Intel today showed off a new reference PC design built around the company's upcoming Broadwell Core M processor. The Core M is based on a 14 nm process and will the first Broadwell chip to be made available to manufacturers, who are expected to debut the chip in retail products by the end of this year.
With Intel experiencing difficulties and delays with the development of Broadwell, the current Haswell generation has been stretched out somewhat with only modest "Haswell refresh" bumps taking place in recent months to tide users over until Broadwell. With improved performance and efficiency, Broadwell is seen as a significant opportunity for innovation in personal computers.
Intel's reference design for hybrid tablet-notebook running on Broadwell
At Computex, Intel president Renee James showcased the first Core M device -- a 12.5-inch tablet-notebook hybrid that is thinner than the iPad Air, has a fanless design, and provides energy-efficient performance for mobile users.
The innovative design is based on the first of Intel's next-generation 14nm Broadwell processors that are purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will be in market later this year. Called the Intel Core M processor, it will deliver the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless and deliver both a lightning-fast tablet and a razor-thin laptop.
Apple has been rumored to planning to release a fanless Retina MacBook Air later this year, but it is unclear exactly what technology Apple will use to achieve that design. The Core M processor being shown by Intel today is part of the Broadwell-Y series that runs at just a handful of watts, while the MacBook Air currently includes Haswell-U series chips running in the 15-watt range. Broadwell-U chips are expected, although perhaps not in significant quantities until early 2015.
Apple has updated its App Store review guidelines to allow for "approved" virtual currencies in apps, paving the way for new types of currencies to be traded and maintained on iOS devices, reportsReuters.
11.17 Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions.
The move is interesting given Apple's past tendencies to remove and deny apps that promote virtual currencies, namely those having to do with the popular Bitcoin currency. Last year, Apple notably required the developers behind private messaging app Gliph to remove the app's Bitcoin sending capabilities, or face deletion from the App Store.
Apple's actions on Gliph also shed light on the company's overall relationship with Bitcoin apps. It was reported that Apple had told a number of developers behind Bitcoin-related apps that their apps contained content "that is not legal in all the locations in which the app is available," and were non-compliant with Apple's policies.
However, with Apple's new App Store guidelines on the matter, it is now possible that apps like Gliph could indefinitely allow for virtual currencies like Bitcoin to be traded. While it is ultimately up to Apple as what is allowed in its apps, the company's updated policy marks a completely new position on the issue of virtual currencies.
Recentrumors surrounding Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 have pointed to two models for the device: a 4.7-inch version set to launch later this year and a larger 5.5-inch version for late 2014 or early 2015. While Apple previously released the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at the same time last year, reports have indicated that issues with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 battery life and display technology will force the company to launch both phones at separate times later this year. Now, a new report from Chinese site Laoyaoba (Google Translate, via GforGames) claims that Apple has solved its battery issues with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6, as the company will partner with Chinese manufacturing company Sunwoda Electronics to manufacture 20 million batteries for the device. Apple's main battery supplier Dynapack will also help with production, however the Taiwanese-based company has reportedly struggled to keep up with demand.
The report also notes that Apple is aiming to build 20 million 5.5-inch iPhone 6 units by the end of this year, which follows a rumor last month that stated the company's desire to build a total of 80 million iPhone 6 units in 2014. If true, this would mean that the majority of iPhone 6 units would be of the smaller 4.7-inch version, perhaps indicating that the larger version will be hard to find until supplies improve later next year.
In addition to a larger screen, Apple's iPhone 6 is expected to include a thinner profile, a faster A8 processor, and an improved camera in the form of optical or electronic image stabilization. Apple has also included an option for developers to size apps for devices referred to as "Resizable iPhones" in its release of Xcode 6 earlier today, which likely further indicates that iPhones with larger displays are coming.
Luca Maestri is Apple’s senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer reporting to CEO Tim Cook. As CFO, Luca oversees the accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, M&A, investor relations, internal audit and tax functions at Apple. Luca joined Apple in 2013 as vice president of Finance and corporate controller, and has worked closely with Apple's senior leadership since his arrival.
Apple announced the transition in early March. Oppenheimer will stay on through the summer, transitioning the balance of his responsibilities to Maestri until he officially retires in September.
Before joining Apple in 2013, Maestri was CFO at both Xerox and Nokia Siemens Networks. His 25 year career saw him with leadership roles at General Motors at multiple locations throughout the world, including South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
At an event at WWDC this evening, Apple announced the winners of its prestigious Apple Design Awards, highlighting an array of apps from utilities to games on both iOS and the Mac. Apple's Design Awards were created to recognize apps that combine design and technology in creative, compelling and powerful ways.
