Apple releases iOS8

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in apple on (#2SH1)
Apple released the 8th version of its popular iOS operating system today, and as far as this editor can tell, the entire Internet experienced a collective nerdgasm. Every major tech site is either reporting on it, speculating on it, or promising sneak previews of hitherto undisclosed features.

Apple themselves are calling iOS8 "the biggest update ever." So we turn to the Register, who gives us a more precise list of new features:
IOS 8 can automatically filter, straighten and crop snaps, and it eases the process of sharing photos and others files with people ... will record time-lapse videos, if you want. And the iOS Messages app will be updated to include location info, video and voice records, and self-deleting vids, apparently. ...
The update will also include the HealthKit personal monitoring API that was seen at WWDC back in June. Other features include supposedly better predictive typing for the on-screen keyboard, and Siri apparently works better with getting information from maps and news. Not all the features will be available in all countries, however. Siri's ability to reserve restaurant tables, for example, will only be offered to people in North America when the OS launches. And, of course, the update will use the iPhone 6 smartphone and 6 Plus' NFC hardware as a cash substitute thanks to Apple Pay. That service is supported by many of the largest banks and credit card companies - although third-party app makers are frozen out of the party.
So what say you P8rs? Is this a revolution in pocket computing, or a marginal update to existing features? Or something in between?

Ars Tecnica (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 20:37 (#2SHF)

Man, it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop around here.

Good review by Ars Technica, who like it: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-thoroughly-reviewed/
Overuse of hyperbole is a pet peeve of mine, but after using iOS 8 for a couple of months, I have to say that they're warranted in this case. iOS 7 was a comprehensive makeover for an operating system that needed to reclaim visual focus and consistency. iOS 7.1 improved stability and speed while addressing the new design's worst shortcomings and most egregious excesses. And iOS 8 is the update that turns its attention from the way everything looks to the way it works.

Just as iOS 6's look had begun to grow stale by the time 2013 rolled around (six years is a pretty good run, though), iOS' restrictions on third-party applications and UI customization now feel outdated. Sure, back in 2007, slow processors and small RAM banks required a strict, Spartan approach to what apps could do and the ways they could interact. But now, our smartphones and tablets have become powerful mini-computers in their own right. Competing platforms like Android, Windows, and Windows Phone have all demonstrated that it's possible to make these little gadgets more computer-y without tanking performance or battery life. ...
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