It’s a busy, busy week for all geeks with WWDC and E3 going on at the same time! For me, being the iPhone fan that I am, I have been most looking forward to the reveal of iOS 5 and I must say, for the first time in a long time I am very pleased with all the improvements Apple is bringing to the table with their mobile operating system.
During the Apple keynote at WWDC 2011 Steve Jobs and company took to the stage to reveal iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. While according to them this new iteration contains over 200 new features, the major ones were highlighted which you can find below. iOS 5 will be coming this Fall and will be supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS (surprisingly!), iPad, iPad 2, 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch.
What’s New In iOS 5 (Highlights):
Notifications – Thank God Almighty! If there was one thing that has always been severely lacking on the iPhone it’s the notification system. It’s too intrusive, doesn’t queue your notifications, and just plain isn’t intuitive. Now, taking a note from Android you can swipe down on the status bar to see a full listing of notifications and can even access them from your lock screen! This was the feature I was most hoping for for iOS 5 and Apple certainly delivered. In my opinion this has been one of the most lacking features on iOS to date and now it had made a giant step forward.
Twitter – There have been some rumors over the last week that there will be “deep intigration” of Twitter into this new iOS. There is definitely some system integration here, but perhaps a little less than what many were expecting. You’ll now be able to do things like upload photos to Twitter straight from you camera roll as opposed to using a third-party app.
iOS Messaging Service (iMessage) – Think Blackberry Messenger (BBM) for iOS. This native messaging service will allow all iOS users to message, share photos, etc. regardless of what iOS device they have. Now you will be able to use your iPhone to message your buddy who is chilling in front of his TV surfing the web on his iPad – all on an integrated messaging service. Will work over Wi-Fi and 3G.
Camera – Remember that really lame commercial for the Windows phone with the skydivers taking pictures as they plummet from the plane? They were toting that the Windows phone could access its camera than “let’s just say . . .” the iPhone. Which was true to a point. To get to the camera on the iPhone you have to unlock the device, navigate to the camera app, and then take a picture. Sure, it was “slower” than some phone’s quick access to the camera, but it wasn’t terribly intrusive. But there are those moments when you need to be Johnny On the Spot with picture taking and iOS 5 will now help out with that. When the phone is locked, double tapping the Home Button will now bring up the camera ready to go – without ever having to unlock the phone. It’s fast, improved, and now also features some limited editing like red-eye reduction! I don’t think many saw an update coming for the iPhone’s camera, but it is certainly a welcome one!
Over the Air Updates – No longer will you have to plug in the phone to update your iOS device! Updates will now be pushed to your phone, right over the air like magic! Clearly, Apple has hired a Wizard of some sorts . . . or have finally caught up to some of the more nuanced features of competitor phones!
This is a very limited list of what iOS 5 is bringing to the table this Fall when it launched – essentially my favorite things revealed about the update. Also included in iOS 5 will be:
-Newsstand – Now you will be able to access all of your online magazine and newspaper subscriptions from one place.
-Safari – Introduced Safari Reader which will bring web content to once easy to view page which will then allow you to e-mail it or Tweet about it. Also features tabbed browsing on the iPad.
-Reminders – All of those Task Apps in the app store may now have some competition in the way of a native reminder system right in iOS that syncs with your iCal.
-Mail – The Mail app will now feature full text searches, support Rich Text Formatting, and a new “split” keyboard for easier landscape typing.
-Game Center – Will now support full gamer profiles with photos, achievement comparison with friends, and turn-based game support (think Words with Friends) built right into iOS.
Of course, iOS 5 will be greatly integrated with iCloud, Apple’s new cloud-based service (which was just announced to be completely replacing MobileMe!)! Check back to BSR later today for a full rundown of iCloud, the services it will offer!
UPDATE 1:45pm MT:
Some additional “minor” iOS 5 features that were mentioned include:
-Ability to set seperate tones for Voicemail, Mail, and Calendar Alerts
-New music app for iPad
-Option to speak text selections
-Built-in dictionary
-Built in Emoji emoticons
-Alternate Route capabilities in Google Maps
Also, Apple.com has posted official video of the iOS 5 features, you can check it out here!
(Sources: Engadget, tipb, TUAW)