Apple

iWin: how Apple became the accidental king of mobile gaming

Craig Grannell — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:52:08 +0000

We talk to the people behind the gaming greats of iOS, to find out how Apple managed to beat Sony and Nintendo at their own game

By Craig Grannell

Apple doesn't attend E3, and in the late 1990s its idea of a games machine was legendary disaster the Apple Bandai Pippin.

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The full package

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Take a step back and Apple's gaming success was far from assured, with the company initially oblivious to its platform's potential. 'Apple simply didn't realise it had the hottest gaming device on the planet,' thinks Timo Vihola, creative director at Mountain Sheep, noting the App Store still lists games as just one of many app categories, despite games accounting for a disproportionate amount of revenue.

The iPhone, though, had delivered what many long hoped for in mobile gaming: a powerful device boasting a truly intuitive interface, a huge audience and a straightforward storefront. 'People had experienced each in isolation – the PSP's power; Nokia's popularity; iTunes purchases – but the iPhone brought everything together,' says Vihola. For Chris Southall, Sega Europe CTO, the storefront was key: 'iTunes changed how people buy music, and the App Store similarly transformed how people access apps.' Developers note although this seems obvious now, it wasn't at the time. 'Now we've similar offerings from Google, Microsoft and Amazon, it's easy to forget the App Store was initially groundbreaking,' says indie developer Kevin Ng.

This worldwide distribution network combined with other factors to create what Noodlecake COO Ryan Holowaty calls a 'perfect storm' for game developers: 'We also got affordable developer licences, usable development tools, and the ability to self-publish. With mobile games being bite-sized, the iPhone became the perfect platform for aspiring developers to experiment and try out creations relatively risk-free.'

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Apple – the new open?

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With Apple regularly accused of building walled gardens, it's strange to realise that wasn't the case with gaming. 'The tiny step between ordering your SDK and starting development made traditional consoles look ridiculous by comparison,' maintains Simogo co-founder Simon Flesser. 'That every iPhone was really a dev kit also played a significant role.' Letterpress developer Loren Brichter offers similar memories: 'I recall trying to buy a Wii developer kit because I thought it'd be fun to make a game. I was even happy to pay the thousands of dollars it cost, but Nintendo wouldn't allow it because I worked from home, not an office!' When the App Store arrived, Brichter recalls the fact you could write from anywhere with 'free tools, a trivial developer fee, and the minutia of distribution handled for you, unleashed a tidal wave of creative energy' and 'things could exist that couldn't before'.

Veteran designer Ste Pickford reckons industry leaders had long been entrenched in damaging practices: 'Gaming became infected at an early stage in its history by the horrible idea of exclusivity – strict limits on who was allowed to make games and vetting what was allowed to be released.' While this made sense in the 1980s, gatekeepers are today an anachronism, and yet major players on all other platforms 'still had this old-fashioned idea of a curated range of games made by pre-approved developers'. With Apple arriving from outside the games industry, and ostensibly not really getting it, rules were instead borrowed from its approach to music, movies and books, where anyone can make and distribute a product – so long as Apple got its cut. It's a more mature approach,' thinks Pickford, 'and Apple's open, relatively un-curated App Store arrived as triple-A console development was imploding, leading to hundreds of devs scrambling to find an outlet for their work that wasn't dependent on big conservative publishers only looking for certain types of games. iOS became the only platform new indies could realistically target'.

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Access all areas

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Apple's approach to gaming admittedly led to a glut of shovelware, but the flip-side was many higher-quality games showcasing a level of creativity, innovation and experimentation not seen since the days of 8-bit machines. This happened in part because individuals and small teams could do whatever they wanted, without pressure from focus groups, 'industry norms' and publishers. 'Being in central Canada, our options were limited when pursuing a career in games development, but the iPhone changed all that. It wasn't that Apple opened a door, but it created one that simply wasn't there before,' enthuses Holowaty, who adds Noodlecake probably wouldn't exist at all if it wasn't for Apple. Additionally, a lack of traditional controls (iOS devices have multitouch and can sense positioning in space) forced developers to rethink how people interacted with games. Controls suddenly had to be intuitive, rather than mapped to controllers familiar to hardcore gamers but impenetrable to the public at large.

