Updated: OS X Mountain Lion: what you need to know

Mac OS X Mountain Lion: what you need to know

Apple has today released details of its next-gen OS. Dubbed Mountain Lion, it's the follow-up to OS X 10.7 Lion and prior to that Snow Leopard and Leopard.

As such it's full name will be OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Let's make one thing clear - this is not a meghat's striking about Mountain Lion is how much further towards iOS Apple is taking its desktop OS - Mac purists will be rightly concerned that Apple seems to be moving its operating systems together to a point where they will converge, but for the rest of us a unified OS is a tantalising prospect.

"The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing in a statement.

"The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world's most advanced personal computer operating system."

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: release date

Mountain Lion has been released to developers today and should be available for consumers this summer - expect a further announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in early June.

Apple says theMac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion release date is late Summer 2012. As with Lion, Mountain Lion will be available as a download from the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: iOS integration

The new OS incorporates a number of features right from iOS - we had some in Lion of course, but Mountain Lion includes reminders, notifications and Twitter integration as well as Messages, Notes (separate, not within Mail) and Game Center.

Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your Apple devices.
These all sync to iCloud, as does your gaming record in Game Center. More importantly, the arrival of Game Center in OS X means you can play iOS users in the same game. Apple has demoed cross-platform gaming with Reckless Racing - expect many other games to follow suit.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: iOS terminology

One of the most striking things about the new OS is how Apple is renaming everything on its desktop OS to fall in line with iOS. So iCal is now called Calendar, while Addresss Book has become contacts, for example.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: iCloud integration

Apple says Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. Whatever that means.

Well actually what it means is that Mountain Lion will use your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Find My Mac.

And iCloud will also sync Documents across your devices - any changes are pushed across all your Apple kit so documents are always up to date. Apple has also announced a new API to help developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: iMessage

There's also a Messages app that takes the place of iChat, allowing you to continue conversations started on Mac on any iOS device. iMessages will work much as they do on iPad. Again, messaging is unlimited between Macs and iOS devices.

This includes high-quality photos and videos, while the Messages app will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. The continued support for the later is especially pleasing.

What's more, any Mac OS X Lion user can get hold of a beta of Messages from apple.com. The final version will be available with Mountain Lion.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: Notifications

Mountain Lion also nicks notifications from iOS. Again there's a Notification Center that provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps.

And, just like in iOS, you pull it across from the right of your desktop. Developers will be able to bake in support for this in their own apps.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: Safari

Safari now gets the ability to search right from the address bar, just as you can in Chrome and Firefox.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: Share Sheets

A new feature, called Share Sheets, is supposed to make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Sounds like a clipboard to us. However, it enables you to share various types of content with whoever you choose. The interesting thing here is that Apple has partnered with Flickr for photos and Vimeo for video.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: Twitter integration

And, of course, there's Twitter. The service is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from all your apps including Safari, Quick Look, Photo Booth, Preview and third party apps.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: AirPlay mirroring

Following on from other attempts at computer-based wireless displays, such as Intel's WiDi, Mountain Lion introduces AirPlay Mirroring. You'll be able to mirror your computer screen on a TV wirelessly, though you'll need an Apple TV to connect through. There's 720p HD support (although other systems do support 1080p, Apple TV doesn't) and supposedly amazing realtime response rates for gamers using the mirroring app.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: Gatekeeper

Think there's no need for security software on a Mac? Think again. Apple has introduced a new security feature called Gatekeeper that allows for personalised security settings, working as a kind of safety net for less confident users by offering a setting that allows the Mac to accept only software downloaded from the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion for developers

Apple says it has created hundreds of new APIs for OS X 10.8. As well as that iCloud Documents API we talked about earlier, the Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

There's a new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit from iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps.

What more is there? "Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks," says Apple.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion for Chinese users

China is now a massive market for Apple. And as such Mountain Lion introduces new support for Chinese users, "including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari."

