Earlier this week I reported that Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 7, would be revamped to display a user interface that isn’t the kind of shimmer and shine that Apple has made its bones in creating. However, a report by Bloomberg yesterday suggested that Jony Ive, Apple’s Senior VP of Industrial Design responsible for this radically different UI, and his team of engineers were beginning to fall behind schedule. So far behind, in fact, that some were worried iOS 7 wouldn’t make its much-anticipated debut at the California-based tech giant’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) this summer. But fret not ye Apple faithful, Ive has plucked engineers from the OS X 10.9 team to work on the iOS 7 project, and Apple now confirms that the iOS 7 release date. iOS 7 will ship in time for the WWD and make a full launch in September.
In his time leading the charge, Ive has insisted on the, what many consider to be, “flatter” UI after coming to proverbial blows with former software chief Scott Fostall. This new UI, though not glitzy or glamorous, is intended to inject a new life into the UI Apple has championed since the inception of mobile devices.
The only problem with this, of course, is the fact that iOS 7 overhaul is so large that development was beginning to slow; which explains why Apple scrounged extra engineers from the OS X team. And why not? Apple is surely more concerned with getting its mobile OS out more than its desktop version because the present and future of technology lies in being on the move.
A source courtesy of AllThingsD quipped, “You know Game Center’s green felt craps table? Well, goodbye, Circus Circus.” showing exactly the direction Ive is taking Apple.
As for what else Ive intends to revamp? We must leave it up to speculation at this point. Bloomberg noted “While the exact changes Ive is implementing to Apple’s mobile software remain secret, they are significant enough that those with test versions have a special film over their iPhone screens to obstruct what others can see.”
The WWDC is scheduled to take place this summer, June 10-14, in San Francisco, CA. As for what’s in store at the event, Apple has this message on the event’s homepage, “Get an in-depth look at what’s next in iOS and OS X.”
