Throwing its proverbial credibility behind a recent rumor of iOS 7 having native Flickr and Vimeo integration, the credulous Wall Street Journal has just published a write-up which asserts that Apple’s upcoming iOS revision will feature photo-sharing enhancements alongside new look. iOS 7 will include “new ways to share photos and videos” with other users, people who are reportedly involved in its development said…
In addition to iRadio, refreshed Mac notebooks and OS X 10.9, the paper expects that:
The new iOS will also include new ways to share photos and videos with other iPhone users and other enhancements, these people said.
So, the Journal basically heard what Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac learned three weeks ago:
In the upcoming overhaul of its iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, iOS 7, Apple plans to include an increased presence of third-party social networks, including Flickr and Vimeo, according to a person familiar with the software.
The newspaper goes on to add that a rumored standalone Apple television set is “being held up by discussions with cable companies and TV networks, as well as content companies”.
Apple wants to be able to offer a new type of service with the device that relies on cooperation from the networks and cable operators.
The story echoes The Loop in saying there won’t be new iPhones and iPads at WWDC. The next iPhone is expected to “look a lot like the current one,” the paper wrote.
Finally, the Journal drops hints at how Apple’s head of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, and his team could leverage Apple’s recent acquisition of app discovery engine Chomp.
Cue has also been deploying engineers acquired through the company’s purchase last year of app search engine Chomp to help improve data practices across products, including maps, according to people close to the company.
Cue’s most recent talent hire includes Adobe’s former CTO Kevin Lynch who last month joined Apple as a VP of technology.
Of course, the News Corp.-owned publication couldn’t resist throwing mud at Apple.
The story conveniently cites a taxi driver who fears “Apple’s losing its edge” because Samsung’s phones are much “cooler” because they can run several apps at once.
As for “new ways to share photos and videos,” eagle-eyed readers could point to a May 2012 WSJ report that claimed Apple would upgrade iCloud to allow for video syncing.
That never came – iCloud in its current incarnation continues to syncs photos only.
Speaking of sharing, I’m all for deep integration of popular social networks in iOS 7 and the addition of Flick and Vimeo will certainly be welcomed (can we also have native LinkedIn sharing, please?).
That being said, I’m hoping Apple has spent some time advancing iCloud because as it is now, the Photo Stream thing is pretty rudimentary.
And really, why the heck is iCloud video sync taking so long?
Moreover, why aren’t we able to create photo albums using the iCloud web interface? Apple’s iPhoto iOS app includes beautiful photo album templates and the phased-out iWeb application (used to be part of the iLife suite) had great-looking web galleries.
While in iOS turning a Photo Stream into a public web site is as easy as flipping a switch in settings, that’s about it. What we need are rich iOS galleries with iWeb-like templates and full customization capabilities.
Oh, and stop deleting my Photo Stream images after 30 days, will you?
What new photo and video sharing features are you hoping for in iOS 7, if any?