News

The past week's news revolved entirely around the Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicked off with a keynote presentation on Monday morning. Much of the keynote was devoted to iOS 8, which will be available in the fall, almost certainly with the launch of the iPhone 6 (though they made no mention of the new iPhone during the presentation). Here are some of the notable enhancements of iOS 8:

iOS 8 introduces some big improvements to messaging. In group messaging, individuals can drop out of the conversation or choose a "do not disturb" option. Participants can also share their locations with the group. A new "tap to talk" feature allows you to send brief audio clips which can be heard simply by raising the phone to your ear. You can also view all attachments in a conversation in one place, rather than having to scroll back through the entire conversation.

This week was all about Apple's WWDC keynote, iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. Apple announced that the App Store would be getting a few enhancements including an Explore tab, and that developers will be able to offer app bundles for the first time. The company also previewed its new Health app plus many other upcoming iOS 8 features during the event. With all the focus on iOS 8 it was kind of a slow week for new App Store releases.

Here are this week's most noteworthy App Store and Cydia releases for 06/01/14 to 06/07/14. Apple's Free Game of the Week is Republique. The game will be available for free on the App Store until 06/12/14.

As usual, Apple did not have enough time to discuss every new feature built into iOS 8 during its WWDC keynote on Monday. Some of the new features were quickly displayed on a slide near the end of the presentation, and others are still being discovered every day by users testing the iOS 8 beta. Here's a quick look at some of the smaller but useful improvements coming to your iPhone and iPad this fall.

Up until now the Notes app has been fairly simple, but iOS 8 is going to change all that by introducing rich text editing. This will allow you to bold, italicize, or underline your text when using writing a note in the app. iDownloadblog also claims users will be able to add images to their notes, but their source seems a bit dodgy.

It is all but certain that the 4.7" iPhone 6 will launch this September, probably sometime in the second half of the month. iOS 8 will almost certainly debut on the iPhone 6, and Apple's iOS 8 page says "Coming this fall." This was also reiterated multiple times during the WWDC 2014 keynote presentation this past Monday. Additionally, Apple Store employees have had their vacation time restricted in late September, another indication that something big will take place at that time. Many analysts, including KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo, have predicted a later launch date for the 5.5" phablet size iPhone 6 model, possibly around the holidays. A new rumor, however, suggests that it may come sooner than that.

In a research note obtained by MacRumors, analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald writes that the larger iPhone 6 may very well launch at the same time as the 4.7" model. White believes this due to his experience at Computex Taipei (one of the largest tech shows in the world) this week:

Another merger is getting closer to reality with news of the latest negotiations between Sprint and T-Mobile making headlines at Bloomberg. Sprint looks to acquire T-Mobile in a $32 billion deal that would create the third largest wireless carrier in the US.

The two carriers would boast 99 million subscribers combined, falling in behind AT&T's 108 million and Verizon's 120 million customers. SoftBank, which owns 80 percent of Sprint, is looking to create a more formidable competitor in the market. The news comes as other consolidation deals are being scrutinized in the industry, including AT&T's planned buyout of DirecTV.