Small, focussed titles thrived. 'Games like Doodle Jump and Super Hexagon may not have been valued by traditionally cautious games publishers, but they found their audience on iOS,' says Ng. Importantly, they were also allowed to stay small, as Pickford explains: 'Titles succeeded that didn't make sense in the videogame world imagined by the likes of Nintendo and Activision. Angry Birds would have been padded out with a long story, cut scenes and voiceovers, a campaign mode and multiplayer, alongside the game originally envisioned, just to get concept approval. The immediacy and simplicity that made it work would have been lost.' Instead, as Southall says, Apple, 'whether accidentally or deliberately, facilitated a very creative environment that gave rise to many quirky and interesting titles that could also be commercially successful'.

Once Apple saw money rolling in, it slowly began to acknowledge games, featuring them in prime positions on the App Store. Developers are typically unimpressed with such efforts, but interactive artist Zach Gage counters: 'Every week, Apple shows off a bunch of games that appeal to large demographics and a few that push the boundaries a bit. It's not showing as many wildly experimental products as I'd like, but Apple has a good track record of understanding its audience and encouraging people to try new things, in a manner that doesn't overwhelm.'

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Think different

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Despite iOS gaming flourishing, there are arguments Apple should take a more traditional approach, offering 'standard' controllers, vetting games to keep garbage out of the App Store, and turning the Apple TV into a games console. 'People saying all that stuff don't understand how Apple works or why the company's historically been successful,' asserts Gage. He explains Apple doesn't take advantage of every revenue stream it could be in, instead 'engaging in certain areas in which it can tell a story'. For iOS, this means 'leaving your living room and laptop behind, and having a powerful experience on a device all about touch, convenience, simplicity, and accessibility'.

Targeting the 'big three' in gaming would, according to games developers, have killed Apple's prospects in the industry stone dead. 'Apple succeeded through stepping away from the traditional console space and into new territory, not going toe-to-toe with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo,' believes Ng. 'That's what Apple's done in every market it's entered, and unless there's a fundamental shift in the company's founding principles, it won't suddenly switch to a me-too approach.' Flesser agrees: 'When a company's chasing after a public by doing what is expected of it, it fails. Apple must continue to surprise with new, fun and exciting input methods rather than a 'traditional' route.'

Game Bakers creative director Emeric Thoa adds that those clamouring for Apple to be more traditional in gaming misunderstand the current state of play within the industry: 'Apple's making money because loads of people make quality content for its platform. Apple's only concern is selling more devices. It's Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft trying to get Apple's share now, not the reverse.'

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App to the future

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Where Apple heads now remains to be seen, but aspects of its ecosystem need addressing. Southall shares many developers' concerns that the recent rise of free-to-play will result in a race-to-the-bottom where it 'won't be financially viable to make games'. He worries indies will be priced out of a market increasingly reliant on advertising to get noticed: 'Apple must continue to innovate to allow small developers to flourish, retaining that key strength in how content arrived on iOS'. (Thoa agrees with both points, saying they'd improve games, but wryly adds: 'It's not where I think Apple's priorities will be.)

Holowaty reckons the Xbox One reveal's emphasis on apps and media was tacit acknowledgement of the Apple living-room threat, but hopes Apple will eschew the safe route for 'something I didn't even know I wanted, like the original iPhone'. Gage concurs: 'Lots of people want the Apple TV to move into the game space, but it's hard to see how Apple could continue telling its story by doing so.' Turning the Apple TV into a more 'standard' console would mean iOS devices were 'no longer the centre of the ecosystem, and, worse, would have to share that ecosystem with devices that aren't touch-sensitive. That sounds like a mess'.

Beyond a tantalising reference to an API for third-party game controllers at WWDC 2013, there were no suggestions Apple would enter traditional gaming. Indeed, perhaps the reverse is likelier, with rivals learning from Apple. Pickford considers the App Store as having been great for games in allowing open access to an audience, but Apple 'could create a healthier ecosystem by spreading awareness around a bit, giving less prominence to already successful games'. That it won't is in part down to the company not really caring about games other than as revenue generators and content for selling hardware. He therefore hopes the existence of the App Store 'jogs Sony, Nintendo or Valve – I've given up on Microsoft – into modifying their business models to become more open and inclusive'. This, he believes, could finally result in that 'perfect environment' for developers and gamers, and he reckons games 'deserve a platform run by a company that cares about videogames as a medium – and that's never going to be Apple'. In this regard, then, Apple could stand to change, lest it lose its accidental crown and be dethroned through an entirely avoidable cause.

