Highlights From Apple’s Conference

Monday, June 10 marked the beginning of a big week for Apple, as the tech titan held its Worldwide Developers Conference to unveil new innovations and products. Over the past 6 months or so, many begun to question whether or not Apple has begun to lose its edge in tech competition, and some feel that the closest you can come to an exciting new Apple product is a new iPad accessory from MySmartBuy. Nevertheless, the company remains driven and creative, and truth be told is still ahead of its competitors. In that regard, the Conference contained a bit more news than many expected.

Of course, there’s no significant iPhone upgrade coming just yet – but here are a few words on some of the improvements and new products Apple announced at the conference.

iOS7
The highlight of the conference, iOS7 is generating more positive press than Apple has seen in over a year. Specific upgrades involve automatically updating apps and a "flat" visual design, as opposed to the current 3D design. iOS7 will be available on iPhone 4 and all newer models, as well as the iPad Mini and iPad 2.

iRadio
Essentially Apple’s very own version of Pandora, iRadio, coming in the fall, is a personalized Internet radio station. It will choose music based on user preferences and iTunes purchases, and will come in both a free and paid ($25) edition.

Photo Organization On Devices
Until now, Apple devices have offered little organization when it comes to photos. Now, these devices will automatically catalogue photos based on the time and location at which they were taken, allowing for smoother organization.

iBooks Updates
Not only will the iBooks feature now be available on Mac computers in addition to mobile devices, but the design has also changed. Instead of the classic wooden bookshelf appearance, the new iBooks looks more like iTunes, with a white background and book covers on display in rows and search categories.

Macbook Air Changes
The main change with the Macbook Air is what essentially amounts to all day battery life. For the 11-inch version, battery will last for 9 hours; for the 13-inch, an astounding 12 hours of battery will be available.

Password Assistance
Remembering different passwords for different sites and programs across all our devices can be a tough task. Apple is now providing us with Cloud support for passwords, allowing devices to remember all of our passwords in a secure fashion.

Siri Updates
Siri is becoming more dynamic, with the main change being the fun option of a male or female voice. New commands, such as "play my last voicemail," are also available for the ever-improving robot voice.

Mac Pro
This peculiar, all-black cylinder shaped computer was perhaps the most mysterious highlight of the conference. But basically, it sounds like an incredibly capable and powerful new computer option coming soon.

Posted by: Matt