There’s always going to be rumors surrounding these major Apple events, but this years World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) agenda was pretty straighforward. We knew from various sources that there was not going to be any new devices announced, but instead it was going to be a more software orientated event. So lets get to it, a quick rundown of what Apple said at today’s keynote WWDC 2011 address.
- There are 425,000 apps on the App Store; 90,000 iPad apps
- 130 million books have been downloaded from the iBookstore
- 15 billion songs have been sold from the iTunes Store
- Over 225 million iTunes accounts with credit card tied to them
- 14 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store over the last 3 years
- Apple has paid out over 2.5 billion to developers for apps created on the iOS platform
- 54 million active Macs in use; 73% Macbooks, 27% Mac desktops (iMacs, Mac Mini, etc)
- 200 million iOS devices sold; 25 million of them are iPads
- OSX Lion Announced; Sold only on Mac App Store for $29.99 and available in July
- OSX Lion gets significant overhaul; New features included gestures, full screen apps, and Mision Control
- OSX Lion also gets new Mail app
- iOs 5 Announced, available for iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G this fall
- iOS 5 is a HUGE update
- Top new iOS 5 features include: new notification system, native Twitter integration, Safari update, camera update, new iMessaging app, and PC Free updates.
- Apple to release new iNewstand app for the iPad in iOS 5
- New Game Center changes in iOS 5
- iCloud is the real deal
- iCloud to replace MobileMe
- iCloud will be a free service
- Daily backups of iOS devices over WiFi
- Backups include music, books, apps, camera roll, device settings, and app data
- All App Store purchases can be synced to iCloud and be shared for free on all iOS devices; No more multiple purchases of anything
- Photo Stream feature announced with iCloud
- Document in the Cloud announced with iWork; To compete with Google Docs
- New iTunes Match service announced; Will transfer all ripped music to 256 kpbs AAC DRM-free for a $24.99 yearly subscription
- iTunes + iCloud = ??
- And Steve Jobs looks good!
For an Apple event that didn’t have any new devices announced it was surely a busy day. iOS 5 is a major update, and I’m thoroughly impressed with it. From the looks of it the iPad just got harder to beat. The new iCloud service also look interesting. The backups and cloud storage is a big deal for iOS devices. We will just have to see over the next few months how all these new Apple announcements fair. Stay tuned to thetechjournal for continued Apple news.
