Apple announces iOS 6 at the world wide developers conference

June 12, 2012 by

Yesterday iOS 6 was announced at the world wide developers conference 2012 event, it brings around 200 new features to iOS. Many of the rumoured features were included in this update. One of the most anticipated updates is the introduction of their own Mapping software, up to now they have relied on Google for their maps. According to the website called Slash Gear TomTom is also going to supply the data for the maps, but not much information regarding this matter has been released yet. There was just a small press release from Tom Tom, stating that.

“ TomTom has signed a global agreement with Apple for maps and related information,” and that “No further details of the agreement will be provided.”

This update will add extra functionality to their mapping software such as turn-by-turn navigation,better Siri map integration,3D city views etc.

Apple’s decision to move away from Google was probably influenced by that fact that they have become bitter rivals in recent times. 

IOS 6 brings other new features such as Facebook being fully integrated into the software in the same way as twitter is, so making it easier to share photos and data with facebook. Apple’s facetime is going to be able to work with cellular networks, which was highly welcomed.  Siri will also be improved with this update and it will be made available on the new ipad and the ipad 2.

There will also be a feature available that enables you put on hold all calls and messages, if you want to do this you will just need to look for the ”Don’t want to be disturbed” option on your device.  Apple is also introducing with this update a feature called passbook, this will be like a virtual wallet, which lets you store all your boarding passes, tickets and gift cards and other important documents. Passbook will come to life when you enter a place were your are documents relevant and your documents will pop up automatically. To use this feature you will have to have your location services switched on.

There are many other interesting updates in iOS 6, if you want to find out more just go to Apple.com

It worth pointing out that Apple has missed the opportunity again to add Adobe flash and Blue-tooth file sharing to it’s arsenal, which Android has offered from day one.

IOS 6 is expected to be released in the autumn. Its release will probably coincide with the release of the new iPhone, which most likely will be released in September or October this year.  

If you want to try some of the exciting new features all you need to do is just get a developers account and download iOS 6 beta from Apple. However its worth pointing out that the iOS 6 beta download is unstable at the moment and some of the features have not been implemented yet. 

 

 

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Facebook being sued by some investors over its stock flotation

May 24, 2012 by

Facebook is being sued by investors over its stock flotation, two lawsuits were filed on Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants are accused of concealing Facebook’s revenue generation forecasts during the IPO investors roadshow, which showed “a severe and pronounced reduction” . This action allowed a few investors in the know to sell their Facebook shares before the price fell, while others who were not in the know saw their shares lose more than a third of its value within a few days.

“Some insiders and investors were preferred over others,” The Telegraph quoted Darren Robbins, a lawyer for one set of retail investors who have filed a suit in a New York court on Wednesday as saying .”Everyone made money in this process, but it was the ordinary main street investor who was left holding the bag.”

Some of Amerca’s biggest banks and investment houses such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are accused of not letting potential investors know that the banks had lowered their revenue estimates for the Social Networking site, in  advance of the share flotation.

A few Investors have claimed to have lost as much as $2.5bn (£1.6bn) from buying Facebook shares.

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Facebook shares to get floated Friday

May 17, 2012 by

Facebook is preparing to go public Friday.  This could raise as much as $16bn (£10bn).  Bankers had to release 25% more shares due to the shear demand for them, this will push the initial public offering (IPO) stock price even higher so protentially valuing the company at $104bn after its flotation.

This will prove to be one of the biggest flotations that wall street has ever known, dwarfing Googles flotation in 2004, which raised a mere $1.9bn.

Commentators are asking whether Facebook can continue the momentum of growth it has previously enjoyed, due to a number of challenges that are emerging. The first potential problem comes from the fact that facebook is unable to make money out of mobile users who are growing day by day. Facebook also faces an increasing problem with advertisers becoming disgruntled with Facebooks restrictive policies in ways in which adverts can be displayed on Facebook, the evidence of this comes from General Motors who recently opted to pull its $10m (£6.3m) advertising contract with Facebook, who said their ad was not making enough of an impact, due to the way the is displayed on Facebook.  Its evident in order for Facebook to continue its growth in the future it needs to adapt on a number of fronts, whether it can pull it off only time will tell. 

 

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