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Apple is about to kick off one of its semi-annual engine-revving events thisMonday , and the Internet is, as has become more and more customary withthese things, officially exploding with excitement and anticipation . Yes, the time has come for 2012's edition of the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where Apple developers the world over gather to be pitchedby Apple executives on the worthiness of writing programs for Appleproducts. As soon as Tim Cook's 10AM PT keynote kicks off in SanFrancisco, all of the rumors and hype and fabrications and productwhispers will either become official features that you can downloador purchase, or else disappear like so much flatulence on a windy day . (You can find out more about how to follow it live here ) And we are covering it all, right here. The bulk of rumors in the event's run-up have centered around iOS 6, the new mobile operating system for the iPhone,iPad, and iPod Touch; an improved interface for the increasingly-popular Apple TV set-top box , first introduced at a similarly hyped Apple carnival-cum-media-event two years ago ; and a refresh of the Mac line of computers, with specificexpectations for a major overhaul to the MacBook Pro brand ofcomputers. You can rummage through all of what was expected to be unveiled here ; we'll be outlining and insta-analyzing all of what actuallymaterializes below. Will Apple's 2012 WWDC amaze or disappoint? Click or clank? Ignitea frenzy of retail shopping at Apple stores, or thud so loudly thatthe American economy is spiralled into further, unsalvageablerecession? Soon, we shall see. We shall WWDC. And we'll be keepingtally below. NUMBERS GAME The Apple keynote began -- after a brief stand-up comedy routinefrom Siri which mocked, among other things, Samsung -- with arundown of the impressive statistics coming out of Apple's AppStore. This event is pitched at developers, after all, in anattempt to get those developers to continue writing for Appleproducts. Are you ready for some commas followed by zeroes? Well, here comethe big numbers: The App Store is now available in 155 countries;Apple has paid 5 billion dollars out to developers for App Storedownloads; 30 billion apps have been downloaded; 400 million AppStore accounts; 650,000 apps now available in the App Store,225,000 of which were designed specifically for the iPad. Those are a lot of zeroes. Apple knows how important its App Storeis -- it is perhaps its operating system's chief advantage overAndroid and Windows Phone. No one can question the App Store'ssupremacy over the Android Market or the Windows Marketplace (oreven -- LOL -- the BlackBerry App World). This is, as EngadgetEditor Tim Stevens put it, "hardcore develop evangelism." Appleowns app developer allegiance, and it does not intend to lose it toany insurgent operating system. THE MACBOOK: STILL PREMIUM, STILL EXPENSIVE Apple's first major announcement of the morning detailed thelong-rumored refreshes to the MacBook line, as well as theunveiling of a new, thinner MacBook Pro with a stunning Retinadisplay screen. First up, however, was the MacBook Air, which Apple Marketing ChiefPhil Schiller claims that "everyone is trying to copy." (Take that,Ultrabooks!) The new Air will add the Intel Ivy Bridge chip, andwill be available with up to 8GB RAM and 512GB flash storage. TheFace-Time camera gets upgraded to 720p; Apple will also add USB 3.0for faster data transfer. The 11-inch MacBook Air will be priced at $999 and $1099, dependingon how much storage you want, and will start shipping immediately.That's a slight price drop for the Air. Second, the MacBook Pro, which will also get Intel's Ivy Bridge onthe inside, USB 3.0 for faster transfers, an improved graphicschip, and a better camera. 13-inch MacBook Pros will cost $1199 or$1499; 15-inch MacBook Pros will cost either $1799 or $2199,depending, again on your storage size preferences. The prices staythe same here, though obviously the specs are upped. Finally -- and here's where tech nerds the world over commencedtheir drooling -- is the "next-generation MacBook Pro" (inventivename!). It's a radically thin laptop, "about as thin as the MacBookAir," according to Phil Schiller, and under 4.5 pounds. The15.4-inch screen boasts what Apple calls a Retina display, meaningthat (again, Schiller) "the pixels are so small that your retinacannot discern them." Schiller calls this the "world's highest resolution notebook.," andit resembles a Retina display iPad with a slim metallic keyboardjutting out. iPhoto, Aperture, Final Cut Pro 10, Mail, Safari andiPhoto will all be updated to Retina display-quality graphics. Itships with an SD card slot, backlit keyboard, an HDMI out port, twoThunderbolt ports, USB 3.0, and the magnetic Mag-Safe charger. Thenew MacBook Pro is run by a quad-core Intel Ivy Bridge chip and anNVIDIA graphics chip. Like the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, theRetina MacBook Pro will also ship immediately. Ready for the bad news? The Retina MacBook STARTS at $2199. That'swhere it STARTS. Yes, $2199 for a laptop. You could buy somethinglike 7 Windows laptops for that much from Best Buy, where laptopsare crazy-expensive. Apple isn't exactly targeting the 99 percent here. Rather, it seemscommitted to positioning itself toward the well-moneyed,tech-forward consumer, one who is not only willing to pay forquality, but one who so maniacally demands the Next Big Thing thathe is willing to wad up stacks of hundreds of dollars of bills andhurl it at Cupertino's steps in order to get it as quickly aspossible. The very existence of a Retina MacBook like this, with suchincredible specs and gaga-worthy features, means that the MacBookretains its position as The Laptop To Have, and that Apple retains,as a brand, its kingly, lustworthy status amongst computer sellers.Too, it retains its status as a brand that most non-geeks will havea hard time justifying spending premiums on -- no matter howbeautiful that screen makes one's movies, etc. For a bit of perspective: I recently sold my car -- a 2005 modelHyundai with less than 50,000 miles on it -- for less than the newMacBook Pro