Apple has also announced easy account setup for some of China's biggest email service providers including QQ, 126 and 163.

Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to video websites Youku and Tudou, and while we like Twitter, there's system-wide support for Sina weibo.

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Apple wins slide-to-unlock case against Motorola

A German court has found that Motorola has infringed on Apple's patented slide-to-unlock technology with its Android smartphones.

The court victory, which is being touted as "a big win for Apple over Android," means Cupertino, in theory, has an injunction on Motorola smartphone sales in Germany.

The case relates to patent EP1964022, which covers the act of unlocking a touchscreen display by swiping your finger from one area of the screen to another.

Apple owns the patent, which it has used on iOS devices since the first iPhone.

New design already implemented

However, Motorola plans to appeal the verdict and says that it has already has an alternative phone unlock method in place, so expects no ban to ever come into effect.

A Moto spokeswoman said: "Today's ruling in the patent litigation brought by Apple in Munich, Germany, concerns a software feature related to phone unlocking in select Motorola devices sold in Germany.

"Motorola has implemented a new design for the feature. Therefore, we expect no impact on current supply or future sales."

Yet more lawsuits

However, with the appeals and counter appeals set to rumble on, the Munich victory will probably open the door for Apple to challenge more manufacturers carrying the Android operating system and using slide-to-unlock.

Motorola may also become the chief target of Apple's legal wrath once it is officially acquired by Google.

Patent expert Florien Mueller told the BBC: "[This is a] very significant win for Apple against Android.

"After Google closes the acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the Apple-Motorola Mobility dispute will soon gain importance transcending that of the global battle with Samsung," he added.

iPad tablet market share down to 57 per cent

Apple's share of the tablet market slumped from 64 per cent to 57 per cent in the last three months of 2011, according to figures released on Thursday.

Research firm iSuppli attributes the fall to the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, which it says sold 3.9 million devices in the six weeks leading up to Christmas following its November launch.

The popularity of the $200 Android tablet saw Amazon gain an impressive 14 per cent of the entire tablet market at this very early stage of its lifespan.

The Kindle Fire easily eclipsed the next placed Samsung Galaxy Tab (8 per cent) and the Barnes and Noble Nook (7 per cent).

Not necessarily bad news for Apple

Despite the rise of the Kindle Fire, it appears that it's a case of more people adopting lower-priced tablets rather than less people buying iPads.

Apple posted record sales figures of 15.4m during Q4 of 2011, so while the Kindle Fire is cutting into its overall share of the market, those ever-rising sales figures are all that will concern Tim Cook for the time being.

Should Amazon launch a larger 10-inch tablet, with a more premium price-point and feature set, then we may get a legitimate competition between Amazon and Apple.

Until that point, both companies seem to be doing just fine within their own markets.

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Tim Cook: iOS, OS X convergence will continue

Apple CEO Tim Cook says that the company will continue to bridge the gap between iOS and Mac OS X by integrating more popular features from the mobile operating system.

Wednesday's launch of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which will arrive this summer, brings more functionality from iOS, including AirPlay Mirroring, a new Messaging app and notifications.

Cook told the Wall Street Journal that Apple will keep converging the two operating systems in future versions to give users the features they love from the iPhone and iPad ecosystem.

He said: "We see that people are in love with a lot of apps and functionality [on the iPhone]. Anywhere where that makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac."

All roads lead to a touchscreen Mac?

The feeling among many industry observers is that the two operating systems will eventually meet as one if Apple decides to launch a touchscreen MacBook or iMac computer.

Cook also refused to rule out that future Mac devices will run off the same chipset as mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone.

While Cook told the WSJ that the tablet and laptop markets will continue to exist as separate entities, he added: "We think about everything. We don't close things off."

Check out our Mac OS X Mountain Lion: What you need to know rundown to discover the 100+ new features coming in summer 2012.

