iOS 6: Coming This Fall…and With More Siri

ByMike Moffit

At today’s WWDC keynote, Scott Forstall went through all of the features that the newly-announced iOS 6 will have. Ready for it? I’ll go over the highlights here.

Siri
She’s getting a big upgrade, as our helpful assistant will graduate out of beta mode in iOS 6. Among the biggest upgrades:

  • iPad availability is coming!
  • Yahoo! integration for sports updates and news (Baseball, Football, Basketball, etc.)
  • Detailed restaurant information, including pricing, menus, ratings and reservations (via Open Table)
  • More sophisticated movie information, such as Rotten Tomato ratings integration, trailers, keywords (his example was “movies with Scarlett Johansson”)
  • Launch apps by voice
  • Tweet by voice
  • “Eyes Free” mode and integration with the steering in certain automobiles (Honda, Audi, GM, BMW, to name a few)
  • More languages

Facebook
Looks like we can’t escape it—Apple and Facebook aren’t going anywhere! To the hold-outs, here’s what’s in store:

  • Built in to the iOS
  • Universal sign-in keeps you logged in through Settings menu
  • Sharing of photos, links, games (from Game Center), iTunes content, Maps

Phone
You mean to say that we should actually still use the iPhone as a…phone?

  • Additional in-app options, such as Do Not Disturb, Remind Me Later, Reply with Message for those times you can’t (or don’t want to) answer a call
  • VIP tagging of your most important contacts
  • Two calls in a row will be sent through in the event of an emergency (I should be careful with this one)

FaceTime
Video chatting got some much-needed upgrades.

  • Now available over cellular instead of just Wi-Fi
  • Unifying phone number and Apple ID, plus Messages (for chat across IM and SMS/MMS)

Photo Stream

  • Photo Stream sharing
  • For Mac, Apple TV and web

New Safari

  • New iCloud tabs that will show you your iCloud info across all linked devices
  • Offline reading list
  • Will work only in Mountain Lion and iOS 6

Mail

  • VIPs—contacts that you can designate as ‘very important people’
  • Two added inboxes: VIP inbox and flagged inbox
  • Add photos from your device (finally!)
  • Support for password-protected Office files

Maps

  • Yelp! integration
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
  • 3D mode
  • Siri integration
  • Apple-specific cartography
  • 100 million local businesses listed

…and a lot more, including Guided Access, the mobile Universal Access controls, Passbook, and more.

It will launch in the fall and will be available for iPhone 4, 4S, 3GS, iPad 3 and newer and iPod touch (4G). More information to come!

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