If you’re not one of the millions of people who have just ordered an iPhone 5 but are an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad user, at least you have iOS 6 to get excited about. Apple’s latest operating system is now available for download, and it’s playing to positive, if not rapturous, reviews.
Among the biggest changes: Google Maps has been replaced by an Apple Maps app, which includes spoken navigation, vector maps, and real-time traffic data. Also, Siri has expanded her vocabulary. The voice-activated servant now allows you to dictate posts directly onto Twitter and Facebook. IOS 6 also allows you to use Facetime over cellular, which means you no longer have to be in a WiFi hotspot to join a video chat.
Will these features generate as much buzz as the shiny new iPhone 5? Probably not. One tech critic described iOS 6 as “refinement rather than revolution.” Of course, that sounds a lot like the first reviews of the iPhone 5, which went on to set smartphone sales records in its first days on the market.
