iOS 6 – The business users update
Apple’s latest mobile OS is official. Here’s a list of the features that should make your work life a lot easier
Apple iOS 6 is finally here, and with it over 200 updates, features and improvements.
Apple has tossed in plenty of good stuff for business users – starting with its homegrown Maps app, which is good news for iPhone owners but bad news for GPS-app developers.
Here’s the low-down of the most business-friendly features you’ll find in iOS 6.
1. Turn-by-turn navigation
The new Maps app will finally offer something Android users have enjoyed for a while: turn-by-turn navigation. That means your iPhone can steer you from point A to point B without the need for a pricey third-party app. Plus, it’ll have Siri integration, so you’ll be able to ask for the nearest gas station along your route, find out how much longer your trip will take, and so on.
2. Real-time traffic
Also coming to Maps: real-time traffic updates, meaning you’ll be able to spot trouble areas and possibly even find out what’s causing the hold-up (construction? an accident? a cop on the side of the road?).
What’s interesting is that Maps will share (anonymously, of course) real-time traffic data from your phone (and everyone else’s) and update the traffic based on all the data, meaning we may finally see a crowdsourced traffic system that works. Whether it actually helps is another story.
3. New phone features
Since the dawn of iPhone time, you’ve had exactly two options for fielding a phone call: Decline and Answer. In iOS 6, you’ll also see these buttons: Reply with Message and Remind Me Later.
The former lets you kick back a canned text message (e.g., “Call you later”), while the latter will set a reminder for a callback.
4. FaceTime over 3G
FaceTime can be incredibly handy for showing rather than just telling, but because it requires Wi-Fi at both ends, it has limited in-the-field applications.
But with iOS 6, Apple is enabling FaceTime over 3G connections, effectively opening the floodgates to what you’ll be able to do with it: show a mockup of a new product, report back to the home office from the trade-show floor, and so on.
5. VIP Mail
Taking a page from Google’s Priority Inbox, iOS 6 lets you designate contacts as VIPs, then filters all messages from those people into a special VIP Mail folder.
Another notable update: You can now attach photos or videos to an email from within a new message. No need to hit the Photos app first. I know that’s a win for me.
6. Passbook
Good news, frequent flyers: This new app keeps all your airline tickets (among other things) in one convenient location. Even better, it’s location-aware, meaning your boarding pass will pop up on the lock screen when you get to the airport. It can even update the boarding pass in real time with gate-change information and which business traveler won’t like this feature.
Sirama Consulting 