2013 winners of the Apple Design Awards included Letterpress, Yahoo! Weather and Evernote. In 2012, winners included Jetpack Joyride, Paper and Sketch.
Earlier today at its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote address, Apple displayed a slide from its presentation listing many under-the-radar features and improvements the company has made to iOS 8. One of them was Wi-Fi calling, which allows users to make regular phone calls over Wi-Fi rather than a cellular network. Soon after the event, T-Mobile took to its corporate blog to announce that it would support Wi-Fi calling on its network.
One of the best things about T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling is that it’s so simple to use. You don’t need to activate anything or download a special app. Just connect to any available Wi-Fi network, check that Wi-Fi Calling is turned on on your capable smartphone, and make a call (or send a text, email, etc.) as you normally would. That’s it.
Wi-Fi calling allows networks to ease strain on bandwidth and potentially speed up the network for other things. It also allows users to experience higher quality calls when carrier signal is low and may drain less battery life during calls.
iOS 8 is available to developers now and launches for the public in the fall.
Ahead of WWDC, perhaps one of the most hyped features for iOS 8 was "Healthbook," which was said to serve as a Passbook-style app that aggregated a variety of health-related information in a colorful card array.
While Apple did indeed announce a new health initiative and accompanying app, "Healthbook" turned out to be off the mark. The app is called simply "Health," and appears to differ a bit from how it was described in early rumors. According to Apple, Health is designed to be an "easy-to-read" dashboard of health and fitness data, which can pull in information from several different sources. "It might just be the beginning of a health revolution," reads Apple's iOS 8 Health page.
Heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar, cholesterol -- your health and fitness apps are great at collecting all that data. The new Health app puts that data in one place, accessible with a tap, giving you a clear and current overview of your health.
The Health app keeps track of several different health metrics measured by various devices, including heart rate, calories, cholesterol, and more. It also features an "emergency card" that includes all of a user's important health information, including blood type and allergies, which can be displayed directly on the lock screen of an iOS device.
As can be seen in screenshots of the app, it aggregates information into a selection of categories such as Diagnostics, Fitness, Lab Results, Medications, Nutrition, Sleep, and Vitals. Many of these categories can also be displayed on a dashboard chart, giving users an at-a-glance view of their overall health.
Accompanying Health is the HealthKit tool for developers, which can be incorporated into both new and existing health and fitness apps to allow them to access the health data stored within the Health app. Users are able to choose exactly what's shared and can, potentially, choose to share data from a health-related app with a doctor. Apps can also be authorized to share information with each other. A nutrition app might share how many calories are consumed with a fitness app, for example.
According to Dr. John H. Noseworthy, CEO of the Mayo Clinic, Apple's HealthKit has the potential to "revolutionize how the health industry interacts with people." The Mayo Clinic is already working with Apple and HealthKit, creating an app that allows patients to monitor their blood pressure, sending alerts to doctors automatically.
Despite all of the focus on Apple's health related initiative before WWDC, the company spent very little time going over the Health app. It is likely we'll see an additional focus on Health in the coming months as it is likely to also integrate with Apple's much-rumored wearable device, the iWatch. Health and HealthKit, both part of iOS 8, are available to developers today with a public release of the operating system expected in the fall.
Earlier today as Apple was unveiling OS X Yosemite for the first time at the Worldwide Developers Conference, software chief Craig Federighi announced that there would be a public open beta for the new operating system ahead of its launch this fall. Now, users on our forums have discovered an AppleSeed sign up page for the program, with Apple noting that the program is open to the first one million users who register.
How can I participate?
To join the OS X Beta Program, just sign up using your Apple ID. When the beta software is ready, you’ll receive a redemption code that will allow you to download and install OS X Yosemite Beta from the Mac App Store. Then go ahead and start using it. When you come across an issue that needs addressing, report it directly to Apple with the built-in Feedback Assistant application.
Users will also need to be running OS X Mavericks, and Apple recommends that the OS X Yosemite beta be installed on a secondary Mac in the event of possible bugs and errors.
OS X Yosemite includes a brand new user interface design alongside major new features focusing on seamless integration between Mac and iOS devices. The new operating system also includes a new cloud storage solution called iCloud Drive, as well as the ability to make phone calls and texts through an iPhone.
