'Greatly enhanced' iOS Maps, upgraded Camera & Photos apps expected at WWDC
New software features in iOS, as well as OS X, are likely to be the main highlights at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, though Apple is also expected to refresh a significant portion of its Mac hardware lineup.
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said on Friday that his industry checks have indicated that a new Maps application in iOS to be unveiled at WWDC later this month will be a "greatly enhanced" version with 3D capability. He said the new offering has been internally developed by Apple, allowing the company to move away from Google, claims that echo earlier reports.
Wu believes most of the industry's focus on the new Maps application will be about how it replaces Google Maps on every iOS device shipped. But he believes that for Apple, the new software will be about a lot more than moving away from Google.
"We hear the key reason why AAPL decided to do this is that it believes it can deliver a much better use experience in Maps, not to mention provide further differentiation for its mobile devices business," he wrote in a note to investors on Friday.
Another upgrade to iOS will allow "more powerful sharing of photos," Wu said. Earlier this month The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Apple plans to launch new photo sharing functionality in iCloud at WWDC.
Wu added that Apple is working on a "notable upgrade" for both the native Camera and Photos application on iOS. He speculated that the changes would make it less necessary for iPhone users to rely on third-party applications like Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in April.
As for new hardware, Wu anticipates "several" Macs receiving refreshes from Apple. Earlier reports have pegged both the MacBook Pro and iMac lineups to be updated at WWDC with Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors, as well as high-resolution Retina displays.
Sterne Agee has maintained a price target of $780 for AAPL stock, citing the company's ability to "outperform in this tough macroeconomic environment." Apple remains one of the firm's top picks, along with IBM.
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said on Friday that his industry checks have indicated that a new Maps application in iOS to be unveiled at WWDC later this month will be a "greatly enhanced" version with 3D capability. He said the new offering has been internally developed by Apple, allowing the company to move away from Google, claims that echo earlier reports.
Wu believes most of the industry's focus on the new Maps application will be about how it replaces Google Maps on every iOS device shipped. But he believes that for Apple, the new software will be about a lot more than moving away from Google.
"We hear the key reason why AAPL decided to do this is that it believes it can deliver a much better use experience in Maps, not to mention provide further differentiation for its mobile devices business," he wrote in a note to investors on Friday.
Another upgrade to iOS will allow "more powerful sharing of photos," Wu said. Earlier this month The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Apple plans to launch new photo sharing functionality in iCloud at WWDC.
Wu added that Apple is working on a "notable upgrade" for both the native Camera and Photos application on iOS. He speculated that the changes would make it less necessary for iPhone users to rely on third-party applications like Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in April.
As for new hardware, Wu anticipates "several" Macs receiving refreshes from Apple. Earlier reports have pegged both the MacBook Pro and iMac lineups to be updated at WWDC with Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors, as well as high-resolution Retina displays.
Sterne Agee has maintained a price target of $780 for AAPL stock, citing the company's ability to "outperform in this tough macroeconomic environment." Apple remains one of the firm's top picks, along with IBM.
Comments
his industry checks = Reading blogs about Apple.
I wish the Camera Roll in iOS is enhanced to display info like when the photo was taken, etc. That would really help organize my runaway photos since my first iPhone!
Can't fucking wait. And yeah, photos in the camera roll desperately need a 'get info' pane, which also includes location. I shouldn't have to use a 3rd party app for that. Also, it's 2012, so I think Apple can relent on the ridiculous 5 photo email limit. Force us to resize if needed, but I find this ludicrous. Sometimes you just want to attack some quick photos without going through the hoops of making an online album, and nobody likes receiving multiple emails.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
Also, it's 2012, so I think Apple can relent on the ridiculous 5 photo email limit. Force us to resize if needed, but I find this ludicrous.
Well, you'd have to, wouldn't you? Is there a single e-mail service that allows attachments totaling more than 25MB?
It'd be nice to be able to reorganize photos (even if they're just from the Camera Roll) into folders… Actually, I think I'll mock up some screenshots of what I'm thinking about…
There are a bunch of little tweaks that Apple could do all across iOS to make it spectacular. It's the being able to do it in an Appley way that seems to be preventing them…
Read hundreds of articles/posts about this new Maps app... but none of them ever seem to mention street view. Street very is very, very useful and I wonder of we can continue to use google maps for such?