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How Apple won the game

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We find out why the iPhone is "the hottest gaming device on the planet"

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Apple iPhone 5S display innards leak, screen size remains the same

Esat Dedezade — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:25:31 +0000

Apple's next iPhone has had its guts leaked online. Again. Let's take a look, shall we?

The iPhone 5S (or iPhone 6 if you prefer) has had its display assembley leaked online, showing off the same 4in screen size as the iPhone 5.

Aside from that, there are plenty of circuits and components to get you hot under the collar. If you're into that sort of thing.

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Esat Dedezade

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Circuit city

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According to Mac Rumours, the leaked screen assembly's top flex cables match up nicely with the connectors at the top of a previously leaked logic board, suggesting that this latest iPhone 5S part leak is genuine.

It all points to a new iPhone that'll look more or less identical to the current iPhone 5, but with souped-up innards – suggesting that we can expect an iPhone 5S rather than an iPhone 6. Oh rumour mill, you do tease us so.

[via Mac Rumours]

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iOS 7 on iPad screenshots leak

Luke Edwards — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:33:54 +0000

Want a peek at Jony Ive’s latest and greatest version of Apple's mobile OS in all its over-sized iPad glory?

iOS 7 hasn’t even been released to the general public on iPhone yet, but the iPad version has appeared online courtesy of Sonny Dickson.

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Luke Edwards

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Bigger and better?

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Sure, we hear you say, that looks about right. But the screenshots have offered a few revelations. iOS 7's iPad Notification Center now takes up the whole screen, like its iPhone brother. Conversely the new Control Center only takes up a small section of the screen – despite gobbling half of the display on the iPhone version. Other changes include sparser Maps, Contacts, Spotlight search, and Settings.

The Verge points out that the flashlight control appears in the Control Center – suggesting that this is just a developer version of the iPad iOS 7 software that simply stretches the iPhone version to fit the iPad's screen. Either way it looks good – well, it does if you like iOS 7 – and you can expect to see it for real soon.

[Sonny Dickson via The Verge]

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iOS 7: bold new direction or flat fashion victim?

Craig Grannell — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:38:38 +0000

We ask a gaggle of experts whether the design of Apple’s mobile OS really is rotten

By Craig Grannell

Apple's radical new direction for iOS amazed, confounded and annoyed the tech community in almost equal measure.

Every detail of the six-year-old OS' aesthetics and interaction has been overhauled. Initial responses have been mixed and frequently subjective, but people often react poorly to change. So, what's the truth? Are the major criticisms just knee-jerk noise, or is Apple about to release a mobile dud? Stuff goes in search of expert opinion to find out…

What Hi-Fi? review URL:

Apple didn’t innovate: it stole from Windows Phone and Android!

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Criticism #1: Apple stole from Windows Phone and Android!

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Microsoft and Google both championed flat design, so it’s natural to assume that Apple's newly simplified, skeuomorphism-free interface ripped them off. On Twitter, technology industry analyst and consultant Matt Baxter-Reynolds counters: “Metro always looks basically amateur—like its appeal is to strip away a requirement to design beautifully. iOS 7 is not that.” Among others, developer Matt Gemmell argues that “iOS 7 isn’t flat,” instead offering subtle depth that becomes apparent during use.

Nonetheless, Adobe Senior product manager Alex Morris tells Stuff that “Apple has reacted to competitors, which is odd for a company that leads from the front”. He wonders if the company had lacked clear design goals to identify problems it was going to solve.

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Criticism #2: The iOS 7 icons are awful!

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Apple’s app icons in iOS 7 have been widely dismissed as gaudy and amateurish. Morris asks why “no arbiter of taste had taken a step back”, although the colours aren't a concern: “It’s great to have a strong visual identity for a button, because that’s how you scan around and process things on your Home screen”.

