Neil Hughes
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said on Friday that his industry checks have indicated that a new Maps application in iOS to be unveiled at WWDC later this month will be a "greatly enhanced" version with 3D capability. He said the new offering has been internally developed by Apple, allowing the company to move away from Google, claims that echo earlier reports.
Wu believes most of the industry's focus on the new Maps application will be about how it replaces Google Maps on every iOS device shipped. But he believes that for Apple, the new software will be about a lot more than moving away from Google.
"We hear the key reason why AAPL decided to do this is that it believes it can deliver a much better use experience in Maps, not to mention provide further differentiation for its mobile devices business," he wrote in a note to investors on Friday.
Another upgrade to iOS will allow "more powerful sharing of photos," Wu said. Earlier this month The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Apple plans to launch new photo sharing functionality in iCloud at WWDC.
Wu added that Apple is working on a "notable upgrade" for both the native Camera and Photos application on iOS. He speculated that the changes would make it less necessary for iPhone users to rely on third-party applications like Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in April.
As for new hardware, Wu anticipates "several" Macs receiving refreshes from Apple. Earlier reports have pegged both the MacBook Pro and iMac lineups to be updated at WWDC with Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors, as well as high-resolution Retina displays.
Sterne Agee has maintained a price target of $780 for AAPL stock, citing the company's ability to "outperform in this tough macroeconomic environment." Apple remains one of the firm's top picks, along with IBM.
Andrew O'Hara
Charles Martin
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25 Comments
his industry checks = Reading blogs about Apple. :)
I wish the Camera Roll in iOS is enhanced to display info like when the photo was taken, etc. That would really help organize my runaway photos since my first iPhone!
Can't fucking wait. And yeah, photos in the camera roll desperately need a 'get info' pane, which also includes location. I shouldn't have to use a 3rd party app for that. Also, it's 2012, so I think Apple can relent on the ridiculous 5 photo email limit. Force us to resize if needed, but I find this ludicrous. Sometimes you just want to attack some quick photos without going through the hoops of making an online album, and nobody likes receiving multiple emails.
Also, it's 2012, so I think Apple can relent on the ridiculous 5 photo email limit. Force us to resize if needed, but I find this ludicrous.
Well, you'd have to, wouldn't you? Is there a single e-mail service that allows attachments totaling more than 25MB?
It'd be nice to be able to reorganize photos (even if they're just from the Camera Roll) into folders… Actually, I think I'll mock up some screenshots of what I'm thinking about…
There are a bunch of little tweaks that Apple could do all across iOS to make it spectacular. It's the being able to do it in an Appley way that seems to be preventing them…
Read hundreds of articles/posts about this new Maps app... but none of them ever seem to mention street view. Street very is very, very useful and I wonder of we can continue to use google maps for such?