Our old friend Scott Forstall took the wrapping off iOS 5 at Apple's big WWDC conference today, and there's a whopping 200 new features, some bigger than others, coming to the mobile OS that started it all.
iMessage: An obvious BBM killer, the most significant addition in the next version of iOS offers a whole new platform for connecting amongst people who have devices running the software. If you've got an iPhone, iPad or even an iPod Touch, you can send unlimited text and multimedia messages to other people with an iOS device. The service offers BBM like abilities, like being able to tell when someone is currently typing a response and indicating when your sent message has been opened. And as a potential threat to the Belugas and GroupMe's of the world, Apple is throwing group messaging into the mix as well. The company says that ll iMessages are encrypted for security.
Notification Center: The long-awaited update to iOS's much bemoaned notifications system, Notification Center works in three big ways. 1. No longer will new notifications plop down in the middle of your screen and pull you out of whatever app you're working in. Instead, they show up briefly at the top of your screen and then disappear without interrupting the action. You can deal with it when it shows up, or just let it go. 2. Keep track of all your notifications in the new Notification Center window. To access it, just swipe down from the top of any screen you have open. Notifications Center can even include stock and weather data. 3. Lock screen access to notifications means if you're iOS device is in lockdown, you can see all your new notifications and go directly to the one you want with ease.
PC Free: One of the more exciting announcements Forstall made was that iOS devices are officially cutting the cord. No longer will you get that "Connect to iTunes" screen when you first turn on your device. Instead, iOS 5 devices will set up and download software updates over the air.
Twitter: As rumored, Twitter has been welcomed into the iOS family with the new version, and you'll now have the option to tweet your photos, videos and maps location directly from within the native clients. You can tweet directly from mobile Safari, too, and contacts now syncs with with your friend's profile pics and usernames.
Photo Editor: No longer will you have to purchase iPhoto or another photo editing app if you only want to do basic editing to all those photos you've been snapping with iPhone 4's amazing camera. The new Photos app allows basic edits, like cropping, auto-enhance and redeye correction.
Newsstand: A place for all your new subscriptions thanks to the recent iTunes deal with publishers. New issues automatically download in the background, so your publications stay up to date.
There are a number of other new features coming to iOS that you can read about over at Apple. They all sound good to us, but there's one key drawback: iOS 5 won't be released to the public until sometime this fall, which is now very obviously when to expect the next generation iPhone.
[Apple]