its Weather and Stocks apps to the iPad. Apple did show a glimpse of a new default Clock app for the iPad, so we won’t be shocked if Stocks and Weather finally make the leap to the big screen before iOS 6’s official release, too.


Spotlight tweak

If you have lots of apps, sometimes it’s hard to figure out precisely which homescreen they’re located on. In iOS 6, Spotlight makes that at least a smidgen easier, by listing the name of the folder a particular app is nestled inside when it appears in the search results.


Reminders improvements

Apple introduced the Reminders app in iOS 5, and it looks to score some helpful updates in iOS 6. Apple says that you’ll be able to set location-based reminders from the iPad. Even better, you’ll be able to tap in addresses where you’d like to be reminded manually, a feature currently missing from Reminders; at present, you can only set reminders for locations linked to addresses for your existing contacts.

Also new in Reminders will be the ability to reorder your tasks as desired. And Apple told developers that iOS 6 includes a new Reminders API, which should make it possible for third-party apps to integrate with the Reminders database. That means that you could use Siri to set Reminders which would in turn be visible in your third-party task management app of choice.


Call rejection


Sometimes, you can’t take a call when your iPhone starts ringing. You can already quickly send a call to voicemail by tapping the Ignore button, but iOS 6 adds more powerful options for when you’re too busy to answer. When your phone rings, you’ll see a button on the screen akin to the new camera shortcut on the lock screen in iOS 5.1—a switch that you slide up to trigger.
When you do so, you’ll see options to send the caller a message, or to remind yourself to call the person back later. If you choose to send a message, iOS offers several default options; you can also save custom responses. Your iPhone will then attempt to iMessage or SMS the caller with your note, while also sending them straight to your voicemail.


Other features

Near the end of the iOS portion of the keynote, Apple showed a slide listing a host of other features included in the iOS 6 update. Among those were Game Center challenges, the ability to connect Game Center friends from Facebook, VoiceOver improvements, personal dictionary in iCloud (for adding your own terms to the dictionary, which can sync between devices), and per-account signatures in Mail. Also on the list was improved privacy, which—as a new option in Settings—will let you control which apps can access which bits of personal data, like your Contacts, Calendar, or Photos. Other features on the list included autocorrection for every keyboard, Bluetooth MAP support (which is commonly used to help cars better offer hands-free communication with Bluetooth devices), kernel ASLR (which aims to make data even more impervious to snooping from malicious attackers), custom vibrations for alerts, redesigned stores (for the App and iTunes stores), IPv6 support for Wi-Fi and LTE, word highlights for speak selection, improved keyboard layouts, alarms with songs, and faster JavaScript in Safari. Apple also says iOS 6 includes a global HTTP proxy option, which would supplant the current approach, limited as it is to per-connection proxy settings.

Other features for developers include audio and video sampling during playback, Pass Kit (for interacting with Passbook), VoiceOver gestures, the ability to control camera focus and exposure, a Web Audio API, Game Center in-app experience, game groups, video stabilization, frame drop data, pull-to-refresh on Table views, a means of supporting in-app purchases of iTunes Store-hosted content, in-app Bluetooth pairing, remote Web Inspector, rich text on label fields and text views, CSS filters, crossfade with CSS animations, and a face detection API.


Lex Friedman is a Macworld staff writer.

I have a mild benign case of Nerditus ... but I'm afraid HuHu's is fully blown Nerditus++. Totally untreatable ... and fatal.

Hands-on with iOS 6, Apple's next-generation mobile OS | iPodNN


Hands-on with iOS 6, Apple's next-generation mobile OS


Hands-on with the latest volley in the Apple-Android battle




Apple had a lot on offer at yesterday’s WWDC keynote to kick-off its World Wide Developer Conference for 2012. However, none may be more crucial than what Apple had to say about its next-generation mobile OS -- mobile devices have become the driving force behind most of Apple’s staggering growth since the iPhone was launched back in 2007. Underlining this is the incredible fact that Apple’s iPhone business alone now outstrips the total revenue generated by Microsoft. MacNN has had the opportunity to go hands-on with the developer preview of Apple’s iOS 6 Beta for iPhone. Read on to see whether we think this early preview suggests that Apple has delivered enough to keep the iOS juggernaut rolling on.


