Yosemite. Some of you may associate the name with a national park in California, it is of course natural beauty, but Apple inc. and Tim Cook unveiled the newest Apple operating system, also known as iOS to the Apple fans and in the know alike. Last evening local time the Apple CEO was introducing the newest operating system, here is the official release: Apple Announces OS X Yosemite. I think the coolest feature that stands out for me is the ability to make calls directly from your Mac. In an office environment it would require headphones, but the noise levels would be no different from taking a traditional call, or dinosaur call. Sending emails and texts has become a perfectly acceptable way of communicating, my mother in law still thinks that calling is the best way, as do my parents, we will switch them in the end!
OK, what else? Well for iOS 8 SDK (don't worry about trying to understand the ones before) users, available across the iPhone 4s platforms upwards, iPad 2 and later, you will get a newer operating system that looks and feels new. HealthKit, HomeKit and Swift are the biggest advances. What are these things? Again, as per the release, that is the best spot to hear it from the Cook's mouth Apple Releases iOS 8 SDK With Over 4,000 New APIs:
"As HealthKit combines health data to help you take better care of your health, HomeKit lets your home accessories connect seamlessly to better manage your home. HomeKit delivers a common protocol, secure pairing and the ability to easily control individual or groups of devices throughout the house including integration with SiriR. For example, you can tell Siri you are "going to bed" and it could dim the lights, lock your doors, close the garage door and set the thermostat."
I am guessing out loud here, but not too dissimilar to the Nest acquisition that Google made, that seems like HomeKit. For a refresher, Byron wrote about it in January:
Google makes a big (little) acquisition.
HealthKit is really exciting for me. I think that people are becoming more and more aware that their bodies are the most important investment that they can make. I saw this detailed piece
Obesity and economic environments, when you have a moment, look through it. It details why Americans in particular are obese, cheap processed food relative to their income, that seems to be the problem overall. There is a segment on the Apple website which walks you through HealthKit:
An entirely new way to use your health and fitness information. The whole idea is that integration of the applications that you use mean that they form a much better idea of the health of the individual.
So no new hardware announced for now, just the very cool new software. Talking of which, Swift is a new programming language across the Apple Hardware devices to create incredible apps. Their words, not mine. If you get locked into the Apple ecosystem, and I remember a specific article from Felix Salmon in which he explained once you are in the ecosystem, you are in. You get all sorts of associated hardware and use it more. And I will make no bones about the quality of the hardware, it is far superior for me to want to even look at anything else. A Mac is an amazing, amazing machine. It really is.
Is this earth shattering news? We normally hope that no news is earth shattering. The short answer is no. For the full summary of everything that they are doing, check it out:
Apple Unveils iOS 8, the Biggest Release Since the Launch of the App Store. As a user I am looking forward to a newer and fresher operating system that pushes boundaries.
The device integration, unfortunately that is dependent on the local internet speeds, being able to store something in the iCloud and download seamlessly across your devices requires speedier internet. The messaging across platforms, the sharing of apps across six home devices, photo sharing at home (you take a pic, your spouse gets it), asking parents to pay for an app (push functionality) and integration with home devices, those are all part of pulling you further into the ecosystem. And ensuring that you will continue to buy the hardware. This seems like Apple are cementing their "luxury" offering, they will sell the luxury products that people are willing to pay more for. We continue to add to what is a very compelling long term investment.