What to expect next

While we may have already passed the excitement of Google I/O, Apple's WWDC and many other events, there is still plenty to come, and the rumours are piling up.

This Year's I/O Logo

This Year's WWDC Logo

What We Didn't See At WWDC 2014

• An actual TV set 
• iPhone 6
• iWatch
• Macs (iMac, Macbook Air, Mac Mini, Macbook Pro and Mac Pro)

Nearly all of the things on this list could be seen at the next Apple event. It's hard to tell though because there have been previous rumours of some of these things, but recently the main rumours have been all about iPhone.

iPhone 6 is expected to come in two models, a 4.7 inch model and a 5.5 inch model. This really shows that the phablet market is really catching on now. When the iPhone came out in 2007, Steve Jobs said that the iPhone was the perfect size, which did make sense at the time, as a phone that was 5 inches or more was uncommon and odd. But now the demand for smartphones being over 5 is huge, and it's a perfect opportunity for Apple. With the iPhone 5, Apple made iPhone slightly larger. And with 6 it's also highly likely we'll see two larger phones.

One of the killer features of the phone is said to be the sapphire crystal display, which is very durable as a display said to be straight from the production line was sent to Youtube tech reviewer, Marques Brownlee, who tested the screen to find being scratched with keys, being bent under his foot and being stabbed with a knife, left the worse mark of his fingerprint, which shows how strong this is, but in his next video he tested it with two varieties of sandpaper, that did leave some bad scratches on the screen, but it is unlikely that you would just so happen to have grade 7 or higher sandpaper in your pocket, next to your phone. This shows that the screen was not made entirely made out of sapphire crystal, as otherwise, it wouldn't bend and would be terribly expensive. Also, a recent patent from Apple shows combining sapphire and glass. Unlike the new touch-id home button and the camera glass, which when scratched with the same sandpaper, there were no scratches on them, but they are a lot smaller, and cost less.

                                              This is the first scratch test done by Marques
                                              with a knife and some keys.

                                            This is the second scratch test done by Marques,
                                            explaining that the screen is made of both glass
                                            and sapphire, and uses sandpaper instead.
                                              

             

But the latest rumours suggest that the 5.5 inch model will be delayed by a few months, due to production issues with colouring the casing of the devices, and also to avoid the chaos that happened last year, when Apple released two phones for the first time, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, which caused delays for up to 3 weeks on orders. 

As for new macs, it's likely that we'll see some new new versions, that could include adding retina displays to iMac and MacBook Air, broadwell chips and maybe a redesign of the Mac mini, or updating its specs.

But with all this, it's easy to forget that Apple's most revolutionary version of OSX is going to be released, Yosemite (10.10). It adds a beautiful new design following in the footsteps of its younger brother iOS, as well as adding many handy and useful features, that will increase performance, productivity and make it easier to use.

Also iOS 8 is to be released later this year, along with Yosemite and some other things. This year at WWDC, Apple felt more relaxed, it seemed as if Tim Cook has finally settled in now, as there were more jokes thrown at competitors Google and Microsoft and some surprising additions including 3rd party keyboards such as Swype and Widgets in notification centre, that would have never been seen with the 'Old Apple' and some other handy features that tie iOS with OSX.

This could be the next start menu

What We Might See From Microsoft

It's been a busy year for Microsoft, keeping the Xbox One going, changing CEO from Steve Balmer to Satya Nadella. But one of the most important things for them this year and next year is Windows 9, if they get this right, they might get a lot of customers back, if they don't, more will migrate to mac, except for the businesses that rely on specific programs to run their systems. Windows 8 was a complete fail, they suddenly assumed that everybody now had a Microsoft Surface, and we used our touch screens all the time. They were completely wrong - as usual. In fact, they also decided that we all love bright, colourful, chunky squares and that the start butuon was usless. But then, you wouldn't be surprised when you see this video of Steve Barmy starting a developer conference - and serioiusly, this isn't edited:

So, you would expect that Windows 9 will better. Especially as Balmer's gone.

Overall, things are starting to get more exciting, but there's not a wide variety of rumours yet. But this will come closer to the event, where everything leaks.

WWDC 2014 - What To Expect?

WWDC 2014 - What To Expect?

(Note: WWDC will take place on the 2nd June. I will post the times soon.)

