• Apple Announces OS X Mountain Lion with More iOS-like Features

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Download, Mac, News, OS X, Software 4 Responses

    Apple Announces OS X Mountain Lion

    Apple Announces OS X Mountain Lion

    Apple today announced OS X Mountain Lion, the next major update to its desktop operating system. Mountain Lion brings more iOS features to the Mac platform such as Messages, Notification Center, AirPlay Mirroring, Notes, Reminder, Game Center and deep iCloud integration. Here are a rundown of the added features:

    iCloud

    It just works. In more ways than ever. In OS X Mountain Lion, sign in once with your Apple ID and iCloud is automatically set up across your Mac. iCloud keeps your mail, calendars, contacts, documents, and more up to date on every device you use. So when you add, delete, or edit something on your Mac, it happens on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. And vice versa.

    Messages

    Mac keeps the conversation going. Messages does everything iChat does, and so much more. For starters, it comes with iMessage. And just like iMessage in iOS, it lets you send unlimited messages to anyone on a Mac or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5. Send photos, videos, documents, and contacts — even send messages to a group. You can see when your message has been delivered and when someone’s typing a reply. Turn on read receipts, and they’ll see when you’ve read a message. With end-to-end encryption, your messages stay safe and private. And you can start a conversation on your Mac and pick it up on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. So nothing is left unsaid.

    Reminders

    Now nothing slips your mind. When you have so much to do, Reminders helps you get it done. It’s all in a list. More than one, in fact. Make as many lists as you need and easily add to them. Set due dates and you’ll get alerts as deadlines approach. Check items off your lists as you go and keep track of what you’ve completed. And to be sure you don’t forget anything, iCloud keeps your reminders up to date on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

    Notes

    A feature for your thoughts. Notes in OS X Mountain Lion is designed for whatever’s on your mind. Think it up. Jot it down. Make it even more noteworthy with photos, images, and attachments. You can add, delete, and flip through your notes or do a quick search. Use the Share button to send your notes to friends or colleagues with Mail or Messages. Pin important notes to your desktop so they’re easy to get to. And take them with you everywhere. Notes works with iCloud, so when you create or edit a note on your Mac, it automatically updates on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

    Notification Center

    See what’s new with you. All in one place. Something new is always popping up somewhere on your Mac — an email, an instant message, a friend request, a calendar alert, and more. Notification Center makes it easy to stay up to speed, because there’s one place to see everything. Notification banners appear on your desktop and disappear quickly so they don’t interrupt what you’re doing. Swipe to the left, and you’ll see all your notifications in a simple, ordered list. So you’ll always know what’s up as soon as it comes up.

    Share Sheets

    When you see it, share it. You’ll find the Share button in many OS X Mountain Lion apps. It’s the new, easy way to spread the word — links, photos, and videos, too. Send links from Safari. Send your notes via Mail and Messages. Post photos to Flickr. Send videos to Vimeo. And tweet just about anything.

    Twitter

    Tweet right from your apps. OS X Mountain Lion keeps you on top of all things Twitter. Sign in once and you’re all set to start tweeting — and you don’t have to leave the app you’re in. Tweet links and photos directly from Safari, iPhoto, or Photo Booth with the new Tweet Sheet. Tweet comments and add locations. And when someone mentions you in a tweet or sends you a direct message, you’ll get a Twitter notification right then and there.

    Game Center

    Mac gets in on the game. The Mac is about to go up against iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch — in a friendly Game Center way.2 Now it’s a bigger playing field with even more competition. Just create a Game Center account with your Apple ID. Then sign in and you’re in. Friends will find you fast, and you’ll track them down easily. Get a multiplayer game started or go up against people you don’t know. Check out leaderboards and see how your high score ranks against opponents’ scores around the world. And discover new games based on the ones you and your friends already play.

    AirPlay Mirroring

    Your Mac is on TV. This new feature in Mountain Lion is made for an audience. With AirPlay Mirroring, you can stream what’s on your Mac to your HDTV via Apple TV. Show web pages and videos to friends on the couch. Share lessons with a classroom. Present to a conference room. It’s a big deal for your Mac. And for everyone around it.

    Gatekeeper

    A more secure Mac. Under your control. Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion makes the Mac safer than ever. It helps prevent you from unknowingly downloading and installing malicious software. And it gives you control over which applications to download and run on your Mac. Now you can choose from three security options. You can download and run applications from anywhere, just as in OS X Lion. To be even safer, download and run apps from the Mac App Store and apps with a Developer ID. Or download and run only apps from the Mac App Store — the safest setting of all. Gatekeeper lets you decide which setting is best for you.

    Here is the full press release:

    Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview with Over 100 New Features

    CUPERTINO, California—February 16, 2012—Apple today released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad to the Mac and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring. Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store™ in late summer 2012.

    “The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

    The developer preview of Mountain Lion features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalize your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

    Mountain Lion presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari, Quick Look, Photo Booth, Preview and third party apps. Mountain Lion also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV.

    More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Mountain Lion uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

    Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.

    Mountain Lion also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Mountain Lion makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.

    Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touchâ„¢ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.

    Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

  • Apple iPhone 5 Features Speculation Roundup

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Tech. No Responses

    There’s still a few weeks in which talk about what new features will drive the future iPhone 5. Here is a great collection by Jonny Evans who sums up a good amount of features and specifications rumored or said to be included in the upcoming iPhone 5.

