Apple debuts music streaming service, iTunes Radio

Apple debuts music streaming service, iTunes Radio

Granted, this one felt like a bit of a wild card in the lead up to WWDC, but ultimately the rumors have proven true: Apple's just taken the wraps off of a brand new music offering, iTunes Radio. The service is built directly into iOS 7's music app, featuring easy access to radio based on your music collection. The company's also got hundreds of its own stations, grouped by artists and genre -- artists like, get this, Led Zeppelin. You can modify stations by telling the app which songs you love and hate, and you can access old stations by clicking your history button. The app is free with ads for regular users, or ad-free if you happen to be an iTunes Match subscriber. It's starting in the US and coming to other countries in the unspecified future. You can use it on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as on your desktop.

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Source: Apple

Siri for iOS 7 updated with Twitter, Wikipedia and Bing integration

We just got a look at the updates to Siri in iOS 7. There's now a sound wave on the bottom of the voice-control feature, and you'll have your choice of male or female versions -- and Siri will be available in French and German, with more languages to come. And, as the headline above indicates, Siri now features integration with Twitter, Wikipedia and -- get this -- Bing. Eddy Cue also teased the next frontier for Apple's voice control: iOS in the Car will integrate the latest mobile OS with an auto's infotainment system, and Siri will help drivers pull up directions and more. Don't get too excited, though, that feature isn't coming until 2014.

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iOS 7 to include Control Center for quick-access settings

iOS 7 to include Control Center for quickaccess settings

For many iOS users, one of the most sought after features has been a quick access panel for common settings, much like what they've seen in other platforms. They'll have it -- iOS 7 is introducing Control Center for just that purpose. A swipe up from the screen bottom now lets users change wireless modes, Do Not Disturb, screen brightness and music playback from wherever they happen to be in the OS. There's also quick shortcuts to the camera, calculator, timer and (at last!) a flashlight. To say Control Center is overdue might be an understatement, but we're glad that it's finally here.

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Apple shows off completely redesigned iOS 7 at WWDC, coming this fall

Apple shows off completely redesigned iOS 7 at WWDC, coming this fall

We've read the rumors, we've seen the banners, and now it's finally here. Live from the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Tim Cook has just taken the wraps off of the latest upgrade to Apple's mobile operating system (after pumping up the crowd with some shimmering stats for the current OS, naturally), and as expected, the company's maintained its familiar naming scheme, introducing the world to iOS 7. Cook called it the biggest change to the operating system since the introduction of the iPhone, bold words supported by new features and a new design that managed to get a visible gasp from the room full of developers when shown off in a promo video.

The new designs start on the lock screen, featuring a much thinner lettering. The icons have been redesigned and are flatter as expected. The company's also updated the typography and added new animation and transparency for images. The design goes edge to edge on the display, taking more advance of real estate. The Desktop moves as you do, creating "a new experience of depth." The company only focused on design during the intro video, but that was certainly enough to get the crowd excited.

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Apple has now sold 600 million iOS devices

While our focus is squarely on what's Apple's planning for the future of its mobile OS, the company's reminding us exactly how successful it's been so far. According to Apple's stats, it's now got 600 million devices running iOS -- adding another 100 million. The iPad continues to dominate tablets too, claiming an 82 percent share of mobile web use over the 18 percent claimed by the competition. On smartphones, web use share for the iPhone is 60 percent against 24 percent for Android.

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Apple unveils iWork for iCloud

Apple unveils iWork for iCloud

iWork has been a traditional software suite ever since it first launched (the brief availability of iWork.com notwithstanding), but Apple is bringing it to the web in earnest today by revealing iWork for iCloud. The suite includes Keynote, Numbers and Pages, and each of the web apps preserves many of the same real-time editing features as its iOS and Mac counterparts. The collection officially supports Chrome, Internet Explorer and (logically) Safari, although you'll likely be waiting awhile to try them: only developers get an iWork beta today, and a public beta is due later this year.

