Apps shine at Apple's WWDC

By Eric Jou (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-06-03 09:54

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures during his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 2, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Apple Inc's Worldwide Developers Conference held in San Fran

Kicking off their 25th annual WWDC on Monday, Apple chose to forgo the revelations of new hardware in favor of updates to software and the introduction of new developer-focused features, including a new coding language.

The conference, which lasts a week, features 100 different sessions and 120 labs where developers can interact and learn to create applications for Apple products with the help of more than 1,000 engineers working for the company.

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Originally started in 1989 with about 1,300 attendees, Apple's WWDC has become one of the world's major technology events.

As is tradition at the WWDC, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage to roll out statistics in the Apple world, highlighted the rise in the number of developers the tech giant has hired, the gains the company has made in increasing the user base of its operating system, and then took a typical jab at competitors.

The kick off "reveal" of the day was the announcement of Apple's desktop operating system, OS X Yosemite. The current OS X, Mavericks, released last year was seen as a major overhaul of the 13-year-old operating system. This update is essentially a facelift for OS X. New features on Yosemite include better search integration, notifications with widgets, and windows with transparency.

The kick off event of the day was the announcement of Apple's desktop operating system, OS X Yosemite. The current operating system, Mavericks, which was released last year, was seen as a major overhaul of the 13-year-old operating system. This update is essentially a facelift for OS X. New features on Yosemite include better search integration, notifications with widgets, and windows with transparency.

Perhaps the biggest addition to OSX is a new feature called Continuity. It allows Apple users to have better integration between their desktop and mobile computing. Users can move content and work seamlessly between the MacBook and the iPhone. The MacBook can connect with the iPhone and make phone calls. Federighi demonstrated the phone call ability with a quick call to Apple's newest "employee" the famous hip-hop musician and mogul Dr. Dre.

Moving on from desktop, Apple also introduced new updates to its mobile operating system iOS with the announcement of iOS 8.