Apple CEO Tim Cook announced some significant upgrades to their OS X and iOS6 operating systems at their annual conference on Monday. Amidst the heaps of shiny new laptops and SIRI upgrades were a steady drumbeat of messages indicating that the relationship between Apple and Google has cooled significantly.
A large number of the improvements Apple made to their existing operating systems are designed to compete directly with the Google’s popular Android operating system and handsets. Apple executives are clearly not happy with the search engine giant’s decision to compete head-to-head with them in the lucrative mobile market.
Operating System Upgrades
Most of Apple’s new product announcements were upgrades to their OS X and iOS6 operating systems.
On the desktop side, Apple added a lot more iCloud integration to the OS X. This includes a feature called PowerNap that allows Apple products to update their software automatically while in a low power sleep state.
On the mobile side, Apple is seriously beefing up its iOS6 operating system, the one powering all those iPhones. The biggest of those changes came to existing mapping and GPS features.
Apple’s popular SIRI voice command system now offers turn by turn directions. It’s a feature Android users have enjoyed for quite some time now, but it’s new to the iPhone world.
iPhone users can also get their maps from an Apple-only mapping application. This represents a big leap away from Google Maps, which were the iPhone’s default mapping system since its creation. Apple is also beefing up their own 3D mapping software in order to compete with Google’s recent mapping enhancements.
Social Media
The changes that are likely to have the biggest impact on affiliates are the ones centered on social media. As part of their move away from all things Google, Apple is embracing all thing Facebook.
That means the most current version of OSx integrates seamlessly with Facebook (and Twitter). Posting everything from your Mac and iPhone to Facebook will be easier than ever.
What It Means for Affiliates
So what does all this mean for the affiliate world? For starters, it means keeping an eye the way these Internet giants are moving.
A Facebook/Apple alliance makes sense because the two companies don’t really compete. That’s how Apple viewed Google, right up until the first Android handset was released.
Android is the first product Apple has had to compete with for market domination since the first iPod was released. Now Droid outsells iPhone 2-to-1. (Though app developers still have an Apple preference.)
Both Facebook and Apple need whatever edge they can get on Google’s search stranglehold. Apple uses Facebook to hold off the threat of Google’s move into the smart phone business. Facebook uses Apple to help them stay relevant after their IPO PR disaster.
Everybody wins.
Do you think Apple is sending a message with their OS X and iOS6 upgrades? Tell us about it on our SEO Forum.