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Source: Apple

Apple confirms new Mac Pros will be assembled in the USA

Springsteen will be proud. Today, Apple has confirmed that the company's new Mac Pro line of desktops will be assembled in the US before they arrive later this year. While we were promised it a fair while back, Tim Cook was certainly right when he said it would involve an existing line of devices -- even if it arrives with a completely new look.

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Apple announces new Mac Pro with cylindrical design, 12-core Intel Xeon E5 CPU, flash storage, Thunderbolt 2.0 and support for up to three 4K displays

Apple's new Mac Pro announced with cylindrical design, 12core Intel Xeon E5 CPU, Thunderbolt 20 and support for 4K displays

It's been brewing for a while, and now Apple has finally redesigned its flagship cheese grater pro desktop. The 2013-era Mac Pro has been totally redesigned with a new, cylindrical chassis and vastly upgraded internals that have been designed to last for "(another) 10 years." At the center of the new Mac Pro is a 12-core, 256-bit Intel Xeon E5 processor with 1,866MHz DDR3 RAM capable of 60GB/s data transmission. Following the trend of the MacBooks, the new power tower uses PCIe-based flash storage, and so pro users will be relying upon four USB 3.0 and six Lightning 2.0 ports (that can take up to 6 devices per port with 20Gbps throughput) for expandability. Fortunately, for those of you who intend on placing the hardware beneath your desk, the expansion ports light up to help you find your connections in the gloom. Other connections include HDMI-out 1.4, dual gigabit Ethernet jacks, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and the usual pair of 3.5mm audio in and out ports.

This machine is also the first Mac that'll ship with dual AMD FirePro GPUs as standard, which'll support 4K displays. Of course, the most striking change is in the design, which occupies 1/8th the volume of the current Mac Pro and stands 9.9-inches tall and 6.6-inches wide. The chance is thanks to a new thermal core, a triangular air duct that runs through the center of the hardware -- with one huge fan mounted at the top. Presumably, this new model has also been tweaked to conform to new regulations concerning electrical shielding, meaning that the hardware can finally return to European shores when it arrives later in the year -- at a (probably high) price that's still to be decided.

Update: You can now check out our eyes-on of the new machine here!

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Source: Apple

Apple announces new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule with 802.11ac (update)

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/new-airport/

As the news from WWDC continues to flow, Apple has just announced a new AirPort Extreme base station. It's 4 inches wide and 6.5-inches tall with support for simultaneous dual-band 802.11 ac and has a "beamforming" antenna configuration to enhance performance. Also announced is the AirPort Time Capsule, which has similar specs as the Extreme but has a built-in hard drive in either 2TB or 3TB configurations. Should go nice with those new MacBook Airs right? .

Update: We've learned the AirPort Extreme is $199 while the AirPort Time Capsule is priced at $299 for the 2TB version and $399 for the 3TB model. We've included links to the product pages below if you'd like more specs or just want to place an order for one.

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Source: Airport Extreme, Airport Time Capsule

Apple refreshes the MacBook Air with Haswell CPUs, longer battery life, new models available today from $999

Each June, just like clockwork, Apple refreshes its MacBook Air line -- sometimes with a new design, and always with brand new processors. Well, today is June 10th, and it's the start of WWDC, which means it's time to bring out the 2013 models. The company just unveiled the new 11- and 13-inch Airs, both of which step up to Haswell CPUs and 802.11ac WiFi, and also promise significantly longer battery life. In particular, the 11-inch model claims nine hours of runtime, up from five, while the 13-incher is said to last 12 hours (up from seven). As for processing performance, you get fourth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, along with Intel HD 5000 graphics, which should translate to 40 percent faster graphics, according to Apple.

The one thing we can't glean from Apple's brief tease at WWDC is whether these new models boast higher-res screens than the previous-generation models. (We feel like Apple would make that clear if that were the case, no?) On the plus side, both models now come standard with 128GB SSDs (as opposed to 64 gigs on the 11-inch model). They're available today, with the 11-inch version still priced from $999, and the 13-incher starting at $1,099.

Update: The Apple Store is once again live, which means we've had a chance to look at the product page for the new MacBook Air. As we suspected, the screen resolution has not changed.

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Source: Apple