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Hands on: Sony RDP-XA900iP review

Sony sells more iPod docks in the UK than any other brand, and it launched its new XA900 flagship model at CES last month.

However, it isn't until now that anyone has been able to actually have a proper listen and we can report that it's a luscious beast to be sure.

TechRadar was given a demo during a week with Sony in Tokyo, and we can report it may be the best sounding iPod dock ever created.

While the B&W Zeppelin might claim to be the audiophile's dock of choice at the moment, we cannot wait to give this dock a proper test to see exactly how it stacks up in real-world conditions.

It utilizes Sony's brand new magnetic fluid speakers to produce absolutely superb sound. We heard several tracks including the Adele track 'Someone Like You' which Sony actually used to tune and develop the device.

We're not the biggest fans of Adele, but the unique way that this particular song is recorded makes it an excellent demo track.

It's also network compatible and can utilise AirPlay to play wirelessly form an iPhone even when it's not docked, and Bluetooth is included as well.

Highs, lows and midrange were handled with considerable excellence, and so if you're interested in buying one later this year you might want to start saving now.

There is no official Sony RDP-XA900iP price yet, but we understand it will cost somewhere in the region of £499.

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Week in Tech: Apple this week: more blame than biscuits

Running Apple must be a double-edged sword, we reckon.

On the one hand the world's geeks worship you and you've enough cash to buy really nice biscuits, but on the other you keep getting the blame for other people's mistakes.

This week, it's been more blame than biscuits.

First up there was Path, the hotly tipped social-networking app. When it emerged that the app was surreptitiously copying users' entire address books to its servers, the row reached the giddy heights of the US Congress - although asking Apple to explain Path's actions is rather like demanding B&Q takes responsibility when somebody whacks you with a plank of wood.

In fairness the Path debacle does expose a flaw in iOS: where apps using location services have to get your permission to find out anything about you, apps wanting access to your contacts don't.

Apple says that's a violation of its policies: "Apps that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines," spokesperson Tom Neumayr says - and that it'll provide a software fix to prevent it from happening again.

Path, meanwhile, has said sorry and erased the data from its servers.

Apple has also been getting it in the neck for the behaviour of its subcontractors in China, and this week Tim Cook "hit back" at the suggestion that Apple products weren't assembled in rainbows by unicorns but were, in fact, assembled in factories by unhappy humans. "Our commitment is simple," Cook says:

"Every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely."

Cook has invited the Fair Labor Association to inspect Apple's subcontractors, and recently emailed Apple employees to rebut a New York Times story that alleged unsafe and oppressive working conditions.

Cook's comments came during his keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, where he also responded to a question about tablets with a dig at Apple's rivals.

"A cheap product might sell some units," Cook said, but "then they get it home and use it, and the joy is gone... you don't keep remembering 'I got a good deal' because you hate it!" Don't buy him an AndyPad. He won't thank you for it.

While Tim Cook is looking to the future, some Apple watchers are giggling at the past: according to newly declassified FBI files, Steve Jobs was clever, complicated and something of a fibber.

We can't wait for the FBI to declassify some more documents so we can discover that rain is wet, bricks are heavy and that Angelina Jolie is quite good looking.

But it wasn't all bad

Apple, of course, is thinking a lot about tablets because it's gearing up for the launch of the iPad 3, while it also took the opportunity to preview OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this week.

Amid rumours that it's testing an eight-inch iPad - the launch of which is scoring a low "it's possible" on our trademarked rumour-o-meter because Apple tests all kinds of things all the time without necessarily turning them into shipping products - we're pretty sure that the iPad 3 will be launched on 7 March with a retina display.

A new, quad-core processor is probable but not definite, and if the rumoured 4G/LTE model is incoming then we'd expect a significantly more powerful battery to cope with 4G's notorious thirst.

Here in the UK we'll get the battery but not the radio: at the time of writing, Brits have more chance of connecting via tin cans tied with string than they have of spotting a 4G network in the wild.