Ramotion CEO Denis Pakhaliuk thinks that execution is the bigger problem: “The icons need to be vastly improved. Even an icon with a simple metaphor must be executed cleanly to be easily recognisable. Newsstand doesn’t achieve this, and Game Center doesn’t even share the ‘flat’ style of the other icons.” However, in a comment to Network World, creator of the original (and superb) Mac icons Susan Kare says that iOS 7’s show “a good direction” that was “more iconic, less illustrative”.

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Criticism #3: The colours are gaudy!

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In a post on iOS 7, Gemmell dismisses concern about the iOS 7 colour palette. He argues that coverage has been “disproportionally focusing on the Home screen […] but the reality of day-to-day usage is that you’ll spend time in apps”. There, he argues, iOS succeeds, with a lighter colour scheme and great use of white space. He's fashioned a grid of iOS grabs and pixelated them; iOS 6 appears a murky mess, but the “paper-like, bright style” of iOS 7 has no such problem.

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Criticism #4: Text is used for buttons, so you can’t tell what to tap!

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Apple’s eradication of interface chrome is, according to Morris, flawed: “Android and Windows Phone use background colours to give you a frame of reference, but Apple’s using bare text. This is problematic, because separating actionable buttons from content is difficult visually.” Apple using one typeface and relying on colour was a poor decision, he adds, but also padding isn’t often considered – making it tough to trigger actions.

Speaking to Stuff, Gemmell counters: “This topic is a subset of the over-cautious response to change. Almost no popular iOS apps use stock UI in the first place, and we’ve been doing without explicit button borders for quite some time.” He also dismisses our query regarding colour-only action buttons potentially affecting colour-blind users: “To remain accessible, an interface using colour to indicate interactive areas must ensure visual contrast is preserved, even if the user can’t properly distinguish between shades. iOS 7 uses a single ‘active colour’ per app, against a white background. Text tends to be monochromatic black or grey, and tappable areas use a unified highlight colour. The key point isn’t specific shades of colour, but rather contrast from inactive elements, which is retained.”

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Criticism #5: The typography is terrible!

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Throughout iOS 7, Helvetica Neue Light is king, and designers aren’t thrilled. Khoi Vinh says it should only really be a 'display' typeface, for headings. On Twitter, typographer and designer Erik Spiekermann wishes that someone at Apple “knew that very light fonts are too contrasty to read on displays” and “how difficult Helvetica Light is to read”. Apple provides a means to ‘enhance legibility’ in Settings, but Spiekermann thinks that merely proves his point.

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Criticism #6: Removing shadows makes iOS harder to use!

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Home screen icon text in iOS 7 lacks shadows, and shadows are broadly missing elsewhere. Senior digital creative Daniel Bruce says that he isn’t concerned: “You can solve the problem of details not standing out enough in many other ways than solely with shadows, and so the lack of them isn’t a problem in itself.” He adds that Apple just needs to ensure it retains the “right interplay between the elements of design,” such as colours, contrast and white space.

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Criticism #7: Translucency makes the system more opaque!

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Wags are happily noting that Windows Vista was heavily criticised for its translucent elements, and now iOS 7 has plenty, including dialogs. But Quora product designer David Cole has argued that this aspect of iOS 7 is “pretty significant,” due to “underscoring the fact that your app is right there waiting for you behind whatever it is you’re doing” – thereby ensuring people don’t lose their sense of place. However, there are issues of clarity and usability that certainly do need addressing, not least when the blur effect makes items on the layer above impossible to discern.

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Criticism #8: iOS 7 is counterintuitive!

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Sebastian Kacperski, Creative Lead at Airnauts, wonders whether Apple’s followed the rule of ‘social proof’ — that people in an uncertain situation “are more likely to follow well-known patterns”. He criticised the iOS 7 lock screen, which retains the old swipe-to-unlock gesture but has an upwards arrow nearby (for the new Control Center): “Who put that arrow so nearby? It’s a well-known law of proximity that people group objects near to each other. This and similar changes will make the learning curve in iOS 7 much longer.”

Morris agrees: “My little girl’s grown up with iOS devices, but got stuck swiping upwards on the lock screen, and when she finally got through that she didn’t recognise anything. I’ve also had issues with actions like the now-reversed delete-to-swipe in Mail. But no-one’s talking about why Apple felt the need to napalm the legacy of the previous OS. Looking at it from a user’s perspective, it doesn’t feel like Apple’s solving many problems, but has just thrown out the baby with the bathwater.”

