wwdc

Will Apple's FaceTime app hog your data plan?

Apple's FaceTime video chat service will finally work over a carrier's cellular network, making it even easier for people to make video phone calls from anywhere. But will the new app gobble up bandwidth on capped data plans?

Since it was introduced in 2010 with the release of the iPhone 4, the FaceTime video chat application, which allows people with iOS devices to call each other over video, only worked on Wi-Fi networks. The reason given at the time for the limitation was that carriers like AT&T were afraid of what FaceTime would do to their … Read more

Apple desktops get (almost) no love at WWDC

Apple desktop fans were disappointed at today's World Wide Developer Conference, where, despite persistent rumors, Apple's iMac and Mac Pro lines went unmentioned during the keynote presentation.

When the Apple store came back online after the show, a "New" tag on the Mac Pro hinted at a stealth update. Glancing over the specs for the supposedly new system turned up only a clock speed bump to a few of the available Xeon processors.

Rather than the quad-core, 2.8GHz Intel Xeon W3530 chip, for example, now the $2,499 Mac Pro starts with a 3.2GHz … Read more

Siri for iOS 6 versus Samsung Galaxy S III's S-Voice

You'll find a much more in-depth hands-on comparison of Siri versus S Voice here.

The Samsung Galaxy S III isn't quite out yet in the U.S., but already, its Siri-like voice assistant -- known as S-Voice -- has just been thrown into the deep, dark shadow of Apple's forthcoming Siri update.

In iOS 6, the next-generation of Siri will add a whole new bag of tricks, including the capability to launch apps, perform voice-activated Facebook and Twitter updates, and pull in sports scores and movie times. It will also make reservations through OpenTable and play you … Read more

iOS 6 Facebook integration: A frictionless sharing nightmare

Apple's iOS 6 integration with Facebook looks good on paper. Log in once and share anything you want without an app. Share pictures from iPhone's camera. Share your location from maps. Facebook status updates and contacts will be in your iPhone contacts.

The promise: Log-in to Facebook once and share away.

The nightmare: People will log in once, forget they're oversharing and ultimately have a cringeworthy event.

Apple's big pitch: "Facebook. Integrated throughout iOS. You'll definitely Like it."

I already unlike it.

Let's translate the big pitch of the Apple-Facebook integration. Apple'… Read more

New Apple features may leave fresh app roadkill in their wake

While fanboys everywhere are basking in the glow of hundreds of new Mac and iOS features, executives at a number of app makers are no doubt cursing the fact that, with some of those features, Apple just ran them over and left them for dead.

Take Instapaper, for example. For some time, the app has given Mac, iPhone, and iPad users the ability to save Web pages they want to read later, when they're offline. But today, at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote in San Francisco, Apple unveiled its Offline Reading List feature for both the Mac and iOS … Read more

Nvidia notches big Apple MacBook Pro win

Nvidia landed a big fish for its graphics processors as Apple rolled out new MacBook Pros.

Strategically, Apple's move to use Nvidia's GeForce GT 650M notebook GPU is critical on two fronts. First, Nvidia can fend off graphics challenger AMD. The graphics chip business probably doesn't represent Nvidia's growth, but it helps to defend dominant market share. Meanwhile, defending the graphics fort provides Nvidia more cover to grow its Tegra chip business, which aims to power smartphones and tablets that challenge Apple.

In a nutshell, Nvidia's GPU helps give the next-gen MacBook Pro the power … Read more

Apple's WWDC keynote: What we didn't get

It seems like every Apple event comes with an increasingly large dose of sparkling hype, and plenty of supposedly imminent announcements end up not happening.

This year's Tim Cook keynote speech at WWDC had its share of big news, and plenty of excitement -- iOS 6, Retina Display MacBook Pros -- but here's what wasn't there.… Read more

WWDC keynote announcements: CNET readers react

Even before Apple's WWDC 2012 kicked off with a keynote from CEO Tim Cook and other members of the team behind one of the world's most valuable companies (sometimes the most valuable, depending on the price of oil and ExxonMobil stock at any given moment), CNET readers were already chatting up the big event and what big announcements would be the talk of the day.

Joel Rubio left us this comment on the CNET Facebook page that sets the scene nicely:

Exciting tech day in San Francisco. Apple's WWDC2012! Notably, the anticipation of any news about iPhone 5 and iOS6. I think I've given up on the possibility that companies like Google and Microsoft can create such a magical event. Though I do remember Microsoft having such a moment with Windows 95. However, I'm glad to realize that a certain company is able to create, IMHO, a somewhat similar mystique as Apple -- Facebook.

Apple's WWDC news: New Macbook Pros, iOS 6, upgraded Siri

Apple's news at WWDC today skewed heavily toward its Mac line, with long-awaited updates to its MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, and MacBook Air lines, while also providing a first glimpse of the latest version of its iOS mobile operating system.

The event served as a reminder that while Apple's largest growth drivers are the iPhone and the iPad, its Mac line continues to be an important part of business. To better illustrate the point, Apple unveiled a next-generation MacBook Pro.

That said, the mobile end got its update with iOS 6, which includes 200 new updates, as well … Read more

Apple's new 3D Maps app brings smart GPS to iOS

Apple is bringing both 3D and a huge dose of GPS to its new Maps app for iOS.

The iPhone maker revealed today at WWDC a new in-house 3D Maps app built entirely from the ground up. The 3D option isn't turned on by default but can easily be switched on by the user via a large button logically dubbed 3D.

The Flyover feature displays 3D, photographic maps that you can rotate with your fingers to get a true view of any location. Why Flyover? Search for a location or landmark, and the app flies you over there to … Read more