Monday, June 11, 2012

Big Annoucements From Apple at This Morning's WWDC


Once a year, Apple throws a huge week-long shindig for all of it's developers called WWDC or the World-Wide Devleopers Conference. But it's special: you can't just show up for this coveted event, oh, no! Qualified developers first have to fork over $2000 just to get a ticket for the week-long event. And this year, that was hard: all 5,000 tickets sold out in about two hours. Even then, the truly excited developers wait outside of the Moscone Center the night before, in order to get one of the best seats in the house. Why? Because the first morning of every WWDC is the keynote address: the time when Apple makes big announcements about it's hardware and software. This morning was no different and the announcements did not disappoint.  
The New Hardware Annoucements:
  1. New Macbook Airs were announced with more RAM, faster processors and larger SSD drives. This is great news for folks who like to travel very light but still want a lot of power on the go.
  2. The existing line of new Macbook Pros were also upgraded to include better processors, graphics, thunderbolt connectivity and hi-def facetime cameras.
  3. But the really big news was the announcement of all NEW Macbook Pros: now - like the Macbook Airs - thinner, faster, withe support bor both usb 2 & 3, thunderbolt, and a gorgeous new retina display.
  4. The new generation Macbook Pros and Macbook Airs will also come with a new feature called: "power nap" which will allow them to continue downloading email, app store updates, software updates and time capsule back-ups while the mac is "asleep".  
The New iOS Announcements:
Apple also announced iOS 6, the UNIX-based operating system that goes on every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And the upcoming changes in iOS 6 are many. The highlights?
  1. Integration with Facebook throughout the OS
  2. Incredible new 3D maps, and turn-by-turn directions when you're using the Maps to travel
  3. New functionality for Siri so you can post to Facebook, check sports scores and OPEN APPS FOR YOU. Siri will also now work on iPads.
  4. Passbook - a feature that will store all of your coupons and tickets and is location based. 
  5. And even an initiative to work with various car companies to get Siri to work better in your car. 
The new Desktop Operating System:
About every 18 months, Apple releases a new operating system or OS. This time around, the new OS - Mountain Lion - will be faster, cheaper and include some of the best features of iOS6 built right into it:
  1. iMessages - an application that will allow you to send/receive messages from any Mac to any iOS device
  2. Dictation - Now you can talk to your Mac (like Siri) and it will dictate what you say into text.
  3. Safari - now includes "tab view" and a unified bar for both your searches and URL's (like Chrome)
  4. Facebook - now integrated throughout the OS
All in all, it's been an incredible day of annoucements. If you're like me (and some of you are), you'll probably want to watch the keynote yourself and see how Apple still makes for great theatre. Have a look for yourself by clicking here. And tell you what: if you don't like the first five minutes of the video, I'll refund your money!

What Wasn't Said; What Was Clearly Demonstrated

There's one major take away as I watch this morning's Apple WWDC keynote and it has nothing to do with the new hardware announced. It has nothing to do with the new software announced. And it has nothing to do with the statistics that got announced.

It is, in fact, the one thing that no one has announced (and I'm still watching Scott "I'm Dweebier Than You Are" Forstall), but it's this: Apple without Steve Jobs is going to be JUST FINE.

They still know how to deliver hardware, software and integrated solutions. They still know how to compete against their biggest rivals. They still know how to raise the bar on what's possible. They still know how to build excitement and deliver a knock out punch with cool features that people want and want to love.

And, if nothing else, today's keynote was a strong a statement as you can imagine hearing from the mothership in Cupertino: Apple is still working to be at the top of the game and succeeding. And, the company that Steve Jobs built has, without question, inherited his DNA and his formula for surviving, thriving and mesmerizing.

Life after Steve.... I do believe it's going to continue to be a lovely ride.