Top features, products unveiled at Apple’s WWDC 2013 [Video chat]
Apple has wrapped up its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, and per usual, the company announced a flurry of new products and service.
Join us here at 2:30 p.m. as we discuss Apple’s announcements. The company had a lot of new products to offer this year, including new operating systems and updated Mac computers. Here are the top ones.
iOS 7
Every year, Apple uses the WWDC to announces its next version of iOS, and this year the company completely overhauled the look of iOS. CEO Tim Cook called it the biggest change to the platform since the iPhone launched in 2007, and that’s not overhyping it.
The new iOS is the first to be designed by Jony Ive, the man responsible for the look of Apple’s hardware since the 1990s, and he delivered. IOS 7 features flat, simple design with a vast use of light and bright colors. A range of items, including the system’s lock screen and its music player, have been overhauled. IOS 7 will launch this fall.
Mac OS X Mavericks
Apple also introduced and demoed a new version of its laptop and desktop operating system. The new version, which will launch this fall, brings with it a flurry of new features that heavy users will appreciate, such as iCloud Keychain. That feature will store users’ passwords for all of their Internet accounts, and it will also suggest hard-to-crack passwords when they sign up for new services. Other notable features included improved multiple monitor features, tabbed browsing when using the Finder app, and slight improvements to the Safari Web browser.
Updated MacBook Air models
On the hardware side of things, Apple introduced new versions of its popular MacBook Air ultra-thin laptops. These machines, which are available for purchase now, come with improved battery life that Apple said will let them run all day.
American-made and redesigned Mac Pro
The Mac Pro has been Apple’s forgotten child for some time now, but that wasn’t the case Monday. Apple introduced a redesigned version of the heavy-duty computer that will launch later this year and be assembled in the U.S. The new machine looks like a small, black cylinder.
iTunes Radio
As expected, Apple introduced a music streaming service. The new service will be a feature found on all versions of iTunes, including iTunes for PC, and works very similarly to Pandora. Users can stream music from stations they create based on songs and artists they like. The service is free with ads or without ads if users pay for Apple’s iTunes matching service, which costs $25 per year.
iWork for iCloud
Apple also announced iWork for iCloud, a feature that will let users work on iWork files from within Web browsers. This feature, which will launch later this year, is part of Apple’s move toward making every thing cloud-friendly so that users can access their work from any machine. IWork for iCloud will work on Macs as well as PCs and allow users access as long as they use either Safari, Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.
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