Michal Marek Last week saw the Google I/O 2015 developer conference where most of the tech world agreed that was rather disappointing, and now Apple comes next with its own WWDC conference. Expectations are once again high for this year, and according to the rumors that have accumulated during the year, we could be in for a whole lot of interesting news.
So the question on the table is: will Apple next Monday convince the tech-savvy public that Google is just catching up with the competition in many ways at the moment, and excite them in the same way that Microsoft has managed to do in recent months? Let's summarize what Apple is planning according to available information and what we can look forward to on June 8.
Apple Music
The big news that Apple has been preparing for a long time is new music service, which is said to be referred to internally as “Apple Music”. Apple's motivation is clear. Music sales are falling and the Cupertino company is gradually losing the business it dominated for a long time. iTunes is no longer the dominant channel for making money from music, and Apple understandably wants to change that.
It is very likely that Apple's introduction of a new music service will adversely affect traditional music sales through iTunes. The music industry has already changed, and if Apple wants to get on the bandwagon relatively early, a drastic change in the business plan is simply necessary.
However, Apple will face strong rivals. The clear leader in the music streaming market is the Swedish Spotify, and in the field of providing personal playlists based on a specific song or artist, at least in the American market, the popular Pandora is strong.
But if you manage to attract customers, streaming music can be a very decent source of money. According to The Wall Street Journal last year, 110 million users bought music on iTunes, spending an average of just over $30 a year. If Apple could entice a larger portion of these music-seekers to buy monthly access to the entire music catalog for $10 instead of a single album, the profit would be more than solid. On the other hand, getting customers who spent $30 a year on music to spend $120 on it will certainly not be easy.
In addition to classic music streaming, Apple continues to count on iTunes Radio, which has not had much success until now. This Pandora-like service was introduced in 2013 and so far only works in the United States and Australia. In addition, iTunes Radio was conceived more as a support platform for iTunes, where people could purchase music that interested them while listening to the radio.
However, this is about to change and Apple is already working hard on it. As part of the new music service, Apple wants to come up with the best "radio" that will offer users music mixes compiled by top disc jockeys. The music content should be adapted to the local music market as best as possible and should also be made up of such stars as they are BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe, Dr. Dre, Drake, Pharrell Williams, David Guetta or Q-Tip.
Apple Music is supposed to be functionally based on the already existing Beats Music service by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. It has long been rumored that Apple will make Beats bought for 3 billion dollars precisely because of its music service and that the iconic headphones, which the company also produces, were second in terms of motivation to purchase. Apple should then add its own design, integration into iOS and other elements to the functionality of the Beats Music service, which we will discuss in turn.
One of the interesting features of Apple's music services is to be sure social elements based on the now-defunct music social network Ping. To be specific, performers should have their own fan page where they can upload music samples, photos, videos or concert information. In addition, artists will reportedly be able to support each other and entice on their page, for example, the album of a friendly artist.
As for the integration into the system, we can give hints of it already seen with iOS 8.4 beta, with the final version of which the Apple Music service is to come. It is said that initially in Cupertino they planned to integrate the new music service until iOS 9, but in the end the responsible employees of Apple came to the conclusion that everything could be done earlier and that it should not be a problem to bring the new service as part of a smaller iOS update. On the contrary, iOS 8.4 will be delayed compared to the original plan and will not reach users during WWDC, but perhaps only in the last week of June.
For Apple's music service to have any hope of truly global success, it needs to be cross-platform. In Cupertino, they are therefore also working on a separate application for Android, and the service will also be integrated into the new version of iTunes 12.2 on OS X and Windows operating systems. Availability on Apple TV is also very likely. However, other mobile operating systems such as Windows Phone or BlackBerry OS will not have their own applications due to their negligible market share.
As for the pricing policy, at first they said in Cupertino they wanted to fight the competition low price around 8 dollars. However, the music publishers did not allow such a procedure, and apparently Apple will have no choice but to offer subscriptions at the standard price of $10, which is also charged by the competition. So Apple will want to use its contacts and position in the industry, thanks to which it will be able to attract customers for exclusive content.
Although the current music service Beats Music is only available in the United States and, as already mentioned, iTunes Radio is not much better with availability, the new Apple Music is expected to launch "across a number of countries". Unfortunately, there is no concrete information yet. It is already almost clear that unlike Spotify, the service will not work in a free version laden with advertising, but there should be a trial version, thanks to which the user will be able to try the service for a period of between one and three months.
iOS 9 and OS X 10.11
The operating systems iOS and OS X should not expect much news in their new versions. Rumor has it that Apple wants to work mainly on the stability of the systems, fix bugs and strengthen security. The systems are to be optimized overall, the built-in applications are to be reduced in size and in the case of iOS it is to be significantly improved as well system operation on older devices.