Agreed. I don't need 3D drawn maps. Street view is all that matters, and turn-by-turn GPS would be a great way to compete with Android phones that have this feature without buying 3rd party GPS programs.
To me this graphic says "massively implemented resolution independence" and hints at Mountain Lion on retina displays and another iOS screen size. But what do I know?
Some type of editing to replace instagram would be fantastic. My wife uses instagram all the time and it makes some great pictures (for editing that takes 10 seconds). Still doesn't replace even a consumer DSLR and good editing software, but it is much much improved.
3D Maps is all a bit meh.
Take a gander, everyone.
Someone's trying to preempt someone else.
Though I guess this COULD just be the new maps system that Apple is using.
I want Photos to be like iTunes Match -- everything lives in iCloud and is available on every device.
Tallest, Google has offered a birds-eye "3D" view for sometime now. I would assume this is additional enhancements for that
http://www.technewsdaily.com/3243-google-maps-sends-aloft-3-helicopter-view.html
A question for iOS developers. If an iPhone app currently calls the map function and iOS utilizes Google Maps, what will happen when they flip to their own map app? Will it now pull that instead?
Quote:
Originally Posted by justmark
A question for iOS developers. If an iPhone app currently calls the map function and iOS utilizes Google Maps, what will happen when they flip to their own map app? Will it now pull that instead?
That's an interesting thought. If the application calls for iOS' maps, I should think it would pull from the new source instead of Google Maps. If the app uses its own Google Maps-specific functions, they'll have to be rewritten, obviously. Any WWDC preview that utilizes a different map source would give developers time to port their stuff over and make sure it jives with the new system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
"We hear the key reason why AAPL decided to do this is that it believes it can deliver a much better use experience in Maps..."
That would be awesome. Disliked the Maps app from day one with my first iPhone, the 3G.
And it hasn't gotten much better in 4 years. I know Apple wrote Maps, but sorry. It just isn't up to par.
@ justmark re: "A question for iOS developers. If an iPhone app currently calls the map function and iOS utilizes Google Maps, what will happen when they flip to their own map app? Will it now pull that instead?"
I think we'll know in less than 2 weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
That's an interesting thought. If the application calls for iOS' maps, I should think it would pull from the new source instead of Google Maps. If the app uses its own Google Maps-specific functions, they'll have to be rewritten, obviously. Any WWDC preview that utilizes a different map source would give developers time to port their stuff over and make sure it jives with the new system.
The bad thing is, people work with a fixed budget. You budget an app, you create it, debug it, polish it, and when it is done you make another.
I would love to see you ( a theorical you, not "you Tallest Skil"... ) try to explain to the investor/boss that several days/hours of coding/testing/deploying and the unhappy users support due to people not updating their stuff are necessary due to Apple changing stuff.
I hope they do not make such a rash decision...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
It'd be nice to be able to reorganize photos (even if they're just from the Camera Roll) into folders… Actually, I think I'll mock up some screenshots of what I'm thinking about…
You already can. They added that with iOS 5. The only 'limit' is that it isn't removed from the Camera Roll same as the Photo Library is every synced photo from every synced album/event in one unified view. Both of which are annoying to some folks but I found it rather easy to ignore both quirks
As for Mr Wu. It's the same game as always, just repeating what he's read everywhere else and putting no thought into it. Like questioning if there would be any kind of major hardware announcement at Apple's key software conference, especially after they yanked the iPhone announcement last year. A thoughtful person would pose these questions if only to show that they are doing more than parroting everyone else
Here is to hoping this will bring location services to Canada sooner rather than later. All the Apple info had stated Canada would get those services in 2012...Almost half way through so fingers are crossed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by justmark
A question for iOS developers. If an iPhone app currently calls the map function and iOS utilizes Google Maps, what will happen when they flip to their own map app? Will it now pull that instead?
I assume that one of the reasons we are only now (possibly) seeing a release of Apple Maps using Apple's architecture and infrastructure is the effort to convert the Pushpin (from Placebase) APIs from JavaScript to Objective C.