Apple WWDC roundup: iTunes Radio, iOS 7, Mavericks, and MacBook Air
Culture
Get ready for Apple's new sights and sound.
I am Bridget Carey and this is your CNET Update.
At the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled its streaming music service called iTunes Radio.
There's also a new mobile operating system design and updated MacBook Air laptops.
But let's start with iTunes Radio.
This is very similar to Pandora and the fact that it's free with advertisements,
there are hundreds of stations already created but you can make your own based on artists or songs that you like and Apple, or course makes it easy to buy the songs you've streamed.
iTunes Radio will be ad-free if you pay $25 a year for iTunes Match, which is the service that stores all the music you own in the Cloud.
This iTunes Radio will come with iTunes on Macs and PC on Apple TV and yes, the new and improved iOS 7. The new operating system for iPhones and iPads will look completely
different when it's released this fall.
We haven't seen a lot of changes in iOS design but now, graphics look very clean and simple, not so bubbly and no more background textures that imitate real things like wood or paper, and there are gestures that are just like Web OS in BlackBerry.
On the left side of the screen, you drag your finger to review the last thing you were doing to multitask faster and you can scroll through app screens like cards.
There's a new pullup menu from the bottom called Control Center, that quickly
changes settings, music and other options.
A feature called Air Drop will make it easier to share items with others nearby.
And don't forget about Sir.
Now, Siri can be a man if you want and he or she can understand new commands like increase brightness or play my last voicemail.
Apple also updated the Mac OS 10 with the version called Mavericks.
You can have iOS mobile notifications and messages appear on your Mac and the calendar can integrate with Apple Map, so you can see how long it will take to get
to your next appointment.
Safari on the Mac and iOS 7 also got a few upgrades.
There are new MacBook Airs that use the new 4th generation Intel chips that will give the laptop's 40% faster graphics and better battery life.
The 13-inch model starts at $1100.
Apple also teased that it's working on a new Mac Pro desktop with this new cylinder shape but no word yet on price or availability.
And at the same time, Apple will share all this news.
Microsoft announced that the Xbox One
will launch in November for $500 in the U.S. There's also a new redesign model of the Xbox 360 available now.
And the next CNET Update, I'll bring you more highlights from the E3 video game conference but in the meantime, you could find the latest at cnet.com.
From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.
