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Posts tagged with "developers"

Apple Posts Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2

Following a brief fix in Software Update, here comes a new build of OS X Lion. It’s available now in the Mac Dev Center. Build number is 11A419. Once again, the new Developer Preview must be downloaded through the Mac App Store via a redeem code. It’s worth noting that OS X Lion Server has been posted as a separate build this time:

To install the Lion Developer Preview, you’ll need 10.6.7 or the previous developer preview which, again, needs to be updated in Software Update. For those who will need to pause their download from the Mac App Store and resume it, Apple says in the FAQ section:

If you need to interrupt your download for any reason, including changing the network you are connected to or traveling to a new location, ensure that you first Pause your download under the Purchases tab in Mac App Store. After you re-establish your connection, you may Resume your download under the Purchases tab.

While TechCrunch reported a few days ago that Apple would soon release a “GM” version of Lion to developers, it clearly appears that Lion still needs a few more updates before being ready for the golden master status. Several bloggers are speculating that a GM version will actually be released at the WWDC, which will kick off in San Francisco on June 6th.

Changes in the Lion Developer Preview 2 are still unknown. We’ll update this post as we gather more details.

TechCrunch now follows up to their previous report with details on today’s build:

More importantly, this is the build that Apple is considering to be a “GM1″ revision internally, we hear. And yes, it’s said to be much more stable and complete than the previous build.

Having said that, it’s unlikely that this will be the actual “Golden Master” copy. We’re still a solid two months away from Apple’s WWDC event where Lion will be a key area of focus. Apple may attempt to launch Lion there, but more likely is that the release candidates is handed out to developers there.

 

Apple Releases Lion Developer Preview Update 1

As noted by iClarified, Apple just released a first update for the OS X Lion developer preview in Software Update. A few days ago, TechCrunch reported Apple was getting ready to seed a GM build of Mac OS X Lion, and while this build isn’t touted as “golden master” to developers, it appears that the sources close to TechCrunch were right about Lion moving forward in the development stages.

The changelog indeed suggests this is only an update aimed at allowing developers to download new builds from the Mac App Store in the future:

This update is required to redeem downloads of Mac OS X Lion seed builds from the Mac App Store.

We’ll update this post with changes as more details come in.

WWDC ‘11 Sold Out In Less Than 10 Hours

The WWDC 2011, announced earlier today, is already sold out, as you can see on Apple’s official webpage for the event. This year’s conference sets a new record for Apple and the developers community: last year, WWDC tickets sold out in 8 days. For the 2011 edition, Apple managed to sell all tickets (which start at $1,599) in less than half a day since the announcement this morning – which saw developers from all around the globe quickly buy tickets to secure their presence in San Francisco from June 6 to June 10.

As a quick recap, the WWDC 2011 will focus on “the future of iOS and Mac OS” with:

  • more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and Mac OS technologies;
  • over 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques, and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and Mac OS technologies in their apps;
  • the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPad®, iPhone® and Mac developers from around the world;
  • Apple Design Awards which recognize iPad, iPhone and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

Rumor: Siri “A Big Part” Of iOS 5, Demo At WWDC

Following this morning’s formal announcement from Apple about the WWDC ‘11, a number of reports surfaced indicating this year’s conference will be a software-related event, with the focus on iOS and Mac OS X Lion. Several bloggers and journalists have reported there won’t be a single hardware announcement at the WWDC, meaning a new iPhone – for the first time in years – won’t be announced at the June event.

Such an announcement, of course, lead many to speculate what features of iOS 5 (Lion has already been demoed and released as a preview to developers) will exactly make their way to the WWDC stage. TechCrunch now reports Siri, the startup bought by Apple last year, will play a big role in iOS 5 and a first demo of the integration of the technology will be shown at the WWDC.

Oh, and one more thing. Following our report on iOS 5, we heard a tiny bit more about it.

A year ago, Apple bought Siri, a virtual personal assistant startup that had released a very cool iPhone app. The Siri team and technology are now said to be a big part of iOS 5.

The use of Siri’s artificial intelligence and assistance technology is said to be deeply integrated into the OS for all the different services offered. And the team is now putting the finishing touches on the elements that will be demoed at WWDC, we hear. This tech may also be opened to developers for use in third-party apps — though that information isn’t quite as concrete.

The Siri iPhone app is still available in the App Store for free, and it allows users to “speak” to their iPhones to book restaurants, movie tickets, taxis and much more. Siri is undoubtedly a great piece of technology and this rumor, combined with previous reports of Apple looking to improve speech recognition functionalities and navigation in iOS, certainly backs up the theories of Cupertino engineers building a completely new OS focused on speech, new maps and more “human” interactions.

Another report by TechCrunch yesterday pointed to iOS 5 being released this fall with new location and music services. With an iOS 5 beta (likely) to become available at the WWDC in June and the time needed for developers to update their apps, it makes sense for Apple to wait until their usual September music event to launch the new OS and cloud services. In the meantime, you can check out the old Siri demo video and product description below. Read more

Apple Design Awards 2011 To Feature Both iOS and Mac Apps

Together with the official announcement of WWDC 2011, Apple also put a teaser page up for the Apple Design Awards, which recognize “apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.” Unlike last year, this year’s ADAs will feature both iOS and Mac apps: in 2010, Mac software was surprisingly excluded and iOS was the focus. Steve Jobs said that it was “just the normal cycle of things”. Among the winners of the 2010 edition: Flight Control HD, Star Walk and Doodle Jump.

