Apple to Revamp IPhone Software, Ending Product Funk

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is preparing to unveil sweeping changes to the software powering cheap iphone 4 cases and iPads, seeking to reignite desire for its products and blunt the advance of Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android mobile operating system.“Apple has been in a funk, and this is an important event to highlight how they are innovating,” Reitzes said in an interview. “We need to see that next big innovation.”

With smartphones sharing many physical traits and technological features, device makers are relying more on software design and services to gain an edge and lure consumers.

As part of that, Apple will also unveil a music-streaming service, people familiar with the plans said last week. The feature won’t be available until iOS 7 is released later this year. Apple may also announce enhancements to its maps and Siri voice-recognition software. Apple’s shares rose 1.1 percent to $446.51 at 10:13 a.m. in New York.

While Cupertino, California-based cheap iphone 4s cases won’t be introducing a new iPhone or iPad, anticipation for the event has been building since Cook shuffled his lieutenants, putting head industrial designer Jonathan Ive in charge of the look and feel of Apple’s software. A longtime confidant of co-founder Steve Jobs and the draftsman behind the iPhone and Mac, Ive has been leading a remake of the iOS mobile software.sdfdDS2x

A lot is riding on whether those changes will prove to be a hit with buyers. Apple’s iOS accounted for 18 percent of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter, those running Android made up 74 percent, according to research-firm Gartner Inc. IPhone sales climbed about 16 percent in the period, lagging the smartphone market, which grew 43 percent.

Apple (AAPL) has traditionally previewed new iOS software at the conference and then released it to the public when a new apple accessories is introduced later in the year. This week’s event, which costs $1,600 to attend, is geared toward application developers. As Google, Microsoft Corp.

Apple’s new feature comes too late to spare 23-year-old Megan Boken of suburban Chicago, who was shot to death last year by a man who tried to steal her iPhone. Her father, Paul Boken, on Monday pronounced Apple's new feature "not complete enough." He said smartphone manufacturers ought to be required to create a feature that deactivates stolen phones immediately.

"A burglar is not going to interview an iPhone owner to see if they're on iCloud before they steal their best iphone 4s accessories," Boken said. "This doesn't strike me as being a technologically-advanced concept. But it's something that needs to be done."