ios6

As expected, Apple today began pushing out iOS 6 to iPods, iPhones and iPads.

The update began going out to users this morning. Users can get it by plugging their device in and launching Apple's iTunes software, or -- if they're running iOS 5 -- over the air from within the settings menu.

According to Apple, the update adds "over 200 new features," to iOS 5, which was released last October. Chief among them is an entirely new maps application that uses Apple's own data, changes to Siri that add more information about movies, restaurants, … Read more

After a week of using the iPhone 5, I've posted my review of Apple's new phone on CNET. Which brings me to wondering: how much can a familiar-looking device that we've seemingly known about for months be capable of surprising anyone, much less a tech editor?

For me, the iPhone 5 surprised in the following ways.

The weight Shaving about an ounce off a phone's heft doesn't sound like a lot, and I've always been skeptical of incremental reductions (20 percent lighter!), but the first thing that shocked me when I picked up the … Read more

I've owned an iPhone every year since its 2007 debut. Every one. The reward for such reckless upgrading has been a sense of the iPhone's evolution over those years. What started as a device that had not many apps to speak of, but dripped futurism, has become an always-on, location-aware, frighteningly integral part of my nervous system.

While I've listed what we expect out of the next iPhone, I haven't told you what I want. So, here's my own personal list of what matters most...to me.… Read more

The latest rumors say so, but we'll explain why the latest rumors are probably wrong. Also on today's episode, we learn why IBM might want to buy RIM's secret treasure chest, and we decipher the tea-leaves of iOS 6. What is Apple not telling us about the new OS for fear of giving away iPhone 5 secrets?

And finally, the next Xbox may hit soon, another rumors suggests. This tweeted image of a swirl of colors supposedly indicates that the Kinect 2 might be awesome. To us it just looks like, well, modern art. But you guys … Read more

Tuesday's top tech stories are out to disrupt your world:

Oh Amazon, what don't you do? Well cross off game development, as it just launched its own studio to make Facebook games and compete with Zynga. It also joined the textbook rental service to face off with eBay's Half.com and BookRenter.

YouTube will no longer be a pre-loaded default app on Apple devices. Apple is dropping the YouTube app for iOS 6, and Google will create a separate app you can download. It's all part of Apple's mission to distance itself from Google.

If … Read more

Is Apple taking aim at sites that sell access to its iOS 6 beta to non-developers?

Apple-tracking blog MacStories reported yesterday that a host of Web sites known for selling access to Apple's iOS beta are no longer online. After trying to contact many of the site's owners, the publication's e-mails bounced back. Finally, the publication was able to connect with one site owner who said that his hosting provider took his site down after Apple filed a copyright-infringement claim.

That followed a claim made by David, CEO of Web hosting provider Fused who goes by his … Read more

As if actual Microsoft product launches haven't been in the news enough this week (ahem, Surface tablet and Windows Phone 8), rumors of the road map for the long-anticipated new Xbox are heating up.

A PowerPoint presentation posted to NeoGAF forums claims to divulge Microsoft's secret product launch plans. No, not the launch codes -- this isn't a nuclear crisis, though the excitement among Xbox gamers is verging on nuclear. (See what I did there?) The document has NOT been authenticated, and Microsoft is mum on the issue, but its contents are in line with previous rumors. … Read more

Apple's iOS 6 software development kit comes with a new Auto Layout feature. And now, some are wondering whether that indicates Apple will be launching a new iPhone this year with a larger screen.

Auto Layout essentially allows developers to establish parameters for how user interface elements show up on a screen. Depending on a device's resolution, those elements will move to their correct place, based on the parameters established by the developer.

TechCrunch yesterday asked whether that feature indicates an iPhone with a larger display will launch soon. The blog said that it spoke with one developer … Read more

A faux iPhone 5 commercial apparently created by a 17-year-old from Oklahoma with some serious video production chops sets a pretty high bar for the much-anticipated next-generation smartphone.

This short video from Dakota Adney, who lists his location as a small town near Tulsa, imagines a new iPhone with iOS 6, a quad-core A5 chip, a see-through Retina Display, and a virtual projected keyboard to provide much-needed relief for the fat-thumbed.… Read more