So, Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer’s Conference) has started, and as expected, the focus this time round is on software.  Now, this is what one would have expected from a developer’s conference, traditionally, but Apple had been making the WWDC the launch platform for its latest and greatest hardware for some time now.  However, the rounds of the blogosphere had made it very clear almost a month back that there would be no new marquee hardware announcements at this year’s WWDC.  So, just as a mind-exercise, let us quickly recap what the expectations were from WWDC, and what actually happened in the keynote.

First off the bat, the predictions were that there would be no great hardware announcements.  This one was pretty accurate.  It is a signal of the kind of intense battle that Apple fights every year in its bid to maintain secrecy and the wow factor when Jobs unveils the latest and greatest, that the Apple-watchers dig deep into the supply chain to unearth any clue that may tip them off.  Suppliers like Foxconn, design subcontractors, plastic case manufactures, everyone involved in ANY aspect of the iDevices development is fair game. None of these hundreds of potential leak points turned up anything, so the blogosphere (correctly) concluded that it is impossible to launch such a major product without SOME leakages somewhere, so an iPhone launch was ruled out.

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that IOS5 would be announced – that was (gasp) part of Apple’s pre-WWDC announcement.  In fact, there was considerable speculation about the specific features that would form part of the headline features of the new release.  Some of the predictions included:

1. Notifications: Widely predicted to be revamped in IOS5, for e.g. here and here.  The IOS5 notification system was developed at a time when there were only a few apps delivering notifications (like the built-in messages app), and was woefully inadequate for the times.  Notifications are delivered through a modal dialog, that requires immediate action if you need to continue what you were doing.  Plus, if you happen to get multiple notifications, say 2 SMS’s, an update from Facebook, a direct message on Twitter, etc. you will see a simple list of these notifications on the lock screen.  Unlocking the phone will make the dialog go away, and you will be returned to the home screen.  Now it is up to you, the user to deal with each notification, either by recollecting what was on the lock screen, or by checking the badges on the icons for each app.  Not the most elegant of systems.  So, this was one major candidate for overhaul.
2. Wireless Sync: This one was a Wow! I didnt hear too many people speculating on this one, as most had probably given up hope.  We will wait to see the details of how this is implemented – for e.g. can it sync multiple devices at the ssame time?  Me and my wife hook up our respective iPhones to the chargers at night, so both should sync.  This in itself would be fantastic – automatic nightly backups, updated apps deployed to your device, iTunes smart playlists, playcounts updated, and so on. Cool!
3. iMessage: Bye-bye Whatsapp, it was good while it lasted.  I dont think anyone saw this coming.  iMessage is the Blackberry Messenger-type messaging client for IOS.  The impact of this could be significant.  However, I still believe that the best communication software is yet to come.  The wish list for me is very clear, and I dont think iMessages comes up to speed on some of these.  Well, here’s the list anyways:
   1. Cross-platform: clients available on all mobile platforms
   2. Tied to a phone number, should not require account creation, sign-in, etc.  Somewhat like Whatsapp
   3. Should be able to do discovery of friends, searching, contact lists, etc.
   4. Ability to explicitly set status
   5. Ability to share rich media – photos, videos, audio, location, etc.
   6. Threaded, persistent conversations
   7. Broadcast messaging
   8. Ability to create lists of contacts, and send message to the group
4. Camera: Apple finally decided to take the camera app to new levels of usability.  To some extent, the Camera on the iPhone has been suffering from Apple’s “Everything is an app” thinking.  The iPhone4 already has what is believe one of the best cameras in the business.  Adding a load from the lock screen, and using a hardware for the “shutter release” is just catapulting it ahead of the game.  Sure, other phones have dedicated hardware buttons for the camera, etc.  But remember, too many buttons is as bad, or worse than, too few.  Apple has smartly used an exisiting button that just happened to be in a logical location for shutter release.  Brilliant stuff!  I believe that under the new dispensation, the camera app loads a lot quicker as well.  I think this could be due to the fact that the camera app will no longer load the entire photo library before it launches, but will do so incrementally. Again, no one saw this coming.

There are other improvements, mainly to the photos and mail apps, and other ho-hum additions like a Remiders app.  Wonder why Apple is stepping on developer toes with a reminders app?  Anyways.

All in all, a phenomenal bunch of additions to what is already the best mobile operating system out there.  A lot of surprises, which is commendable, considering the intense scrutiny and speculation that an Apple event attracts.  A few solid features, that will take the platform forward.  Of course, there’s the entire iCloud stuff, and where that will take us.  There are some serious implications for the music industry hidden in there.  Next post