is retailing for. Here's the question for most computer-buying consumers: Would yourather have a car, or a really nice-looking driving simulator on aRetina display MacBook? OS X MOUNTAIN LION Apple also publicly displayed for the first time itsnext-generation OS X Mountain Lion operating system for its Maccomputers. Most of this stuff has already been detailed elsewhere,but there is some new stuff. Power Nap, for example, will enable updating of your data -- mail,photos, calendar, notes, etc. -- while your MacBook Air or MacBookPro is sleeping. Voice dictation is also coming to Mountain Lion,to be integrated across the entire operating system, meaning you'llbe able to speak-to-type in any text field. Game Center makes theleap from iOS to OS X; full-screen mirroring to Apple TV will alsobe enabled. Apple's Safari browser will gain a smart bar similar to that onGoogle Chrome, on which you can search Google straight from theaddress bar. Your open tabs will also be synced across all of youriOS/OS X devices. Twitter will also be integrated directly into thebrowser; again, Twitter has been integrated directly into theoperating system, meaning you can update your Twitter feed directlyfrom the home screen. The upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion will cost $19.99, though norelease date was announced. This seems like a minor update to the operating system, and the lowprice matches that assumption. SIRI iOS Head Scott Forstall came out and demoed updates to Siri, thevoice assistant on the iPhone 4S. She has been updated with aknowledge base of sports scores -- Forstall asked Siri about allkinds of sporting news and figures: Siri can now fetch last night'ssports scores and the current standings in the National League; itknew who was taller, Lebron or Kobe, and when the NFL season wasstarting Siri's restaurant search function has also been built out, withYelp reviews and OpenTable reservations integrated directly intothe system. RottenTomatoes reviews and ratings are now integratedinto the system for movie information, and you can voice search forshowtimes near you. Siri can now also launch apps, a much-requested function thatWindows Phone has long boasted. Italian, Spanish, French, German,Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese support has also been added. Localsearch via Siri is now international. Siri will also become available on the new iPad via an iOS updatein the future. Siri is an important selling point for Apple's iPhone -- perhapsyou've seen the hotspacho-referencing television advertisements --and all of this new functionality is sure to make Siri commercials,and the iPhone 4S itself, that much more enticing. Siri has beenwritten off as a gimmick, a mere plaything -- regardless of itsactual usefulness, its appearance as a futuristic interface, andthus in its importance in Apple's pitch to consumers, cannot beoverstated. FACEBOOK INTEGRATION The long-rumored Facebook integration is also a reality. Just likeyou can currently sign in to Twitter from your iPhone's Settingsapp, so too will you soon be able to log into Facebook in theSettings. You will be able to post photos to Facebook, post statusupdates, and view Facebook events in your calendar. Apple is playing catch-up here. Android and Windows Phone have hadthis for years, and also integrate with numerous other socialnetworks and services. Facebook integration is a logical, longoverdue acknowledgment of the popularity of Facebook and importanceof Facebook in most people's lives. MAPS As the Yeah Yeah Yeahs once sang: "Maps, Maps, Maps, Maps." Apple threw a bomb at rival Google by announcing a newly designedMaps app. All of the cartography was designed by Apple; the app ismore handsome, with an improved typeface; traffic information willbe crowd-sourced from iOS users; turn-by-turn navigation finallycomes to iOS, with a Garmin-like navigation app for drivers. Youcan also ask Siri questions about attractions along the way -- forexample, if you ask to find gas, Siri will find gas stations onyour route. Siri also provides spoken turn-by-turn directions to guide you asyou go. Again, these are features that Android and Windows Phonehave had for a while. Apple also demoed a "flyover" mode, similar to what Google unveiled at a makeshift press conference on Thursday, displaying 3D models of buildings and landscapes thatsimulate a view you might have if zooming around the city in aminiature airplane. More catch-up for Apple: Google has long dominated Apple in Mapsbut has done little to exploit that advantage. That "low-hangingfruit," as Jon Gruber called it , appears to have been eliminated with this update (assuming thateverything works as advertised). OTHER ADDITIONS TO iOS 6 FaceTime video chat has been enabled over cellular connections,whereas before it could only be used over a Wi-Fi connection. A DoNot Disturb setting has been added, allowing your iPhone tocontinue to receive calls and text messages without -- well,disturbing. In the Phone app, you are now able to respond to callsand missed calls via text message. A Reading List has been added to Safari, which functions similar toInstapaper or Pocket: When you add a webpage to your Reading List,Safari will download and cache the story so that you can read itlater, without a cellular connection. The Mail app will now have a VIP Inbox: You can mark certain emailaddresses as VIPs, and emails from that person will appear like atext message on the lock screen; a VIP inbox will also appear onyour first screen in Mail, showing all of the mail you've receivedfrom your VIPs for easier sorting and discovery. Small changes, good changes, helpful changes. Theseattention-to-detail nips and tucks to the central apps on iOS bringApple's mobile operating system closer to feature complete. Thesearen't flashy updates, but they are helpful. iOS 6 will ship this fall and will support the iPhone 3GS andlater, and the 2nd and 3rd generation of iPad. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China All Products , Environmentally Friendly Refrigerant for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits R410a Refrigerant Gas.
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