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Where does Apple go from here?

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Not everyone is unhappy with Apple’s drastic changes. Developer Marco Arment says that Apple ‘setting fire’ to iOS will benefit a platform that’s become dependent on stale players, and Mule Design’s Mike Monteiro, talking to GigaOM, notes that the new OS “opens up all manner of possibilities” and is a “fresh start” that could “grow and extend”.

But what of the problems outlined above? As per their responses to iOS 7, designers are divided. “It’s fashionable these days to say we should push out stuff early and iterate, but you need to start from a good place, and Apple doesn’t seem to have done that,” says Morris, adding that he’d be disappointed if iOS 7 doesn’t see big changes before release. But Pakhaliuk has a different take: “I know it’s extremely difficult to redesign everything in mere months and I believe Apple will improve everything over time. As Jony Ive said, Apple sees iOS 7 as defining an important new direction and in many ways a beginning.”

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iOS 7: The experts' verdict

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A bold new direction for Apple – or a flat fashion victim?

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Indoor sat-nav, physical gamepads and killer new apps: iOS 7's secret brilliance

Will Findlater — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:34:13 +0000

iOS 7's most disruptive new features have slipped under the radar – here's proof that Apple's not done innovating yet

Stop staring at iOS 7's icons and tear yourself away from the painfully funny (and occasionally astute) Jony Ive Redesigns Things: it's the underlying changes to the OS that matter, not the aesthetic tweaks. And tucked away in the depths of Apple's WWDC keynote are the improvements that prove Cupertino's setting the agenda once again.

Byline:

Will Findlater

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iBeacons: indoor navigation will make Apple Maps matter

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The mysterious new iBeacons developer feature appears to herald Apple's foray into indoor navigation, a move rumoured for some time – particularly since it picked up indoor nav firm WifiSLAM earlier this year.

According to Mio Nilsson, senior developer at ustwo (makers of Rando and Whale Trail), "As far as I understand it [iBeacons are] Bluetooth devices you can put indoors to enable more granular (accurate) geofencing and give the opportunity to have micro location tracking. This means you could track a device with much smaller margins than GPS provides, and also where GPS is not available.

"This could for example be used for providing services that are only available at a specific location – for example within a shop – and could enhance the experience in the shop by, say, providing extra information about the product you're standing in front of."

Although not quite as mind-blowing as inertia-based indoor-nav systems such as Navisens, Apple has the scale to make iBeacons happen – and if venues begin to install the technology, we could see an explosion of venue-specific apps from shops, galleries and other public places. The data on particularly popular destinations could even be built into Apple Maps. It's certainly a technology to watch.

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Game Controller API: iOS 7 + Apple TV = your new console

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All it got in the keynote was the briefest of slide mentions, but the new Game Controller API makes iOS devices more compelling games machines than ever (and makes it even dafter that WWDC always clashes with E3).

Gary Riches of Bouncing Ball (responsible for excellent retro platformer Aztec Antics) explains: "The Game Controller API means that all controllers that are "made for iPhone" accredited will be of a certain specification and always work with games that use the new API." So, around 'fall' this year, we can expect a proliferation of 'made for iPhone' joypads to complement the hacky ones that already exist, and possibly an official design from Apple itself.

Even more interesting is how the Game Controller API could affect the living room. Gary says, "Coupled with AirPlay on Apple TV, it means Apple will potentially have 13 million [the number of Apple TVs sold so far] games machines in the home. All you need is an iOS Device and controller."

Bad news for Ouya and GameStick – and it should even give Sony and Microsoft pause for thought. What makes it especially compelling is that it's now theoretically easier to develop quality games for iOS: 7's 'UI Dynamics' framework means all those fancy transitions and gravity effects you saw in the WWDC keynote video – the bits that make iOS feel 'fluid and organic', according to Nik Fletcher of Realmac Software – can be added to apps by developers who don't have a degree in physics.

Mio Nilsson says, "If Apple is serious about this, it will considerably lower the learning-curve for getting into making games. They've opened our eyes to what can be achieved with minimum effort." Gary Riches concurs: "I think with UI Dynamics and Sprite Kit you're going to see much better quality games on iOS from smaller teams."