With the release of Xcode 6 today after Worldwide Developer Conference, developers have found an option within Xcode to size apps for devices referred to as "Resizable iPhone" and "Resizable iPad", as pointed out by Mac4Ever [Google Translate]. The option is next to other Apple devices, including iPad Air, iPhone 5s, and iPad Retina.
The options are likely to enable developers to start developing apps that fit on the rumored larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens of the iPhone 6 and, perhaps, the rumored 12-inch iPad Pro. Another photo of the Xcode simulator shows the difference between an app visually optimized for an older iPhone in what appears to be the resolution for one of the two iPhone 6 models.
It's not yet known what the exact resolutions are for the 4.7 and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 models or even the rumored 12-inch iPad Pro, but the "resizable" functionality would allow developers to explore building versions of their apps for larger screens that are currently available.
During today's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Tim Cook and other Apple executives gave us a fast-paced, broad-ranging look at some of the features we can expect with iOS 8, including improvements to Messages, keyboard enhancements in the form of QuickType and access to third-party keyboards, HealthKit, Extensibility, and more.
Along with the features that were demoed on stage, an iOS 8 graphic displayed some additional functions that went largely under the radar, many of which look quite interesting. For example, iOS 8 will apparently display battery usage by app, a handy feature that will let users monitor the battery drain of specific apps, shutting down those that are drawing too much power.
iPads will gain the ability to take Panoramic photos like the iPhone, while the Camera will gain an instant burst mode, a timer mode, and separate controls for focus and exposure. iBooks will support an auto night mode and the ability to organize books by series, while notifications will include travel time.
A mysterious Tips app, which was first depicted in an early screenshot of iOS 8, is also mentioned, though it is unclear what this app will do. It is possible Tips will provide iOS users with information on lesser known iOS features, serving as a tutorial app for those who want to learn the ins and outs of their devices.
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An "In Case of Emergency" card will be added to iOS 8, displaying contact information and possibly health-related information as well. Users will be able to use Siri to purchase iTunes content, Notes gains a new rich text editing feature, and RSS feeds are displayed within Shared Links in Safari.
Other mentioned features offering unknown functions include Place cards in other apps and Speak Screen.
Finally, there are also several accessibility improvements coming, including an Alex voice, Braille keyboard, improved zoom, and multi-device support for MFi hearing aids. Guided Access, which limits an iPad or iPhone to opening a single app, will gain time limits, a countdown timer, and Touch ID integration.
These are of course, only a small selection of the hundreds of new features and minor functions that will likely be added to iOS 8 as it is in development. iOS 8 is available to developers immediately, while the public will get access to the new mobile operating system later this year.
Apple has also uploaded the "Apps We Can't Live Without" video to YouTube, which played before the keynote and showcases how users view developers and the apps they build.
Apple devoted the last third of its keynote address at the Worldwide Developer Conference today to improvements for its Software Development Kit (SDK), launching a new programming language called Swift, and development kits for health, home automation, iCloud and inter-app operability.
The announcement that got the biggest reaction from developers was Swift, a new programming language for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch that Apple calls modern, fast and powerful and designed for safety.
Swift is the result of the latest research on programming languages, combined with decades of experience building Apple platforms. Named parameters brought forward from Objective-C are expressed in a clean syntax that makes APIs in Swift even easier to read and maintain. Inferred types make code cleaner and less prone to mistakes, while modules eliminate headers and provide namespaces. Memory is managed automatically, and you don’t even need to type semi-colons.
Swift also includes "Playgrounds", which allows developers to see the results of their code in a side panel in real time. The developer community appears extremely excited about Swift, with Realmac's Nik Fletcher saying he had "no words". Notable Apple pundit and developer John Gruber said that Swift is "huge, huge news" and the "future of all Apple development".
iCloud has also been partly opened up for developers with a powerful new framework for developers called CloudKit. It allows developers to avoid costly and time-consuming coding the server-side of applications, with Apple providing huge amounts of cloud storage and computing power for free, albeit with extremely high limits to encourage tight coding.
Leverage the full power of iCloud and build apps with the new CloudKit framework. Now you can easily and securely store and efficiently retrieve your app data like structured data in a database or assets right from iCloud. CloudKit also enables your users to anonymously sign in to your apps with their iCloud Apple IDs without sharing their personal information.
