Apple unveiled the next version of its mobile operating system iOS 5 at WWDC conference. Apple says this is a “major release” but most of the smartphone users would have heard or used iOS 5 features through third party apps or in competitor OS like Android or Windows Phone 7. It really does not matter whether Apple copied/borrowed the feature from others, but all it matters is how well they are implemented and how the end user feels when he use it.
The new features brought into iOS are awesome, beautiful and very user friendly. You never need a learning curve to use any of the Apple devices or software features. That’s where Apple stands out from its competitors. Here are is the list of best of iOS 5 features
Twitter Everywhere
Twitter is everywhere on iOS 5 with the deep integration of Twitter into the core operating system. This makes tweeting just a touch away. You can snap a picture and tweet it right away, browse a web page and tweet it your friends and many more ways to tweet. When you are on iOS 5, mostly you can ignore to launch third party twitter aps for your tweet needs.
iTunes Sync Over WiFi
All the beautiful Apple devices needs a cable to sync them with PC/MAC through iTunes. That is history now. With iOS 5 you can synch your device with PC over WiFi when the device is placed on charging dock. Time to use those cables to hang something else.
PC Free Activation and Over The Air Software Updates
Apple coined the term Post – PC era recently at iPad 2 launch event and with iOS 5 they eliminated requirement of a PC for using iOS devices. To activate a new iOS device or to upgrade iOS, you don’t need a PC. They are all done over the air.
Notifications
Forget those annoying popups that break your flows when you receive a new message or any other notification. The new notification system of iOS 5 is very similar to Android notification system – a unified list of all notification and it can be accessed by dragging on top of the screen. When you receive a new message on iOS, it shows a hint at the top of the screen without disturbing you and goes away in few seconds. To see the notification you have to drag a small notification handle available at the top of the screen.
The notifications are extended to Lock screen and they are shown when the screen is locked. By swiping on any of the notifications, lets say a new message notification, iOS directly takes you message reply screen. That’s very user friendly.
Reminders
Dear Remember The Milk App, you are no longer required on iOS devices. Yep. iOS 5 Reminders makes Remember the Milk app obsolete. You can now schedule reminders at a specific time or at a place too. Reminders at a specific place is pretty awesome, you configure a reminder to popup as soon as your reach a specific place. Something like a grocery list reminder as soon as you travel close by a grocery store!
Other Features
The feature that are part of iOS 5 are
- Digital new stand to subscribe and read newspapers on your iOS devices
- A new version of Safari with features like Reader, Tabs & Read It Later
- New game center
- iMessage – a new communication application that lets you message(SMS)your iOS friends for free. The blackberry way.
- Dictionary everywhere – just the iBooks app, now dictionary is available everywhere on the os as well as on third party apps
- Enhanced game center
- Rich text formatting in Mails
iOS 5 Launch Video
Here is the official video of Apple introducing iOS 5 – stunningly beautiful video.
Few Reactions On iOS 5
Microsoft ‘flattered’ with Apple’s iOS 5 Windows Phone features
A number of the features are very similar to ones used in Android and Windows Phone 7. Apple’s iOS 5 improvements didn’t go un-noticed at Redmond. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, Director of the Windows Phone program, tweeted his feelings on Monday afternoon. “Feeling flattered today,” said Belfiore after referencing a number of iOS 5 features
wondering if apple deal would prove to be the poison pill for @twitter when it comes to a sale with @google?
Step 1: Reject an innovative app. Step 2.:Copy that functionality in the core OS Step 3: Claim Innovation. #WWDC #Camera #TapTapTap
Apple’s plan – pick the most popular iPhone apps and turn them into a built-in feature of iOS.. eg: InstaPaper, Dropbox, WhatsApp, RTM