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Multitasking: the end of default apps?

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iOS 7's multitasking is more game-leveller than game-changer. For one thing, it's not 'real' multitasking (in which apps keep on doing their thing in the background, as they do on Android); instead it uses invisible push notifications to tell apps they have fresh data to download. But iOS 7's implementation will make new genres of app possible, and could even melt Apple's iron grip on default apps.

For Zach Gage, creator of smash-hit word game SpellTower, it's a huge deal. "There are so many possibilities! There are some great third-party email apps that never could be used because they didn't have background updating, but the fact that it can happen now in the background is a whole new territory for everyone.

"You could even have games that use dynamic-updating GPS: real-world travel when you're not playing the game could count towards in-game progress."

And according to Alex Fish os Ustwo, there should be obvious performance improvements besides. "The whole experience of using your iPhone is going to be so much snappier. You won't have to wait ages watching the spinner while the app gets data: it'll already be there." Gary Riches adds "iOS 7 will learn that I open Twitter every morning and start giving the app background access just before I wake. Twitter will then download all the latest tweets ready for when I get up."

So even if iOS 7's new look leaves you feeling flat, it's given developers a whole new box of toys to play with. As Phil Schiller succinctly put it, "Can't innovate anymore, my ass."

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Ashton Kutcher’s Steve Jobs biopic finally gets release date

Sam Kieldsen — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:21:37 +0000

Jobs, originally slated for an April arrival in cinemas, will now hit US screens in August

It’s the news we’ve all been waiting to hear! The Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, has been given a release date at long last. Jobs, having thankfully ditched its original title of “jOBS”, will arrive in the US on 16th August.

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Sam Kieldsen

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iTunes Radio will be huge, whether you like it or not

Will Findlater — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:57:56 +0000

Will Findlater struggles to get excited about yet another streaming web radio service – but that won't stop Apple's iTunes Radio from being a runaway success

Normal people aren't into tech launches. Most don't hang on Tim Cook's every word. Most didn't stay up until 2am to get a first glimpse of the PS4.

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Will Findlater

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Nothing new

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Some time ago I worked on a feature about Pandora, a US-based service that iTunes Radio looks strikingly similar to. I remember telling it that my ZIP code was 90210 in a bid to get it to work in the UK. I was amazed that you could get decent music, for free, that I wanted to listen to.

And I remember that this felt thrilling and new – in 2005.

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Music for the masses

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That's why to me a streaming radio service that fashions itself around your musical proclivities already seems old in 2013. iTunes Radio isn't a revolutionary new service designed to change the way we consume media: it's Apple's take on a proven model. Longtime rival Google has already announced its own streaming music offering, Google Play Music All Access, which creates playlists based on what you're listening to and recommends tracks using your friends' G+ feeds. And Nokia's Jyrki Rosenberg even made the faintly ludicrous assertion that Apple's playing catch-up.

The thing is, what the likes of you and me think doesn't matter. iTunes Radio isn't intended as a standard bearer for a new wave of Apple innovation; it's a smart tool to market iTunes downloads to the masses. Because, as a radio service, it won't play you the exact song you want to listen to; it plays you stuff that's similar, using all the data that Apple has harvested about your listening habits to fill your ears with tunes that you're statistically likely to enjoy. Then it makes it very easy to buy those new songs.

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Audience participation

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This is a shrewd move. For all the tech world's bellyaching about iTunes being left behind by more innovative services such as Spotify – that downloads are dead, and streaming is the new black – it's mostly just noise from guys like me who long to see something they haven't before.

Numbers explain why Apple has taken this route: the US-only Pandora claims 200 million users across mobile and desktop. The five-year-old Spotify is international, spanning 28 countries including the USA, and an audience potentially much larger - but has a relatively paltry 24 million active users in total, and only 6 million of the paying variety. When it's launched outside of the USA, iTunes Radio has a potential iOS audience of over 500 million, and much more besides on desktop computers.

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Fresh Apples

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All this suggests that the majority of people really like personalised streaming radio – more even than choose-your-own-tunes services like Spotify. And now, Apple has a platform to deliver it. Even if it fails to convert radio-listening into tune-buying, thanks to its ad-funded model it has the potential to be a resounding success.

