Apple VP Craig Federighi introduced the first update for iPhone icons yesterday. (Reuters)
What’s next, an iBoombox?
Apple made its way into the streaming music decade yesterday, introducing iTunes Radio, which features more than 200 free stations.
The streaming service is part of iOS 7, an aggressive update of Apple’s mobile operating system that featured the first re-design of the i-Phone’s most-used app icons since they debuted in 2007.
Apple also showed off its new desktop operating system, which offers even tighter integration with its mobile operating system.
“The two OSes are merging,” said Carolina Milanesi, a analyst with Gartner. “You can work in one or the other or across the two.”
Coming in the fall, iOS 7 will arrive just in time for a new iPhone.
Jony Ive, the company’s lead designer, was in charge of the refresh, which received positive reviews yesterday for ditching some of the old-timey feel in favor of a more modern stamp on Apple’s revolutionary phone.
“It’s fresh, elegant and young,” Milanesi said.
The style does away with real-world inspirations for some designs — like no more faux-leather calendar borders or wooden book shelves — and the app icons are flatter and less cartoonish.
“It is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone,” CEO Tim Cook said.
The iTunes Radio service, which won’t come until the fall, allows people to stream music based on genres.
It works similar to Pandora, and required music rights from the major labels, which get paid each time a song is played.
Wall Street’s first reaction to the much-anticipated iTunes Radio was a yawn.
Apple shares, trading at about $446 when the service was announced, fell 2 percent in 20 minutes — closing at $438.89, down 0.7 percent.
Investors, perhaps sensing that the new Apple service was not a game-changer, pushed up Pandora shares 7 percent over the same 20-minute period. they closed at $15.49, up 2.5 percent.
Even Nokia, the Finnish-phone maker that got served by Apple and its iPhone, felt confident enough to criticize iTunes Radio.
“We launched our streaming radio service in 2011. It’s interesting to see Apple react now and it seems they continue to play catch up,” Nokia said in a statement.
However, some industry experts said Apple didn’t need to reinvent radio to get a lift from its new service.
“If you’re a user, iTunes Radio is one more thing you get from the ecosystem,” said Milanesi. “The experience delivers stickiness.”
The hope for Apple is that users will discover new music and eventually purchase more music from iTunes. The ad-supported version of the service is free — with an ad-free version costing $25 a year.
Also at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple gave a rare glimpse of a new desktop computer Mac Pro,, which is still in development, the type of product Apple usually doesn’t lift the curtain on before it is ready to ship.
The new Mac is a sleek, high-powered cylindrical computer and expected in the fall.
“It’s interesting that they felt the need to show off a product that is coming later this year,” said Colin Gillis of BGC Partners.