Apple Music, iOS 9 and updates to Apple TV are among the expected announcements at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year
Next week Apple executives will take to the stage of San Francisco's Moscone West Centre to discuss the company's latest software innovations and new projects.
As with last year's event, which saw the introduction of iOS 8, OS X Yosemite and new programming language Swift, we're unlikely to see any glitzy product launches. Instead, the spotlight will be squarely on system upgrades and new features, hopefully with the odd surprise thrown in. Here's everything we can expect from the year's most exciting developers conference.
When does it kick off?
Countdown to WWDC - and (probably) iOS 9
| 03 | : | 20 | : | 50 | : | 55 |
| Days | Hrs | Mins | Secs |
The introductory keynote, likely to include presentations from chief executive Tim Cook, senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi and senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue, will take place at 10:00 PT on Monday June 8 (18:00 GMT). Apple will be livestreaming the speech on its website.
"We've got incredible new technology for iOS and OS X to share with developers at WWDC and around the world, and can't wait to see the next generation of apps they create," said Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller.
Apple Music
Florence Welsh of Florence and the Machine
Apple purchased the audio equipment and streaming divisions of Beats Electronics for $3bn (£1.8bn) a year ago now, and we're still waiting for an official first partnership announcement. The company is likely to use WWDC as a platform to announce a long-rumoured revamped version of Beats Music, either integrated into iOS 8.4 or iOS 9 under the reported name Apple Music. It remains to be seen whether the new service is integrated into the existing Music app, or given its own icon on the homescreen.
The cloud streaming service will reportedly prioritise a user's music library, integrating personal playlists and deploying a new search function for locating tracks within the iTunes/Beats catalogue.
Existing Beats Music accounts will supposedly be able to merge with iTunes or Apple ID accounts, though this only applies to US users as Beats Music is currently still unavailable to those based in the UK.
Apple purchased UK music analytics start-up Semetric, whose services are used by major record labels and rival Spotify, in January. The purchase was believed to be be part of Apple's efforts to gain insight into the industry ahead of the launch, including data on a band or artist's sales, social media demographics and most popular songs online.
Sources allege that the company has approached artists including Taylor Swift and Florence and the Machine about exclusive streaming partnerships, which could limit how much of their music will remain available on other streaming platforms. Jay Z, who owns Tidal, has suggested that Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine has attempted to lure artists away from Tidal with lucrative contracts.
Reports suggest Apple Music will maintain the pricing structure of Beats Music at around $10 (£6) per month, with the possibility of up to a three month free trial which users could opt into using Touch ID verification.
iOS 9
An iPhone 6 running iOS 8 - what does iOS 9 hold?
iOS 8 was the undisputed star of WWDC 2015, and its a fairly safe bet to say we'll see the introduction of iOS 9 this time round. Key features are predicted to include Force Touch support, new kernel-level security system Rootless, which has been designed to put an end to jailbreaking iOS devices, and split-screen mode support to turn the iPad into a business-focused beast.
It's expected the first device to ship with iOS 9 will be the next generation of iPhones - likely to be called the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus - which are slated to go on sale in late September, if recent release cycles are to be believed.
Apple Pay updates
Apple Pay: the death of the wallet?
While US customers have been able to use Apple Pay on their iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (and more recently, Apple Watch) since October last year, we in the UK have been left waiting. There's a chance we could see an announcement declaring the contactless payment system is being rolled out to select parts of Europe and Canada, allowing UK shoppers to pay for goods and services using our phones as contactless devices.
Negotiations between Apple and UK banks over the introduction of Apple Pay to these shores have been fraught over the level of personal and financial information Apple wants to collect about its customers, sources told the Telegraph last year.
It's also believed a rewards scheme to incentivise customers to use Apple Pay could be rolled out at the event. Google used its I/O developers conference last week to launch Android Pay in the US, which also uses NFC technology and hopes to replicate the widespread early adoption rates Apple Pay has seen.
A new Apple TV
Is a new and improved Apple TV in the pipeline?
One of the strongest pervading rumours about WWDC this year is that we'll see a new fourth-generation Apple TV. Given that 2013 was the last time it was updating, a new offering is well overdue.
It's been reported for a while that the company is looking into launching anonline TV streaming service in partnership with broadcasters including Fox, ABC and CBS via an online subscription costing from $30, which could stand to boost sales of Apple TV set top boxes.
Back in March Apple announced at the Apple Watch Spring Forward event that it had secured exclusive early access to the forthcoming HBO Now streaming service, allowing Apple device owners to watch popular series such as Game of Thrones.
Apple Watch updates
The Apple Watch: apps ahoy
With the Apple Watch comes a whole new app eco-system for developers to play with, and with this year's WWDC the first since its launch, the event is unlikely to go unmarked. The company is already catering for its Watch-wearing faithful, after updating its WWDC app with Apple Watch support in late May.
Apple's senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams revealed in an interview last week that a software development kit designed to create Watch-native apps would be released during WWDC, meaning third party apps won't need to bat back to the paired iPhone all the time, but run independently on the Watch itself.
The first Watch OS update 1.01 was issued in mid-May, offering improved Siri performance alongside third party apps and calorie calculation amendments. Due to this extremely recent roll-out, we probably won't be witness to any significant software rollouts.
A new typeface
The San Francisco font first used on the Apple Watch
A slightly more random announcement is the potential decision for Apple to replace favoured font Helvetica Neue across iOS 7 upwards and OS X Yosemite with a custom-designed San Francisco typeface. First debuted on the Apple Watch, San Francisco was designed "specifically for legibility", and scales more dynamically to “maintain clarity and legibility”, according to9to5Mac.
HomeKit
Apple's Craig Federighi talking through HomeKit at WWDC 2014
First announced at WWDC 2014, HomeKit is a framework designed to house Internet of Things apps, such as Google-owned Nest's smart thermostats and wireless door locks, in a unified Siri-integrated dashboard through the Home app. The company has previously hinted that HomeKit accessories will make an appearance by June, but the app and framekit have yet to fully launch.
OS X 10.11 Gala
The 2015 MacBook running OS X Yosemite
The latest version of OS X, believed to be codenamed Gala, is a safe bet. Like iOS, it's probable a short preview will be given during the keynote and it will be made available to download for free from October or so.
Like its predecessors Mavericks and Yosemite, the new software is likely to bear a California-related name, given that Apple has trademarked the use of location terms including Big Sur, Sequoia and Mojave.
Any updates are unlikely to be as dramatic as last year's Yosemite, which was a significant aesthetic departure from Mavericks. OS X 10.11 will probably place a greater focus on stability optimisation and improving performance overall.
And one more thing....Apple Car?
A car bearing a photograph of former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is parked outside an Apple store in Tokyo
Okay, this is a massive long shot, but as reports Apple is developing a cargather credence, this year's keynote may extend beyond CarPlay. Jeff Williams recently admitted "Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn't it?", hinting heavily at the possibility we'll see a fully Apple-designed car in the future, but it almost definitely won't make an appearance next week. Given that Sir Jony Ive has been freed up of his day-to-day management responsibilities due to his recent promotion to chief design officer, maybe an automobile will become the new Apple of his eye?
No comments:
Post a Comment