It's that time again to get exited about Apple's shiny and expensive products.

Well this year there may be the smallest, tiniest little exception.

It's rumoured that Apple may launch, a new cheaper iMac this year, to compete with other all-in-one competitors, such as Lenovo and HP, which come at a lower price.

 

This Year's Invitation

With Apple, they have so many patents, but still, decide to hold back on new technologies. A great example of this is NFC, which has been popular in other popular phones in the past two or so years. And also on the software front of things, Android is well known for it's extensive collection of widgets, and shortcuts, to make your experience easier. Again, Apple have been slow to do this, although last year with the release of iOS 7, we saw control centre added, making it a lot easier to something as basic as turning wifi or bluetooth on without having to go into settings and finding it. We also saw a simpler, cleaner look. So it looks as if Apple is slowly getting there.

Samsung's new smart watch range

Google glass, with the sun glasses attachment

 But since 2012 there has been something that we're all pretty excited about - wearable tech. A fine example of this is Google glass, and after that many other wearable gizmos, such as Samsung's galaxy gear, in 2013, the galaxy gear 2 and the galaxy fit this year. we've also seen Sony's smart watch, and of course the Pebble. But we've seen nothing from apple - no new products really. Just improved versions of each thing, although that said, the only real difference that I have seen is the 3GS and the iPhone 4, which is rather embarrassing for apple considering we're now at the 5S, and nearing the 6. So we'd like to see some wearable tech from Apple this year.

Apple's iPhone 3GS (left) and iPhone 4 (right)

So what do we think Apple are planning this year for WWDC?

iPhone 6

Every year there's a new iPhone, so I doubt there won't be an iPhone 6, or whatever they decide to name it, however their naming isn't exactly logical because if this was called the iPhone 6 then this would be their ninth phone, due to lots of unnecessary 's' added to the end. So we're not entirely sure there will be a new iPhone, but I think there is a 99.9% chance of one, as there has been a new one every year for the past seven years. Apparently the new phone will have lots of new sensors, making it smarter than all the previous iPhones - and possibly some androids, but I doubt it. There are a lot of concepts of this, but I prefer this, and it also seems to be the most popular:

Concept of the iPhone 6

iOS 8:

We think this version of iOS will be based on health, as we are seeing a lot of this at the moment, the most notable example being the Galaxy S5. We think this will be added as an app called HealthBook. We also hope to see some other nice things such as widgets.

Concept of the rumoured app, 'HealthBook'

iWatch:

It's wearables again, and this time it looks as if Apple is going to plunge into the smart watch market. It seems like the iWatch would be mainly based on health, and work with the HealthBook app. Although it would probably be able to do other basic things such as answering phone calls, obviously showing the time and maybe playing music, or they could do what Samsung has done and release two, one focused on health, the other being entertainment.

The most popular concept of the device

Apple TV:

Now, however much we expect or want an actual TV from Apple, and not just another box, it seems unlikely that we will see an actual TV at this WWDC, although we could. Instead it seems like we'll get a major update to the existing Apple TV box, using a similar, but probably pricey design from the iPhone 5S. It also looks like it could be controlled by an iOS device, such as an iPhone or iPad, although the existing TV already has this feature, although this would be probably be re-designed and made solely for the Apple TV. Or as well or instead as that, we could see instead of the current remote control, we could see a new remote sized touchscreen device, again using a similar design to the 5S and possibly running a stripped down version of iOS, or just simply the remote application. Apple have also been said to have had deals with Warner Bros, and possibly other companies for films - we imagine. It also looks as if this might be able to play or run iOS games and apps, or have it's own app store.

Apple TV concept by Curved

OSX 10.10 (dubbed Syrah):

We would like to see 10.10 integrated a little more with iOS, or maybe the apps redesigned, it's possible,  but unlikely that it will be redesigned, although we'd all like to think that it will. It will probably get a 'flatter' look, but the redesign won't be as drastic as iOS 7. There is very little info on Syrah or iOS 7. Here's what we think it might look like:

Messager/iMessage/Messages

Mail

iPhoto

Finder

Mac Mini:

The Mac Mini, is now long overdue for an update, possibly a redesign, (it seems as if there's a lot of that going on) 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and hopefully a Haswell CPU, and a better integrated graphics.

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