Apple Makes Major Announcements at Annual WWDC

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Apple announced at its annual WWDC conference that it has kicked Google Maps off of its iPhone and has partnered with Facebook instead. This is a major blow to Google, which uses Google Maps to track users. Google Maps has been on every version of the iPhone since the first one was released in 2007. The application cannot be deleted by the user because it is a core app on the phone. Executives from Apple said that Maps will be replaced by an app developed by Apple and released on iOS 6, which is  the new operating system for iPod Touches, iPads and iPhones.

Apple also announced that it would build Facebook into its iOS 6 software, which removes the Google Plus social network from the phone. iPhone users will now be able to update their Facebook status by speaking to their phone using ‘Siri.’ Users will also be able to ‘like’ music and movies in iTunes. The conference is held in San Francisco.

  

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At the conference, Apple also released new products for Mac software and updated laptops, which had not been done in over a year. Investors were not impressed as they were hoping Apple would announce that the company was delving into making a television set. Siri will add new languages that include Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Forstall to its software. Siri will also have the ability to launch applications and movies and will appear on iPads for the very first time. Next month, for $20, Mountain Lion will go on sale. Mountain Lion is the new operating system for the Mac computers. The Mac will now have the iMessage feature like the phone and tablet software has.

Mac users will also be able to dictate instructions with the new software Mountain Lion. Users will be able to dictate text in any program on the Mac with the new software. In terms of hardware, Apple released a new laptop with a super-high resolution ‘Retina’ display, which brings a new standard for sharpness on the screen. There will be a 15-inch screen on the brand new MacBook Pro and will offer four times the resolution of earlier models. The brand new MacBook will cost $2,199 and higher, which is $400 more than the MacBook without the Retina but with the same screen size.

The features for the new MacBook come from the MacBook Air. It does not have a DVD drive and uses flash memory. The computer also does not have an Ethernet port. An adapter will need to be purchased by users who do not want to use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet. The adapter would plug into the ‘Thunderbolt’ port of the computer.