At the WWDC 2011 Apple will award outstanding apps for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Apps that  are “currently on the App Store and demonstrate excellence in the following areas:”

  • Design: Well designed apps are delightful, elegant, intuitive, engaging, exciting, compelling, and reliable.
  • Innovation: Innovative apps are revolutionary, inspirational, unique, and do things in completely new and exciting ways.
  • Technical excellence: Technically advanced apps have excellent performance and make extensive use of the latest Apple technologies to deliver innovative, platform differentiating, and advanced features.

To be eligible for the Apple Design Awards 2011, apps must be available in the App Store by May 23. More details and frequently asked questions here.

Apple Announces WWDC 2011 Dates: Kicks Off June 6

Apple just announced the official dates for the WWDC 2011. The developer event kicks off in San Francisco on June 6 and it runs through June 10. With more than 100 sessions and support by over 1,000 Apple engineers, the WWDC is the perfect place to connect with fellow iOS and OS X developers around the world. Apple is heavily betting on the WWDC 2011 to “unveil the future of iOS and OS X”:

At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.

Furthermore, there will be Apple Design Awards for iPhone, iPad and Mac apps this year. Last year, Apple didn’t include Mac software in the Design Awards, which “recognize apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design”.

Tickets are available now starting at $1,599 here. Press release below.

Read more

Rumor: Cloud-based iOS 5 Coming this Fall with New Location & Music Services

Following the speculation that Apple might soon seed a GM build of OS X Lion to developers, TechCrunch now reports the long-awaited major revamp of iOS, dubbed iOS 5, has been pushed back to fall, with a possible WWDC preview in June. The rumor is interesting because it breaks Apple’s usual release cycle and media event pattern: in the past years, Apple previewed a new version of iPhone OS (and then iOS) with a media event in March / April, and then released it by the WWDC, or soon after that together with the availability of a new iPhone model. And in the past years, this plan has worked quite well for Apple: developers had time to test the OS in the months leading up to the WWDC, whilst everyone else was getting ready for a new iPhone in June / July. According to TechCrunch, this is about to change.

Citing “two solid sources”, MG Siegler reports this year’s plan involves a preview of the new OS at the WWDC, and a public release “this fall”. Putting the pieces together, as TechCrunch also notes, pushing iOS 5 back to fall would play well with Apple’s usual music event in September. But why would Apple use the music event to do some major iOS-related announcement? TechCrunch speculates it’s all about the cloud: the rumored “music locker” service will be ready this fall, and being a major new feature of iOS 5 Apple might as well wait until September to unveil it. iOS 5 is also rumored to introduce a new UI, a new notification system, direct OS X integration. Read more

OS X Lion GM Coming Soon?

TechCrunch reports tonight Apple has been gathering feedback and crash reports from developers testing the first preview build of the next major version of OS X, 10.7 Lion, and the operating system is now nearing the “GM” stage. When a new OS reaches the Golden Master status, that means it’s usually ready for public release – although Apple previously announced Lion wouldn’t ship until Summer 2011. Indeed, TechCrunch also speculates a public release could happen around the WWDC – which should be scheduled for June as usual.

Specifically, Apple is gearing up to deploy an OS X Lion update to developers that they may be classifying as the “GM1″ release, we’ve heard. “GM” or “Golden Master” is a title reserved for software that is complete. But from what we’ve heard, this is only the initial Golden Master candidate. In other words, don’t get too excited just yet.

If Apple is planning to deploy multiple GM builds of Lion, that would keep them on track for another (possibly final) GM build / release candidate seeded at the WWDC and public availability soon after that. As MG Siegler notes, the GM seed of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was released a few weeks ahead of the public launch.

The first developer preview of Lion was seeded on February 24th. Apple decided to rely on the Mac App Store (and the redeem code system) for the distribution of the developer preview, which saw several issues with canceled downloads and slow loading times arose at first. Apparently Apple has fixed the issues with the Mac App Store distributing OS updates on a large scale, and the GM build is almost ready to go. In February, TechCrunch correctly suggested a beta of Lion was about to be released just a day before the actual developer seed. Among the new features of Lion (such as a complete Finder rewrite, new Mail app, multitouch gestures and the Launchpad), many speculate Apple might bring direct integration with the Finder and iOS devices wirelessly, through the new AirDrop utility.

Apple Releases Xcode 4.0.1

Together with iOS 4.3.1, a few minutes ago Apple released an update for its development application Xcode, which reaches version 4.0.1 and adds a number of bug fixes and stability improvements. Xcode 4 was released on March 9th.

First off, Apple fixed a bug in the installer that caused the app to hang at 99% complete, never finishing the installation process. Apple also fixed another error that prevented indexing of projects, and another one that didn’t allow developers to have automatic downloads of documentation from Apple’s servers.

You can find the full changelog below, and Xcode 4.0.1 in the Mac App Store or Apple’s website.

  • Improved Assistant editor logic when switching among different file types
  • Fixed a bug in “Install Xcode.app” that hangs at 99% complete, never finishing
  • Fixed a bug that prevented indexing of some projects
  • Fixed a bug related to nil settings in the Core Data model editor
  • Fixed a bug that prevented automatic download of iOS documentation
  • Fixed a bug in LLVM GCC 4.2 and LLVM compiler 2.0 for iOS projects
  • Additional bug fixes and stability improvements