Apple has finally unveiled iOS 5, the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system powering iPhones, iPod touch devices, and iPads.“iOS 5 has some great new features, such as Notification Center, iMessage and Newsstand and we can’t wait to see what our developers do with its 1,500 new APIs,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
“Perhaps iOS 5’s paramount feature is that it’s built to seamlessly work with iCloud in the Post PC revolution that Apple is leading,” added Jobs.
Apple SVP of iOS, Scot Forstall unveiled some of the new features to WWDC attendees yesterday. According to Forstall, these count roughly over 200.
Highlights during yesterday’s show included Notification Center, iMessage - a new messaging service for all iOS devices, and Newsstand, a new way to purchase and organize your newspaper and magazine subscriptions, among many others.
A new Reminders application and tons of new Camera.app features were also confirmed.
Game Center now has the ability to add photos to a profile, purchase new games from within the app and makes it easier to find friends and new games.
The Mail application is improved with the ability to compose messages using draggable addresses, and a new formatting bar with bold, italics, underline and indention controls.
iOS 5 brings AirPlay Mirroring, which lets users wirelessly display everything they do on their iPad 2 right on their HDTV through Apple TV.
Apple also showed off a system-wide function on the iPad that lets users split the keyboard to make it easier to type.
iOS 5 marks the first time that Apple allows users to activate and set up their device right out of the box in what the company called “PC Free” during yesterday’s keynote address.
iOS 5 updates will be delivered over the air (OTA) making the act of tethering the device to a computer irrelevant.
Finally, Apple also released a beta version of iOS 5 to those enrolled in the Developer Program.