Additionally, Apple announced lots of new APIs for developers to take further advantage of iOS. Extensibility allows apps from the App Store, which are usually isolated in sandboxes, to communicate with each other. For instance, the Pinterest app could be updated to provide a sharing option in Safari, or Bing could be updated to provide translations within Safari. Another example includes the Photos app, which can use filters from third-party apps like VSCO.
Apps from the App Store can send widgets to the Today pane in the Notification Center. For instance, ESPN's SportsCenter could add a widget within the Today pane that allows users to easily check the latest sports scores without having to open the app. Widgets are also interactive, allowing users to, for example, bid for an item on eBay from within the Notification Center.
Other parts of iOS have been opened up to developers as well, including the ability for users to swap out the default iOS keyboard for third-party options like Swype. Touch ID has also been opened up to developers, allowing apps like Mint to use fingerprint scans instead of passwords.
Apple also announced its rumored home automation platform, called HomeKit. Previously, each home automation app used its own security protocols. Now, after working together with leaders in the home automation field, all apps can work together with a single protocol and secure pairings. This allows automated home devices, like Phillips' Hue lights, to work with Siri. Users can now tell Siri something like "Siri, get ready for bed" to turn off the lights, close the garage and whatever other functions are automated in a users' home.
Apple has also improved things for game developers, announcing Metal, which frees up resources for game developers to make better looking and more powerful games for iOS devices. For instance, EA would now be able to use its Frostbite engine for console games for games meant for iOS, like the upcoming Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare.
Xcode has been updated with live rendering, view debugging, performance testing, storyboards and more.
All of these SDK features are available for developers in the iOS 8 beta today, and will be available for consumers later this year in the fall. Much more information is available at Apple's Developer website.
Near the end of today's keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference that included a first look at iOS 8 among other things, Apple revealed what iOS devices will be compatible with its new mobile operating system this fall. That list included the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad 2, iPad with Retina Display, iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad mini with Retina Display.
Notably missing from the list is the iPhone 4, which saw compatibility with iOS 7 last year and even saw improved performance with iOS 7.1. Apple restarted iPhone 4 production for countries including Brazil, India and Indonesia earlier this year, but the device will likely be now be discontinued again in the near future.
iOS 8 will launch this fall with revamped notification features, a new QuickType keyboard that adds predictive typing suggestions, an enhanced Messages app, a new Healthkit app that aggregates health-related metrics, improvements to Siri, and many more features.
After showing off the main features for iOS 8 at its Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple announced improvements for the App Store starting with iOS 8, including app bundles, integrated beta testing, improved search and more.
In order to improve discoverability, the App Store will soon add an "Explore" tab, allowing users to explore through categories and sub-categories easily. Search has also been improved, with the ability to see the top trending searches in the App Store and related searches.
Developers will also be able to bundle together apps, allowing users to buy multiple apps for a single discounted price. Also available to developers are previews, which allows developers to include short videos to tell users what their apps are all about.
Finally, developers can also invite users to beta test their apps in a new service called TestFlight, which allows developers to see information about their apps from right within the service. The service is free for developers, and stems from Apple's acquisition of Burstly, which offered its own TestFlight beta management service, back in February.
Apple also announced that there are now 1.2 million apps in the App Store and nearly 300 million visitors to the App Store per week who are downloading apps. The App Store has also reached another significant milestone, passing 75 billion apps been downloaded since its 2008 debut.
Apple today announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference that iOS 8 will support system wide third-party keyboards.
The company showed something that appeared to resemble the popular-gesture based keyboard Swype running on iOS 8, as software chief Craig Federighi noted that keyboards have the most restrictive sandbox to ensure user privacy and safety.
To this point, third-party keyboards such as SwiftKey Note and Flesky have launched for iOS, although their integration has been limited to note-taking in a separate app and allowing app developers to incorporate their keyboard, respectively. With this announcement, it is likely that both keyboards will launch for iOS with full integration at some point in the future.
Support for third-party keyboards will be included with iOS 8, with the new mobile operating system expected to launch this fall.
As a part of today's unveiling for iOS 8 at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced a new "QuickType" feature for the onboard keyboard which offers context sensitive predictive typing suggestions among other features.
For instance, an example message asking a user about "dinner or a movie" displayed button suggestions like "dinner", "a movie", and "not sure", while the feature will also learn how a user types and suggest specific slang used over time. Apple also promised that QuickType will protect a user's privacy when learning conversations throughout iOS, as the feature will also work in over 10 different languages.
QuickType will ship as as a part of iOS 8, which will be available later this year.
