The new iOS 6

At the WWDC event Apple revealed the (expected) new version of their mobile OS, which is going to become available for the iPhone 3GS,4 and 4S, as well as the latest generation of the iPod Touch, in the beginning of this fall. According to Apple, this update is bringing more than 200 new features to their platform, as well as a lot of improvements of the current ones.

Siri, for instance, has became a lot smarter in the past months and is now able to aid its owner in a number of new ways, offering Yelp and OpenTable integration, which can give you detailed information and reviews of restaurants (so far only available in the US). The voice service is also able to launch apps, give you information about sports events, recommend movies and even show you their trailers. Siri has also received an additional feature, called Eyes Free, which is supposed to integrate the system in your personal car. Apple are actually working closely with a number of car manufacturers, in order for a specific button to be added in their vehicles, which is going to launch your iDevice and, to be specific, your voice assistant. Siri is also (finally) going to become available for the iPad.

Another handy new feature is the even deeper Facebook integration, which is going to enable the user to share information from all kinds of apps directly on his page in the social network. Such integration is going to be present in Photos, Maps and even the Notification Center, while the new API is going to enable software developers to also add Facebook-sharing capabilities to their own applications. iOS users will also finally be able to add their friends’ Facebook details in the contacts application and birthdays (and Facebook events in general) are going to start to appear in their calendar.

iOS 6 has also added some (vital) new options for taking calls – for instance, the users are finally going to be able to reject call with messages, something, which has long been available on other mobile platforms. There is also an option to disable your phone’s notifications – in this case, the phone is going to keep receiving calls and messages, but won’t actually signal you for them, unless it detects, that a given number is calling too persistently – in such a case, which is going to be considered an emergency, the device is going to put the call through.

FaceTime has also experienced some changes – from now on, users are going to be able to make calls over cellular network, as well as WiFi and with this, rather logically, they’ll have the option to link their phone number with their Apple ID. Calls are also going to be able to be made over Macs or iPads as well. The same goes for iMessage.

The mobile version of Safari has received an interesting addition – the so-called iCloud Tabs feature, which allows not only for synchronization of the tabs with your computer browser, but also adds the option to save a tab to read later, offline. Such features were also recently introduced in other companies’ flagship smartphone too, such as HTC’s One X and Samsung’s Galaxy SIII.

Another handy little new feature is the Passbook app, which is a clever little program, not only enabling you to store all of your passes, e-tickets, discount coupons, boarding cards and so on, but also providing you with up-to-date information about them – such as changes in your flight’s schedule.

As most people expected, Apple also released a new Maps application along with iOS 6. The program, which comes with more than 100 million POI, as well as  Yelp integration, even features turn-based navigation, the maps for which are going to be provided by TomTom. It remains unknown which countries are going to be supported at the initial release. The navigation is also going to give you details on the traffic and will, of course, change your route accordingly, if it detects a jam. The new Maps application is also going to have a 3D mode, similar to the one, which we saw from Google just a matter of days ago. The first beta version of iOS 6 is already available at this address: https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action B. A.