Apple CEO unveiled the new operating systems in the opening address of
Apple's annual WorldWide Developer Conference in San Francisco on Monday.
Last September, Apple stock fall from a high of more than $US700 ($A735.53) to
under $US450 currently, badly needs a new hit to reassure investors and
customers that it is still capable of maintaining its lead.
But with any major new hardware release of new iPhones and iPads still
months away, the focus was on new Macbook Air laptops and new operating systems
for both personal computers and mobile devices.
The gap would grow with the introduction of iOS 7, said Cook, who called it
"the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone."
As expected, the new software features strikingly different visual cues with
a flat, translucent and colourful design replacing a 3D opaque pallet that
featured lots of greys and blues.
Like Samsung's new Galaxy S4, which is widely regarded as the iPhone's top
competitor, the new software responds to hand motions.
Apple also announced new features for iCloud, the company's remote backup
service, which will now feature a new version of iWork to better compete with
Google's online productivity suite Google Docs.