What We Learnt From Apple’s Keynote Address

Posted 7th June 2011 by Daniel

As always, the day after Apple‘s latest Keynote Address has saw widespread discussion about the topics covered.

Presented by Steve Jobs back from medical leave for the event, Apple announced their plans for their iCloud service, iOS 5.0 for the iPhone, iPad & iPod and Lion OS X for Mac. In an unusual step, the topics of discussion for the event had been released ahead of time. It proved a good idea as hype built up about what each would entail, with the new iCloud service in particular a source of interest due to it’s unknown factor.

We in the Media Lightbox office were interested to find out more about iCloud service. With our own Media Lightbox system being a cloud based program, we always find it interesting to see how others use the technology. Apple’s iCloud system will be used primarily with mobile devices (iPhone, iPad & iPod) to link program’s like the Calendar and Contacts together with the Mac. The App Store and iTunes will store everything downloaded in the cloud so that syncing devices together is a thing of the past.

Much like our own Media Lightbox service, iCloud will allow Apple users to use the service seamlessly on multiple devices at once. It’s interesting to see the direction Apple are taking iTunes as a program. By hosting music in the cloud, their service has taken a huge step in the direction of Spotify and how it works as a program. In theory the user is paying for the right to listen to a song and not necessarily downloading it. Perhaps it won’t be long until Apple introduce a subscription fee to listen to all music too.

The new iOS 5.0 was next on our agenda of interest and we were somewhat surprised to discover that it won’t be released until the fall/autumn which is likely to coincide with the new iPhone. New features will include a “Notification Center” which hosts all notification’s in one place at the top of page which can be swiped down onto the screen. This is very similar to how HTC phone’s currently operate and I found it interesting that it was set up so similarly.

Other features include iMessage which will allow Apple users to send messages to each other very much in same vain as Blackberry‘s very successful BBM service. A Reminder’s App will be introduced which will allow users to create lists and set dates for the tasks to be completed by. A “Newsstand” app to allow all your Magazine and Newspaper subscriptions to appear in one place, improved camera options, further photo editing options and an improved Safari service.

Interestingly enough, Twitter will be integrated right into the iOS, which has been viewed as a massive nod by Apple to Twitter seemingly announcing them as their official social network. With the introduction of iCloud, all mobile devices will be deemed PC Free and users will no longer have to connect to a main computer to sync or update.

The Lion OS X for Mac was announced and a starting price of $29.99 has been set which as a Mac user is very pleasing to see indeed. Key new features include a broader Multi-Touch experience, Full Screen Apps, Mission Control which will allow the user to navigate more freely between apps, a Launchpad as a better way to view all of your applications and a Resume feature which will allow you to restart your Mac and reopen your programs were you left off without having to start from scratch again.

It’s interesting to see both iCloud and iOS 5.0 announced so far in advance with both given a release date of some time in the fall/autumn. Undoubtedly the hype surrounding both will continue to grow at a frantic pace as users wait patiently for the services to become available.

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