This may not be tremendously exciting for the likes of you and me, and it's pretty sad for the likes of Pandora. But it's strategically savvy, and it's going to make pots of cash. Classic Apple.

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Apple’s new wallpaper suggests Retina display iMacs coming soon

Sam Kieldsen — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:07:32 +0000

OS X Mavericks’ blue and green wave image is exactly four times the resolution of the current 27in iMac screen – why?

If you followed yesterday’s OS X Mavericks announcement, you’ll no doubt have noticed that Apple showed off a brand new default wallpaper: a blue and green ocean wave, clearly inspired by Mavericks’ surfer bay naming roots.

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Sam Kieldsen

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Hands-off with the Apple Mac Pro

Will Findlater — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:50:52 +0000

We get tantalisingly close to one of Apple's super cylinders, only to be foiled by security glass

No doubt you've already read about the insane power of redesigned Mac Pro, the cylindrical desktop PC that's giving video editors and image manipulators palpitations right now.

Byline:

Will Findlater

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Insider view

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We got the chance to see it in the flesh. Well, nearly. It was in a security glass tube, flanked by an security woman (not glass) who was paranoid about fingerprints. Fortunately, she did let us take a couple of photos.

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Size is everything

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The new Mac Pro is incredibly small. If you took a Coke can and scaled every dimension by 250%, that would probably be about right. And like a Coke can, that distinctive iridium-finished tube casing is made of aluminium, as you can see where its top edge has been chamfered.

It's as much of a work of art on the inside. The unique arrangements of components around a central cooling system is beautiful in its complexity, and even the bits you'll never see - the bolts and internal bracing - are finished immaculately.

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Locked up

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On the downside, this isn't something you'll be digging around inside with a screwdriver: the only components it's likely to be possible to upgrade are memory and storage.

And that, as they say, is that. Until the Mac Pro is released 'later this year', we'll have to take Apple's word for how capable it is; if it's as mighty as they say, it's an incredible feat to fit so much power into such a tiny tube.

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Apple can’t resist dissing Google at every turn

Sam Kieldsen — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:09:14 +0000

Making Bing Siri’s new search engine is just the latest in a long line of calculated snubs from Cupertino

Apple seems awfully keen to distance itself from Google every chance it gets. At today’s WWDC unveiling of iOS 7, one thing about the improved Siri caused a ripple of amusement among attendees: its integrated search uses Microsoft’s Bing rather than the de facto king of “finding things on the Internet”, Google.

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Sam Kieldsen

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New Apple Mac Pro is insanely powerful and looks insane too

Sam Kieldsen — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:07:45 +0000

Apple’s forthcoming professional desktop offers a radical cylindrical design and lots of expandability

Designers, developers, photographers and filmmakers have been waiting a long time for a new Mac Pro – and today they were given an early look at the next one, which will be launched later in the year.

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Sam Kieldsen

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Apple launches iTunes Radio for iOS 7 and Apple TV

Stephen Graves — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:55:51 +0000

Free, ad-supported streaming music service recommends tracks and creates custom stations, Pandora-style

Apple has announced its streaming music service, iTunes Radio, at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco.

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Stephen Graves

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Apple's iOS 7 hits the road with Siri in the driving seat

Sophie Charara — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:50:20 +0000

Apple's shiny new mobile OS won't just give your iPhone a lick of fluoro paint, it's got your motor's displays in its sights for 2014

This isn't just another mobile Car mode, with simplified apps, as seen on the likes of the HTC One. Apple is actually invading your car's built-in screens with its latest mobile OS, iOS 7.

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Sophie Charara

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Hit the road, Jack

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Announced by senior vice president Eddy Cue at Apple's WWDC 2013 keynote and set to roll out in 2014, iOS In The Car has already – unsurprisingly enough – made plenty of friends in the automotive industry. Car manufacturers jumping up and down shrieking 'Pick me! Pick me!' include Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Nissan, Volvo, Kia, Hyundai and Ferrari.

