Summary of the Apple WWDC 2011 keynote address

Apple

Once again, Steve Jobs took to the stage to deliver the WWDC keynote. Here is the summary:

  • Setting the stage for the keynote, Jobs said, “If the hardware is the brain and the sinew of the product, the software in the middle is the soul.”
  • Apple now has 54 million Mac users worldwide with notebooks now accounting for 73% of sales.
  • Mac OS X Lion:
    • Over 250 new features
    • Multi-touch gestures – First seen at ‘Back to the Mac’ event last fall
    • Full-screen mode for applications (with swipe to toggle)
    • Mission Control: Unified interface to let you see what is going on your Mac and manage multiple desktops, full-screen apps, and dashboard widgets
    • Mac App Store is now number one channel for buying software, according to Schiller
    • A number of iOS features coming to Lion including push notifications, and in-app purchases
    • Launchpad: Pinch motion brings up all applications and allows customized display
    • Auto-save: Automatically saves documents in background. Includes document history to retrieve previous versions
    • AirDrop: Allows document sharing over Wi-Fi by letting you drag and drop documents to peers on local network
    • Mail: UI revamped and similar to that in iOS
    • Mac OS X Lion to be available only through Mac App Store for US$29.99 as a 4GB download.
    • Mac OS X Lion will be available in July. Developer Preview available now.
  • iOS 5 announced:
    • iOS now on over 200 million devices, including 25 million iPads
    • App Store now has over 425,000 apps, including 90,000 iPad-specific ones. 14 billion downloads in less than 3 years!
    • Latest version adds 1500 new APIs and some 200 new features
    • New Notification Center replacing modal alerts. Located at top of screen and opened by swiping down from top (very similar to Android)
    • Lock screen also presents notifications. You can swipe the notification to enter the app directly.
    • Newsstand: Centralized management of subscriptions such as magazines and newspapers
    • Twitter integration including single sign-on for apps
    • Improved Safari, including tab support for iPad version
    • New Reminders and To Do list functionality
    • Camera: Improved performance and new features such as camera icon on lock screen for quick access, volume button now acting as shutter button, and auto exposure/focus lock at touch
    • Improved Mail app
    • New split thumb keyboard for iPad only (portrait mode)
    • PC-free set up: No longer need PC to set up and update iOS. Includes OTA delta updates.
    • Improved Game Center which turn-based game support, achievements, game downloads and more
    • iMessage: new messaging service for iOS devices only. Can send texts, photos, videos, and group messages over 3G or Wi-Fi. All messages are encrypted.
    • Apple will ship iOS 5 “this fall” and it will support all devices supported by iOS 4 (first and second generation iPad, iPhone 3GS/4, third and fourth generation iPod touch)
  • Apple iCloud:
    • To address issue of content management (music, photos, videos) across multiple devices
    • Digital hub moving to the cloud with PC becoming just another device that accesses this content
    • It replaces MobileMe with new Contacts/Calendar/Mail apps which will be free
    • Cloud services will also be extended to Apps, iBooks, Documents, and Photos
    • iTunes also moving to the cloud with your music synced across devices. It will also include a service iTunes Match which will provide you with AAC DRM-free versions of songs you did not purchase on iTunes for US$24.99 per year
    • Apple will provide users with 5GB of storage for mail, documents and backup.
    • iCloud available today to developers as part of iOS 4.3 beta. It will be rolled out as a beta service in iOS 4.3 and then in iOS 5 in the fall.

As expected, no devices were announced which means that the rumour mill will continue to go crazy over the next few months…