I always love the last few months and weeks that build up to an iPhone/iPad announcement. Though some of the rumors have turned into fact, most are just random, fabricated factoids that many MSM and bloggers push out there for the masses. At the end of the day I can only presume that Apple doesn't pay those any attention except in the case of lost hardware.
However, I am not immune to reading a lot of these misleading articles. Granted I don't treat them as gospel there are a few things that I am very excited about.
First, is the official roll out of iCloud. Having used the beta version the past few months I have been pleasantly surprised as it's convince and ease of use. It is a huge win for the average consumer who has, up to this point, been reliant on iTunes and various other backup strategies to manage their content and media.
Second, is iTunes Match. It has always been somewhat of a let down that users couldn't access all of their music from any of their devices. The process is extremely easy and now you don't have to carry around a separate iDevice to hold your music catalog.
Third, wireless syncing. I have a strong feeling that most IT administrators and children/grandchildren who have to provide tech support to their parents/grandparents will jump up and down over this.
Fourth, the API features with the new iOS have once again raised the bar for app developers. Apple has listen to feedback from developers to make it easier for us to provide better functionality in our apps as well as more detailed customization options.
*Bye-bye drawRect: category*
Fifth (possibly), Apple Assistant. Rumor Alert! Could the headline "Let's Talk iPhone" really have a hidden meaning.
Apple gave the masses the first decent implementation of multi-touch. The communication mechanism that is inherit to all since birth. Pointing, dragging, panning, zooming, swiping. With the acquisition of Siri, there is no doubt that Apple has been putting a lot of effort in creating the near-perfect implementation of voice recognition for the masses. On device voice processing via natural speech that is a native part of iOS. If this is the case, then you will see a whole new generation of apps and a paradigm shift in how users, impaired or not, interface with these applications.
Apple...let's talk.