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If you were expecting a wow moment during the opening of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, odds are that the litany of incremental changes to its hardware and software disappointed. No big surprises. No "one last thing" sort of announcements were in the offing.

But this year's developers conference also occurs at an unusual time for Apple. The company that brought the world smartphones and tablets is in the unfamiliar position of fighting the perception that Samsung and others are winning the technology race. And when the opportunity came to give voice to that frustration … Read more

A little bit of organization can go a long way -- especially when it comes to pictures and videos.

That seems to be the theme for the improvements coming to iOS 7's Photos and Camera apps, with new features to help rediscover the photos you've already taken and make it easier to snap ones in the future.

Photos app Given how many people seem to use their smartphones as their primary camera, it's amazing how lacking organization is within the iOS Photos app, which is basically just a never-ending folder of photos and videos.

With iOS 7, … Read more

Apple can still put on a show -- at least according to your tweets. The Twittersphere erupted in utter elation over the unveiling of OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 during Apple's keynote address at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

During the two-hour keynote, a majority of Twitter users tweeted in excitement around Apple's latest Mac operating system and its radically redesigned mobile OS, according to data provided to CNET by social-media management startup HootSuite. For both OS X and iOS 7, more than 90 percent of tweets registered on the positive side of the spectrum, the firm … Read more

Apple may not be able to do anything to stop a mugger from stealing your iPhone, but changes in iOS 7 will prevent the thief from trying to sell the phone as new.

At its Worldwide Developers Conference here on Monday, Apple unveiled several security enhancements. Activation Lock is the most interesting. Though the company didn't go deep into detail on the new feature, Apple's head of Mac software engineering, Craig Federighi, said the feature prevents unauthorized resetting of an iPhone or iPad.

Basically, if the Find My Phone tracking utility has been deactivated, or if the phone … Read more

Apple touted several new and improved products at its keynote event at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, from a revamped iOS design to a music streaming service to a new MacBook Air. But some items were noticeably missing in action.

Apple revealed several changes to its MacBook Air, including the adoption of Intel's fourth-generation Core "Haswell" processor, built-in support for Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and beefier battery life. But the new version of Apple's ultrabook will be stuck with the same resolution as always since the Retina Display wasn't on the list of enhancements.

Although … Read more

At today's WWDC keynote in San Francisco, Apple announced several new features for its updated mobile OS, iOS 7.

As is common with software updates, not every current device will be compatible, however. iOS 7 will be available only for the iPhone 4 and later, the iPad 2 and later, the iPad Mini, and lastly, the fifth generation of the iPod Touch.

Compared to the devices capable of running the last OS version (iOS 6), this leaves out the iPhone 3GS and the fourth-generation iPod Touch.

Furthermore, not all iOS 7 features will work with all of the aforementioned … Read more

Confirming an earlier rumor, Apple announced heavy integration between iOS and cars during its WWDC 2013 keynote.

Details were sketchy at the keynote, but Apple Vice President Eddy Cue said that Honda, Mercedes, Nissan, Ferrari, Hyundai, Kia, and Infiniti, among others, were integrating more features from iOS into their cars, making maps and iMessages available on a car's LCD.

Currently, many cars include integration with iOS music functions, letting drivers plug their iOS devices into a car's USB, then see and select music from the car's LCD.

A presentation photo at the keynote showed a mock-up of … Read more

Apple unveiled on Monday a new look for Siri that came with new voice options, actions, and some hot integration, including in-car options and music streaming.

The voice command technology has new voices, female and male -- also available in French and German. Siri's display includes a new look that shows a sound wave at the bottom while its detecting a user's voice and full-screen results.

Users can instruct Siri to complete functions like "turn off my Bluetooth," or "increase my brightness," according to software VP Eddy Cue. The digital assistant also has a … Read more

Google Docs has been around for a while, but later this year, Apple will give its iWork suite of apps the iCloud treatment, letting you create, access, and edit Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents from a Web browser on a Mac or Windows PC. Apple calls it iWork for iCloud.

Naturally, Apple would prefer if you used its Safari Web browser to access your cloud-based iWork content, but you'll also be able to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Google's Chrome browsers (Apple says iCloud for iWork is optimized for those browsers).

Apple is releasing a developer beta … Read more