However, the Maps should receive bigger improvements. In the map application integrated into the system, information about public transport is to be added, and in selected cities it should therefore be possible to use public transport connections when planning a route. Apple originally wanted to add this element to its Maps a year ago. However, then the plans were not implemented in time.
In addition to public transport links, Apple also worked on mapping the interiors of buildings, he was taking pictures for a kind of alternative to Street View from Google and, according to recent reports, is also looking to replace the business data now provided by Yelp with its own. So we'll see what we get in a week. However, it can be expected that in the Czech Republic the above-mentioned novelties in maps will be of very limited use, if at all.
iOS 9 should also include system support for Force Touch. It is assumed that the new iPhones in September will come, among other things, with the option of using two different screen touch intensities for control. After all, the trackpads of the new MacBook with Retina display, the current MacBook Pro and the Apple Watch display have the same technology. It should also be part of iOS 9 standalone Home app, which will enable the installation and management of smart home devices that use the so-called HomeKit.
Apple Pay is expected to expand to Canada, and improvements to the iOS keyboard are also said to be in the works. On the iPhone 6 Plus, for example, it should make better use of the larger space available to it, and the Shift key will once again receive a graphical change. This is still too confusing for many users. Last but not least, Apple also wants to better compete with rival Google Now, which is to be helped by better search and somewhat more capable Siri.
iOS 9 could finally make better use of the iPad's potential. The upcoming news should include support for multiple users or the ability to split the display and thus work in parallel with two or more applications. There is still talk of a so-called iPad Pro with a larger 12-inch display.
In conclusion, there is also a news related to iOS 9, which was revealed by Apple's chief operating officer Jeff Williams at the Code conference. He stated that along with iOS 9 native apps for Apple Watch will also come in September, which will be able to fully use the watch's sensors and sensors. In connection with the Watch, it is also necessary to add that Apple could allegedly after a relatively short time change the system font for both iOS and OS X, to San Francisco itself, which we know just from the watch.
Apple TV
A new generation of the popular Apple TV set-top box should also be presented as part of WWDC. This long-awaited piece of hardware is supposed to come with new hardware driver, voice assistant Siri and above all with its own application store. If these rumors were to come true and the Apple TV really had its own App Store, we would be witnessing such a small revolution. Thanks to Apple TV, an ordinary television could easily turn into a multimedia hub or even a game console.
But there was also talk in connection with Apple TV about the new service, which is supposed to be a kind of purely Internet-based cable box. It would allow an Apple TV user to watch premium TV programs anywhere with an Internet connection for between $30 and $40. However, due to technological shortcomings and mainly due to problems with agreements, Apple will probably not be able to present such a service at WWDC.
Apple will be able to bring Internet broadcasting via Apple TV to the market in the fall of this year at the earliest, and maybe even next year. In theory, it is therefore possible that they will wait in Cupertino to present the Apple TV itself.
Updated 3/6/2015: As it turned out, Apple will indeed wait to introduce the next generation of its set-top box. According to The New York Times did not have time to prepare the new Apple TV for WWDC.
We have to wait for what Apple will actually present until Monday at 19:XNUMX p.m., when the keynote at WWDC starts. The news mentioned above is a summary of speculations from various sources that have appeared in the last few months before the expected event, and it is possible that we will not see them at all in the end. On the other hand, it wouldn't be a surprise if Tim Cook had something up his sleeve that we haven't heard of yet.
So let's look forward to Monday, June 8 - Jablíčkář will bring you complete news from WWDC.
I'm secretly waiting for SIRI to be introduced in CZ :-)
I have the same expectations… :-)
yes, sir, it would be a bomb in Czech, please.
I wonder what they mean by epicenter of change? Change in music playback? It doesn't look like a big change to iOS, OS X.
I am afraid that the epicenter of Apple means developers, who are the driving force behind the development of the potential of the Apple platform. And they just sit in one place :)
Siri in CZ <3 :D
but I strongly doubt that it will.. apple is not interested in us, it cannot grow here and we are some small country at the "end" of Europe
"the end"??? We are the center of Europe, aren't we?….
Well, there are already buttons in the AppStore, so why can't Siri follow :-) … I hope so too