by
Mark Ollig
When
Apple holds a party, the entire tech world races to it.
Apple
disclosed a few surprises during the recently held Worldwide Developers
Conference (WWDC) 2013 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
This
venue is regularly used by Apple to announce new products, technologies, and
software.
A
new version release called Mavericks (10.9) for the Mac OS X (operating system
10) graphical user interface was presented.
I
noticed Apple did not use a cat’s name for this OS X version, as they have in
prior version releases, such as: Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Lion . . .
you get the idea.
This
10th version release of OS X Mavericks will include: bundling of Apple’s Maps
and iBook apps (applications), providing enhanced iCloud merging, incorporating
more mobile device iOS apps, and improving battery resource usage, resulting in
extended battery life.
Look
for Mavericks to be available this fall.
The
2013 WWDC presentation began with a short video on how Apple goes about
designing a product.
While
a piano lightly played in the background, a video begun scrolling text of the
questions Apple considers when designing a new product.
Apple
says it begins with focus, and asking what people want to feel: delight,
surprise, love, connection?
In
coming up with a design, there are, according to Apple, a thousand “no’s” for
every “yes.”
The
text introduction sums up by stating, “We simplify, we perfect, until
everything we touch enhances each life.”
The
WWDC 2013 keynote address began with a smiling Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, taking
the stage to loud applause from the folks in the capacity-filled Moscone
Center.
Cook
said this was the 24th Apple WWDC, and that over 60 countries would be
participating during this year’s conference.
The
week-long WWDC is the place where software programmers can check out Apple’s
newest software designs and applications. They can also bring in their own
programming code to discuss with Apple programmers.
How
popular is the WWDC? The keynote show sold out in just 71 seconds, if that is
any indication.
Over
1,000 Apple engineers were available to help the programmers, along with over
120 “hands-on” labs, and 100 group break-out sessions.
Apple’s
software apps are extremely popular, and the latest numbers show Apple users
have downloaded over 50 billion of them to their smart devices.
Over
375,000 apps have been designed just for use on the iPad alone.
There
are over 6 million registered Apple software developers, according to Cook.
Students,
it pays learning how to code, and becoming an app software developer.
Cook
expressed how “incredibly proud” he was to announce Apple has, so far, paid
software developers $10 billion for the programming apps they have created.
Apple’s
mobile iOS platform has 74 percent of the total app downloaded revenues, with
Android at 20 percent, and other platforms with 6 percent.
So
far, no other company has come close to taking the “app” out of Apple.
Soon
after Cook addressed the audience, he introduced a new startup company called
Anki.
“They’re
using iOS devices and the iOS platform to bring artificial intelligence and
robotics into our daily lives,” he explained.
Cook
then introduced Boris Sofman, CEO and co-founder of Anki, to talk about his new
company.
“We
started Anki while working on our Ph.D.’s in robotics at Carnegie Mellon
University. We worked on everything from machine learning, to walking robots,
to autonomous vehicles,” Sofman said while addressing the audience.
“With
the help of iOS devices, we are bringing this technology out of the lab and
into people’s lives,” he added.
Stofman
explained that after five years, they are ready to present their first product,
called Anki Drive, which is a real-world, smart robotic toy car racing game.
“This
is a video game in the real world,” he told the cheering audience as they
watched robotic cars racing and outmaneuvering each other around a flat oval
racetrack which had been rolled out onto the stage.
Four
robotic toy cars, each using Bluetooth technology, moved swiftly and, I might
add, intelligently, as they raced against each other around the track.
Each
robotic car was making its own computations to steer, maneuver, control its
speed, and sense where it was located on the track while maintaining its
distance in relation to the other cars.
The
important thing to remember is that these cars are individually reacting to
their surroundings in real-time using the Anki iOS app.
With
an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, a person can control a robotic car and have
competitive races against other smart device users.
Anki
Drive will be available this fall at Apple Stores.
You
can check out Anki on the Web at http://anki.com.
Apple’s
new mobile platform iOS 7 will be available this fall. One new feature includes
Activation Lock, which is a theft deterrent function.
Before
an iPhone’s “Find My iPhone” feature can be turned off, or any of its data can,
be erased (wiped), the devices Apple ID and password will need to be entered.
Detailed
information, including an informative video about iOS7, can be viewed at
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7.
The
new Mac Pro, Apple’s latest computing work station, enclosed in a black
cylindrical, tube-like aluminum case, is scheduled for release later this year.
To
view the entire Apple WWDC keynote, race over to
http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2013.