It's not clear yet whether this compatibility will be for new models only or if millions of iPhone wielding drivers could soon be seeing the new feature-packed iOS 7 on their dashboards. But it looks like "integrated automobiles" will be on their way next year meaning an expensive auto upgrade to get the full experience.

iOS In The Car features rely heavily on Siri to avoid iOS shooting straight to the top of accident causes around the world. For instance, before long Apple's voice assistant could be reading out your iMessages and letting you dictate your responses.

There's also a new in-car interface with big phone, music, maps and messaging buttons. With Siri onboard, you can say 'Play Get Lucky' (or other trendy music tracks) to navigate your iTunes while you're cruisin'.

Find out everything you need to know about iOS 7's new features

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Apple iOS 7 – 7 things you need to know

Paddy Smith — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:34:22 +0000

Jony Ive’s rethink of iOS ushers in a new era for the world’s favourite mobile operating system. Here’s what’s new…

If you’ve been eyeing Apple’s creaking mobile operating system askance and thinking that the venerable old workhorse needs a total overhaul, you’re in luck. Cupertino’s resident design guru Jony Ive has taken the wraps off his totally redesigned vision at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, calling it “unintrusive and deferential.” Tim Cook describes it as “the biggest change to iOS since iPhone.” Here’s what’s new.

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New icons and fonts

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As expected, the icons have taken on a cleaner appearance, swapping out textured designs and drop shadows for a translucence that reacts to your movements to create layered movement for depth. The fonts too have been rejigged, with finer, larger lettering that’s reminiscent of a lighter-footed Windows 7.

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Control Centre and true multitasking

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Apple’s taken Android’s pull-down settings shortcuts for network and screen controls and reinvented it… by moving it to the bottom of the screen. It does look pretty nifty, but it’s definitely “borrowed”. iOS7 also hands a freer rein to third-party devs, with greater access to Apple’s core functionality and data. It might take them a while to catch up to some of Apple’s own reworked apps – Safari’s got a gorgeous new Rolodex tab browser, while Weather has had a serious graphical injection. Even Calendar is starting to look hot. And everything previews in full screen when you’re flipping through your open apps.

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camera

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Poor old Instagram – one minute everyone’s using you on their iPhones, the next Apple introduces its new iOS 7 camera app and the future looks less sepia toned. Yup, iOS 7 brings filtering and the ability to group your pictures automagically into collections. Sharing to the cloud is a cinch, naturally.

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siri

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Apple’s given its virtual assistant a lick of paint, plus you can now choose male or female voices. It’s also become smarter, with the ability to adjust your settings, and there’s integration with Wikipedia (so long, Wolfram) and Twitter, among others. That’s all part of a drive (sorry) to integrate Siri into your new car from next year. A dozen or so companies have signed up for Apple’s car kit – we’re expecting more to follow.

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App Store

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Boom! That’s what Steve Jobs would have said. The App Store now auto downloads updates, meaning you can kiss goodbye to those annoying notifications. It’s also had a bit of a nip and tuck and Apple’s promising to make it easier than ever to discover the apps you’re looking for.

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AirDrop

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Apple’s added file-sharing to iOS in the form of AirDrop – a peer-to-peer system that’s very reminiscent of NFC sharing on Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 – albeit without the NFC. Could this be a sign that Apple’s softening its stance on NFC? We’ll have to wait for the iPhone 5S to find out.

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iTunes Radio

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Built into the overhauled Music app is iTunes Radio (yes, we know we’ve been calling it iRadio – sorry). You can browse by currently popular tunes on social media or by mood, feel or genre. There are stations to discover or you can set up your own station, tweaking your playlist on the fly to make sure it never plays Justin Bieber. Oh, and it’ll work with your Apple TV, too.

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When’s it ready?

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iOS 7 is available to devs immediately, with the iPad version ready in just weeks. Us ordinary mortals will have to wait until autumn to get our hands on Apple’s new juice.

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Apple iOS 7 is served

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"The biggest change to iOS since iPhone"

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New MacBook Air models feature “all day” battery

Sam Kieldsen — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:31:23 +0000

Apple refreshes its whole range of skinny laptops, with Haswell chips nearly doubling battery life

Apple today pulled the wrappers off a brand new series of MacBook Air models equipped with Intel Haswell chipsets – and the headlining improvement is battery life.

Byline:

Sam Kieldsen

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