Mark Oakley rounds up the key
features of Apple’s forthcoming OS update
These could have been difficult times for
Apple. The departure of a CEO always threatens to have a major impact on any
company, but when that CEO is the guy who essentially embodies everything about
said firm, the ramifications could be immense.
What's
new in iOS 6?
Fair play, then to Tim Cook, a man who has
successfully taken over the mantle from Steve Jobs and raised the company’s
stock in the process. The iPad 3 has been every bit as well received as its
predecessors were and while there has yet to be any surprises on the hardware
front, Cook has more than managed to keep the flag flying high on the good ship
Cupertino.
Next up for the company is the latest
version of its mobile operating system for iPads, iPhones and iPods: iOS 6.
Announced at its recent Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco,
something close to a tech nirvana for Apple developers the world over, iOS 6
was high on the agenda, promising to take your device in ‘entirely new
directions’. Does the rhetoric match reality? Here are the key features you
need to know.
iOS
6
Siri steps up
Apple’s much-touted voice-activated
personal assistant and all-round clever clogs Siri has been given a serious
tinkering in iOS 6, with Apple placing far more emphasis on the applications
surrounding the technology than ever before.
Siri will provide information on sports
scores and statistics, restaurant and cinema listings, and will even allow users
to make Facebook and Twitter post which is quite a leap forward and further
solidifies the relationship between all concerned. Significantly, Siri will be
made available on the iPad 3 too, having previously been an iPhone 4S-only
affair.
Bear in mind that Siri has been with us now
for less than a year and already Apple is pushing this functionality more than
almost any other. The iCloud gets its fair amount of attention, sure, but
Apple’s adverts tend to focus on the genius of Siri more than anything else.
With it coming to the latest iPad as well, expect more of the same going
forward.
Siri will also be able to launch apps,
which is a far more useful function, and perhaps most impressively, the
technology will soon be at a car garage near you, thanks to its Eyes Free
feature. Apple is working with car manufacturers on an in-vehicle button, which
will trigger Siri from the steering wheel. Cool, although we imagine this will
be installed in the snazziest cars around.
Goodbye Google Maps
Another major feature of iOS 6, perhaps the
biggest of them all, is Apple’s ditching of Google Maps, in favour for its own
mapping service. Why is this significant? Because it demonstrates Apple’s
desire to forge ahead on its own without the help of third parties where possible,
allowing it to bring advertisers on board and make more money. For Google, it
merely marks the beginning of its own 3D mapping service, which it’s bringing
to Android.
iOS
6 waves goodbye to Google Maps
Apple’s Maps will have 3D capability too,
and this app, which has been built from the ground up, will arguably be the
first toy we’ll all be playing with when the update comes in. Maps will use a
vector-based engine keeping text and graphics clear and allowing for smoother,
more responsive pan and zoom features.
You’ll be able to use Maps as a sat-nav,
because traffic updates are provided and it will speak directions on a turn-
by-turn level and from the looks of the preview images, large arrows and
gorgeous vistas will pave the way here to give the likes of TomTom a run for
their money. The most attractive feature comes courtesy of Flyover, providing
photo-realistic, interactive 3D images of cities in high-resolution.
On paper, at least, this could really take
off.