While introducing iOS 8 at its Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple announced a host of improvements for its popular iMessage messaging platform, including in-line audio and video messages and new group features like Do Not Disturb and more.
The in-line video and audio messages are accessed from a small radial menu on the right of the text-entry field, allowing users to quickly choose whether they want to send a video or audio message. Like Snapchat, the audio and video messages "self-destruct" after a certain amount of time to save space. However, users can also choose to keep them if they really want to.
Users can play the media from within the message thread by pressing the "play" button or simply raising the phone to their ear, which also works straight from the lock screen.
In addition, group messages have received numerous improvements, including Do Not Disturb, the ability to name conversations and add or remove people from the group chat. Locations can also be shared, and can be chosen to be shared for a certain amount of time a day.
Apple announced iOS 8 at the keynote event of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference today. iOS 8 gets a multitude of new features for consumers, including revamped notification features, an upgrade to auto-correct called QuickType, support for third-party keyboards, improvements to Mail, and a new health tracking component called Health.
Notification Center Interactive notifications let users pull down notifications and interact with them to respond to text messages or other notifications without leaving the current open app, or complete actions from notifications shown on the lock screen. In a demo, Craig Federighi was able to reply to an iMessage and like a Facebook post directly from the on-screen notification, which popped over a separate app he was using.
Keyboard Enhancements A new feature in the iOS keyboard called QuickType, adds predictive typing suggestions that adapt to the current context. QuickType learns each users habits and language while protecting privacy. Along with QuickType enhancing the existing iOS keyboards, Apple is going to allow users to install third-party keyboards for the first time, which means keyboards like Swype can be used natively on the operating system.
Messages Improvements Messages gets the ability to name conversation threads, add and remove people from group conversations, allow users to leave group conversations, a feature that has been much-requested by users. In addition to leaving a message thread, users also have the option to turn on "Do Not Disturb," which will mute message notifications from a noisy group message thread.
With iOS 8, Messages allows users to share their locations right within the app. It also allows audio and video messages to be recorded directly in the Messages app and sent to friends. These messages can be viewed inline or via the lock screen. Craig Federighi showed off a neat trick with an audio message -- he held the phone up to his ear to reply, with the message automatically sending when he lowered the phone.
HealthKit HealthKit is a new developer API that will gather and consolidate users' health information from multiple sources and apps, such as those from Nike and Fitbit. A corresponding "Health" app will monitor fitness metrics, linking into third-party apps to gather data.
Apple has been testing HealthKit with the Mayo Clinic, letting patients and doctors work together using HealthKit to get personalized thresholds for readings, notifying doctors automatically when something is wrong. HealthKit aims to bridge the gap between patients, doctors, and health-tracking devices. According to the Mayo Clinic, HealthKit has the potential to "revolutionize" how the health industry works.
Siri Siri gets several updates, with the ability to be invoked hands-free with the phrase "Hey, Siri" along with Shazam song recognition, 22 new dictation languages, streaming voice recognition to show users search results as they speak, and more.
Extensibility There are thousands of new APIs for developers, and one of the most exciting of those was Extensibility. This feature allows apps within iOS 8 to share information with each other and with the Notification Center. Demoed on stage, Extensibility allowed filters from third-party apps to be used directly on pictures within the Photos app and it also brought Bing translation to Safari.
Extensibility also allows apps to install widgets within the Notification Center, which work similar to existing Apple widgets for the Calendar, Stocks, and more. This was demoed with an ESPN SportsCenter widget, which allowed sports scores to be displayed automatically within Notification Center.
Touch ID Developers will also be able to access Touch ID for the first time to protect sensitive apps. Fingerprint data will be kept separate, but authentication will automatically unlock passwords stored in keychain to grant user access to apps.
Family Sharing A Family Sharing feature will let families share photos, calendars, reminders, and more among up to six family members at once. Family Sharing also allows families (of up to 6 people) with Apple ID accounts using the same credit card to share apps and books. With Family Sharing enabled, when a child attempts to purchase an app, an adult will get a popup on their own device asking them to approve the purchase.
iOS 8 will support most recent Apple iOS devices with the notable exception of the iPhone 4. iOS 8 will be available to developers as a beta today and it will be released to the public in the fall.
MacRumors readers can discuss the upcoming iOS version in our new iOS 8 forum.
Apple has updated its 
New Apple CFO Luca Maestri's 
Soon after the event, T-Mobile took to its 
