June 6, 2011, San Francisco
At the annual developers’ conference of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs – CEO of the company announced the new software that would enable Mac computers to behave in a similar fashion as the mobile devices.
Jobs announced Lion- an OS (Operating System) update for Mac computers. With Lion, Apple is all set to expand the ways in which the software can be controlled using the ‘finger touches’. For example, swiping the fingers over the trackpad of Mac, user would be able to switch between programs.
In its endeavor of bringing iPhone/iPad and computers closer, Apple is accommodating most of its programs to run in special full screen mode, besides being able to run in traditional ‘window’ mode. The new software would be available from next month (July 2011) for just $30. Software developers could catch a glimpse of the software in its preview on Monday – the day when it was unveiled. Besides Lion, new iOS5 for the mobile hardware (iPods/iPad/iPhone) - was also announced.
Highlights of the Mobile OS of Apple
- A much improved notification system
- Complete Twitter integration with the Address Book and Camera app features
The new software would present a list of all pending notifications, which would be accessible with just a finger’s swipe.
iOS 5 would have a ‘news stand’ for magazines and newspapers that you subscribe to on iPad. Besides this, new issues would be downloaded & placed there automatically. Greater integration with Twitter was also announced to let you tweet photos.
iCloud, unveiled on the same day, lets customers share data among devices easily and comfortably. iCloud, which replaces MobileME – a “$99 a year” service, would be available for free for now, as per Jobs.
Information from multiple devices including iPads and iPhones can now be stored in an ICloud account. It will also be ensured that the same contacts, files, and calendar events are easily available on all of them. iCloud also backs-up the data on the servers of Apple. The iCloud mimics the Docs system of Google for online products and files from smaller online storage companies such as Dropbox. It is also expected that ICloud would let customers store music online. Users could be provided with an array of music for their iPads, iPhones, and Wi-Fi capable iPods, with no need to connect them to the PCs at home for transferring songs. Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. have also come up with similar services. iCloud features were also demonstrated on stage during the conference.