A pair of Twitter developer events promising a "heavy focus" on the microblogging platform's deep integration with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS 5 operating system are fueling increased speculation that Apple will formally release iOS 5 to registered developer partners during the second week of October.
Twitter will host two "Developer Teatimes," the first taking place in London, England on Oct. 10 and the other scheduled for New York City on Oct. 12. "There's a lot going on in the ecosystem and we'd like to take this chance to share the highlights with you--including the latest developments with the platform, areas of opportunity that we're seeing, and a heavy focus on the iOS 5 Twitter integration for developers," writes Twitter platform manager Jason Costa on the Twitter Developers Blog.
Given that iOS 5 currently remains in beta development, conventional wisdom suggests that the timing of the Twitter events is scheduled to closely coincide with the update's public release. AppleInsider also reports that Apple has instructed employees in its AppleCare customer support division to brace for a deluge of iOS-related inquiries the week of Oct. 10.
Twitter integration within iOS 5 will allow users to sign in once and then tweet directly from all Twitter-enabled apps--among them Photos, Camera, Safari, YouTube and Maps--with a single tap. Twitter itself stated it will extend the single sign-on capability to developers as well, enabling the creation of more social mobile app experiences. Twitter director of platform Ryan Sarver later said the company expects direct iOS integration to profoundly impact the shape and scope of applications developed around social interaction: "Now literally every iOS developer can be a Twitter developer," Sarver said. "We think every app is going to benefit from instant personalization from this social layer, from gaming to utilities to enterprise apps."
Apple has so far issued seven beta versions of iOS 5 to registered developers, with the most recent surfacing in late August. First unveiled in June during Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, iOS 5 heralds more than 200 new user features and brings 1,500 new APIs. It is first and foremost about seamless integration with iCloud, which replaces Apple's premium MobileMe offering. The iCloud service automatically syncs content on Apple servers for access across iOS devices as well as Macs and PCs--each day, iCloud Backup saves information from the user's iOS devices over Wi-Fi, storing content including purchased music, apps and books, as well as photos, videos, device settings and app data.
For more:
- read this AppleInsider article
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