The 5 Biggest New Surprises From Apple
From unveiling the iCloud to rolling out a host of new changes for Apple's Mac and mobile operating systems Apple pulled no punches.
To take a look at the biggest announcements, features and upgrades from the WWDC 2011 keynote, check out our slideshow:
iCloud
Apple's cloud-based storage service, available Fall 2011, will provide a hub for iOS and Mac users to stash and access apps, documents, contacts, ebooks, purchased music and more. The product is free to use and aims to unify the user's digital life by letting her access cloud-stored content on any Apple device.
iTunes In The Cloud
Apple's iTunes catalog will live in the cloud as a faster alternative to uploading files. When a user transfers her music library to iCloud, Apple matches files to an existing iTunes file, rather than making the user upload files from her device. "We have 18 million songs in the music store. Our software will scan what you have, the stuff you've ripped, and figure out if there's a match," Jobs explained on Monday. "If you have to upload your whole library, that could take weeks. If we're scanning and matching, we don't have to upload them. They're in the cloud. It takes just minutes. Not weeks."
iTunes Match
Though Apple's iCloud offers fast and free storage for music purchased via iTunes, some users may want to store music files obtained outside of iTunes. Apple offers a $24.99 premium service that will let users store to iCloud an unlimited number of files that weren't purchased in iTunes.
Mac OS X Lion
Apple previewed the eighth release of its software for Mac laptops. This forthcoming iteration, called OS X Lion, aims to give laptop users a more iPad-like experience. Lion offers many new features, including more multi-touch gestures, full-screen apps, revamped Mail, auto-save, an auto-resume feature that picks up where you left off in your apps, a Mission Control panel that lets you view all your open programs, and AirDrop for sharing files with other users on the same WiFi network.
OS X Lion will be available from the Mac App Store for $29 in July 2011.
iOS 5
Apple also revamped its mobile operating system. Some of the biggest new features include a notifications overhaul, over-the-air updates, Twitter integration, tabbed web browsing, location-aware reminders, and one-touch webcam access. iOS 5 will roll out Fall 2011 to iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 1, iPad 2, third-generation iPod Touch and fourth-generation iPod Touch.
Source:huffingtonpost
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