Apple OS5 and what all the buzz is about!

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Whether you're an Apple fanboy/girl (Fanperson??), it's possibly quite difficult that you would have missed all the buzz around the WWDC keynote speech that took place yesterday. You would have over the past 24 hours seen or heard words like OS5, iCloud and OS X Lion being thrown around with much excitement and maybe you're a little bit lost as to what they're talking about. I'm going to help simplify one of the topics for you right now, which out of all the things launched at WWDC yesterday is the most exciting for me- OS 5.
OS 5 refers to the 5th generation of Operating System (OS) for the iPhone and the iPad. People were hoping for a 5th generation iPhone to be released as well, but as I'd posted a few days back, Apple squashed those rumors with a press release on what would be announced.. and an iPhone just didn't figure amongst them. However as the saying goes, hope springs eternal and a lot of people, yours truly included, was hoping for a Knight in shining armor to ride out onto the stage on a pink unicorn holding a snazzy iPhone 5 in hand. Unfortunately, while we didn't get that, we got a taste of what the next Operating System for both devices would entail, and that was excitement enough for most people to handle. So if you own and iPad and/or an iPhone and/or iPod Touch, or ever thought of owning one, you're going to want to read on....
- So you own a Blackberry and would laugh at the poor schmucks with an iPhone who had to rely on the unreliable Whatsapp to be able to communicate with each other? Apple yesterday took on BBM head on with iMessage- a BBM like messenger system that allows you to communicate with other Apple devices, and is the feature I'm most eager to try out! It's better than BBM as in you can communicate with people on whatever iOS device they're using! You can see delivered and read messages and like BBM, even see when the other person is responding to your messages. You can send photos, videos and even do group chats.. again, just like BBM. I see a lot of users now considering to switch over to iPhones with this!
- "PC-Free" is another major feature that was announced yesterday. If you've ever bought an iPad or iPhone you'll know how annoying it is to have to connect with a computer to be able to get your phone activated and get all your data on the phone. Apple has changed this around so that you'll be able to activate your device right out of the box and be able to do most of the changes, including syncing your entire phone, without needing any cables required! New software downloads will also be done OTA (over the air) so that you really won't need a laptop to be able to seamlessly use your phone. I use Google contacts to sync my iPhone and Blackberry (as I use two devices at once) and I'm so happy that Apple has come out with a way for me to not have to go back and sync each of my devices to change a phone number of a contact for example! While I'll still be using Google Contacts (as it lets me switch between different platforms whether it be Android, iOS or Windows Phone 7) I'll still be using this to sync stuff between my iPad and iPhone.
- Notifications- Here Apple borrowed (read: STOLE) a page out of Android's book by incorporating a notification system very similar to that on Android devices. Gone (Thank GOD!) are annoying pop up boxes that allow everyone near your phone to be able to glance at your SMS's and emails and see what's being said, or worse, interrupt your Angry Birds session! Now, the notifications will show up on the top of the screen and just like on an Android device, you'll be able to swipe it down to see who your missed calls and texts. Another cool feature is that these notifications all show up on your Home screen if you're not using your phone, and all you have to do is swipe on the particular notification to open the App that deals with that particular notification. Have a Facebook Message you received while you're away? Swiping that particular notification with open up the Facebook App for you! Now is that cool or what?

(Image taken from Engadget.com)
- Twitter integration- Like to tweet? Now you can send a picture to Twitter right from your Camera App or a photoshopped one right out of your Photo roll. Similarly, Twitter integration is done throughout the phone for those obsessed with Tweeting. (Speaking of which, I hope you guys are following me?)
- Newstand is another very cool feature that I can't wait to test out, and is one that I think is "borrowed" from the Kindle. If you subscribe to any newspaper or magazine on the Kindle, it syncs wirelessly and automatically onto your device. Newsstand is a standalone app which will be there on iOS5 that allows for the same thing- all your periodicals in one place that get downloaded while you are sleeping.

There are a whole boatload of other features that Apple have included in this OS. Other notable ones are a special "Reminders" app to remind you to head to the gym or read "Kiran's Corner" (just saying!)
There is a new Camera and Photos app and you can now "pinch to zoom" your camera and have it finally work (I know I instinctively have been trying to do that for a while now!) and now you can finally use your volume up button to take pictures (another one that I've been trying to do!). Also if you want to take a picture in a hurry but are tired of turning on the phone, entering your password if you have one, then ignoring all the notification pop-ups only THEN to be able to click on the camera app, Apple's changed all that with allowing camera to be operated on start up. There is a new Safari with tabs for easier syncing. Their is a dictionary for those who can't sepll, (Trying to be funny here.. just go with it!) a new Mail app, new gestures that let you do cool stuff.... basically iOS5 is PACKED with features you might have seen your buds on Android or Blackberry use and hoped that Apple would get its act together and incorporate. They've managed to fill all those gaps and then some!!

Hope you found this post useful.. was aiming to give you guys a more simplistic version as I'm sure the hardcore techies will be following the gadget blogs. I'll try to post another one soon on iCloud to explain what's going on there, but in the meantime do leave me any Questions that you may need clarified on this front!
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