Well, it appears that it is once again time to pen a comparison post, this time following up with the one published in October of last year - about 8 months ago - that compares a few of the important factors between the three important mobile platforms of our time. With iOS 6 freshly unveiled, along with a few developments that have transpired over the past 8 months, there are a few changes to make.
One of the expected outcomes of WWDC's opening keynote event was the removal of Google Maps from iOS, with it being replaced by Apple's own in-house solution that not only gives the Cupertino firm more control over the maps experience, but also knocks Google out of its stride on one of the world's most popular smartphones and, let's not forget, tablets.
With Apple's big iOS 6 reveal done and dusted, we can now focus our attentions on what Microsoft has in store with its ever-advancing Windows Phone platform. The Redmond-based outfit has been steadfast in its progress of Windows 8, and the mobile version will play a key role in its eventual success.
Merely a couple of weeks after buying out the competition with the billion dollar purchase of Instagram, Facebook launched its very own camera app, very similar offering for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users back in May.
Beginning in June and running through September, many of the biggest names in tech run special "back to school" promotions in order to garner a good reputation among college students aid them on their usually modest budgets.
Microsoft has been somewhat coy with regards to Office 15, or Office 2013, but towards the end of its Tech-Ed 2012 keynote, it gave a little more insight into the upcoming version of Office. Set to be called Microsoft Office: Office 2013 RT, it was demonstrated only very briefly, but did appear to serve to confirm the rife rumors that it will indeed be landing next year.
The limelight during yesterday's WWDC keynote was hogged almost entirely by the MacBook range, in particular, the brand-new, Retina display MacBook Pro. With the four-year wait for Mac Pro enhancements bringing only incremental improvements at best, you could have been forgiven that Apple was distancing itself from the desktop in favor of the notebook.
Microsoft's latest Windows 8 operating system has been getting a lot of attention and causing waves in the technology world over the last few months, attention that has intensified in recent weeks thanks to the release of the Release Preview that pretty much shows us what to expect when it hits the shelves. With Windows 8 featuring the much loved Metro-style interface, users are not only excited about getting their hands on what represents the next step for Microsoft, but also keen to see what software is produced by third-party developers.
Today's big WWDC kick-off saw much publicity even before the curtain was raised. Anticipation was sky-high, and all the press in the land converged upon what was possibly the most exciting non-iOS hardware announcements for some time. We knew something big was coming, and we were right.
Today's WWDC event certainly went off with a bang, and as well as a new Retina iMac, MacBooks, iOS 6 with all the expected trimmings, there was also a big surprise in the form of the next-generation MacBook Pro.