    Poker face

    The fifth-generation iPhone (iPhone 5, or, possibly, the iPhone 4S) is a very important release. Not only will it be a major attempt by which Apple hopes to consolidate its lead on the smartphone biz, but it is also likely to spark renewed competitive peaks within that business.

    The game is Apple’s to lose: it now dominates both by revenue and model sales. With that in mind here’s the current speculation, roughly in order of likelihood:

    1Ghz Dual-core A5 processor

    There have been some reports that production has been delayed by problems with heat dissipation on the new models. It’s impossible to say if that’s true, but Apple does seem likely to pop its most recent A-series processor inside its new phone.

    What does this mean? It means the new iPhone will be blazingly fast — twice as fast as the previous version and with up to nine times the graphics processing power, if the iPad 2 improvements be seen as guide.

    iOS 5 inside

    Apple has been very busy working on iOS 5, which, among other things, will offer support for the new ‘Find My Mac’ feature I predicted last May. And will also integrate tightly with iCloud for a computing anywhere style experience.

    A better camera

    Omnivision made waves this week with news that it has produced camera modules that are 20 percent thinner than before. The new iPhone is expected to boast an 8-megapixel Omnivision camera with an improved LED flash system. The front camera is also expected to improve.

    Bigger screen

    Replacement of the mechanical Home button with a capacitive controller could enable Apple to equip the iPhone 5 with a bigger 3.7-inch (or, perhaps, 4-inch) display.

    Better speakers

    Apple continues to improve the speakers it places inside its mobile devices. You’ll be able to drown out those tinny phones the kids at the back of the bus use with these.

    World class

    The iPhone 5 is expected to host a combined hybrid GSM/CDMA radio possibly by qualcomm. This means you’ll be able to use one device on most available networks. This also means you can expect iPhone 5 to hit Verizon and AT&T simultaneously, and to reach CDMA networks (such as those in China) pretty soon after Apple’s manufacturers begin to meet US demand.

    Screen resolution, RAM, storage

    1,280-x-720px Retina Display, 367ppi. 512MB RAM and available in models equipped with up to 64GB storage

    Thinner, too

    That’s right, the new iPhone’s expected to be thinner — given Omnivision’s news and potential use of a Thunderbolt connector, it could be considerably thinner. (10 percent?)

    A teardrop phone

    All those purported leaked case designs suggest that the new iPhone will have a teardrop-style chassis, thicker at one end than another.

    Voice Control

    The new iPhone will boast voice control using an app called Assistant. This will let you speak your music requests, send texts and make Facetime calls. Based on Siri, it will also make simple requests, for example, “Where’s my nearest Starbuck’s?”.

    Wireless Sync

    This has been confirmed as a feature within iOS 5. You won’t need a computer in the post PC smartphone era.

    Available in September

    That’s the deal following news that Pegatron has secured orders to deliver 10 million units of iPhone 5, beginning in September.

    Bluetooth 4 and/or NFC support

    Apple has been working away at NFC for several years, but it is possible the company will instead choose to implement Bluetooth 4, which includes some specifications which could theoretically support secure payments.

    iPhone HD — TV on demand

    The iPhone 5 will support Full HD, just like the iPad. AirPlay movies to your Apple TV, or connect it to an HDTV for a high-res viewing experience. (And don’t get me started on those shiny new TV streaming services claims).

    No LTE 4G phone

    The sad truth here is that while LTE is much-discussed, it hasn’t really seen wide deployment globally at this time. This means that there isn’t yet a sufficiently wide market to justify the expense of including support for the standard in this edition of the phone.

    I’m predicting LTE in the next-generation, when networks in key markets (eg., the UK) have upgraded their infrastructure to support the new standard.

    A new antenna

    Apple will not repeat antenna-gate. Jobs was not happy — recall the subsequent resignation of Mr Papermaster? Be prepared for a metal, rather than a glass back to the new device.

    A nice price

    I’m expecting the new device to come in at approximately the same price as the current models, though this will be tempered by local taxation changes and any unpredictable scarcity in component supply.

    An iPhone nano?

    I’m the biggest proponent of this device. Apple’s gone enigmatic on the matter.

    RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky met with Apple this week, and writes, “Apple’s primary criterion for launching a lower-end iPhone is an innovative, category-killer experience.”

    That’s neither a yes or a no, and is a response which will keep competitors guessing, I suspect. Wait and see.

    Apple Maps?

    Perhaps next year. Or the C3 Technologies?

    And Smart Covers

    Will the iPhone 5 have its own set of Smart Covers?

  • Over 500 New Features in the Upcoming Windows Phone 7 Mango

    // Gradly // blog, Microsoft, Mobile, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Software No Responses

    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has promised over 500 new features for the next release of Windows Phone 7 dubbed ‘Mango’ and will get version 7.5.

    Speaking at Japanese Microsoft Developer Forum 2011, Ballmer promised the features to be unveiled in the Mango event today. The software giant is also expected to unveil new developer tools for Windows Phone applications. Microsoft is currently hard at work on “Mango”, its next major release of Windows Phone. Nokia is also reportedly waiting for the next release of Windows Phone before it unveils its first Windows Phone device. Watch Ballmer speaking about the 500 new features in the video below:

    Neowin is adding additional rumor before today’s Mango activities kick out. Windows Phone 7.5 may be released to Manufacturers today, and will be coming out to all phones in September.