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.
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 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)
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.
with a knife and some keys.
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.
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.