For users who were hoping for major UI tweaks to Springboard (the iOS home screen), Apple will have left you disappointed. There is nothing fundamentally different about Apple’s tried and true formula in iOS 6. One of the driving philosophies behind iOS is that the OS and its UI remain as transparent as possible, which is probably why it might be some time before we see Apple give its iconic home screen any kind of major revamp. If using an iPhone is all about its ease of use and Apple’s incredible app ecosystem (which is loaded with apps that have all kinds of incredible and innovative UIs in themselves), then at the end of the day the iOS UI really matters little as long as it serves its purpose.

So as Apple did not reveal any major UI tweaks, that leaves the focus on value adding to the OS through feature enhancements and the addition of new apps and UI tweaks to existing apps. The headlining feature enhancement is probably the addition of the new iOS 6 Maps app with free turn-by-turn navigation. Of all the rumors leading into the WWDC, this was one of the hottest and Apple didn’t disappoint on this count. In fact, it exceeded expectations by launching its new Maps app with free turn-by-turn navigation powered by Tom Tom (and 'others'), but with an Apple designed UI.

Also given a substantial upgrade is Apple's vaunted Siri voice-controlled interface. In addition to now being able to launch apps and other tricks like getting information about sports and movies, Siri has also been integrated into the Maps app. As outlined below, Siri can be asked about local points of interest, including the location of gas stations as well as how to get users from point A to point B. Users can also ask Siri about where to grab a quick bite to eat near to where they are currently located.

Although Google tried to steal the thunder from Apple's then-rumored integration of 3D mapping capabilities in its new Maps app, Apple's implementation in iOS 6 is beautifully accomplished, even in its still Beta state. Flyovers look amazing on the iPhone's Retina display, and the way it renders topography and buildings is cool to watch.

Some of the other notable additions to iOS 6 includes the ability to make FaceTime calls over a 3G connection, although users concerned about data allowances needn't be as Apple has given users the option to toggle this function on and off. Much ado was made about the deeper integration with Facebook in iOS, which is a welcome addition -- if you've seen how Apple integrated Twitter into iOS 5, it works in very much the same way. Beyond this, Apple has also overhauled its UIs for the App Store and iTunes Store apps in iOS 6. The changes have been designed to make navigating both stores easier and less cluttered. The Music app also gets revamped with hints of the overhaul Apple gave to the Music app for iPad in iOS 5. The new-look player looks more contemporary as a result.

It has also tweaked the Phone app, giving users the option to send preset messages in response to incoming calls. Users can also continue receiving messages and calls in the background without being bothered now with the inclusion of a new Do Not Disturb function. Apple has further included a new Privacy function in Settings that aims to explicity address user and regulator concerns about privacy and user tracking by informing users which apps are using information from Location Services, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders and Photos.

While there are still room for Apple to make further enhancements to its mobile OS in future releases (ie. think widgets and further enhancements to notifications), it has ensured that its latest marquee additions to iOS continue to make it compelling for end users. In some respects, from a feature perspective, iOS 6 lags behind Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). However, where it continues to stay well ahead of Android is in its stability and its slickness. Even the Beta 1 version of iOS 6 feels rock solid.


That Ice Cream Sandwich is Google’s most polished version of Android to date is not in question. However, it continues to have what may be perceived as architectural shortcomings not always visible to the end user, particularly with its lack of proper optimization for multi-core processors. Intel recently highlighted the inefficient way in which the Android OS makes use of the system resources that Android manufacturers are stuffing into their devices for the sake of the hardware spec wars. iOS is built on the full Mac OS X kernel, which helps to explain why it does what it does so well by comparison -- it takes much better advantage of its system resources. Overall, iOS 6 looks to be yet another step in the right direction for users who are looking for the easiest to use and master mobile operating system.

Diagnosis confirmed.