Apple and IBM join forces to push iPhones and iPads into the enterprise

SURPRISE, Apple and IBM have announced a mutual embrace that will give the world's large enterprises better mobility.

We hear better mobility and we think mobile phones. We aren't wrong, The firms said that they have "forged a global partnership" that will bring tried and tested IBM enterprise services to the shiny pocket botherers iPhone and iPad.

We are in solid press release territory here, and the talk is of "transforming" enterprise mobility.

This will happen on a few fronts, for example the plan is to release 100 enterprise tools, including apps, and build up cloud services for iOS including device management and security features.

As part of the deal Big Blue will sell enterprise flavoured iThings to its customers, while the two companies will work on business specific software. IBM and Apple do not appear to have much in common, but the two are convinced that they will make the marriage work, if only for the sake of the enterprise.

"iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"For the first time ever we're putting IBM's renowned big data analytics at iOS users' fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver."

IBM chairman, CEO and president Ginni Rometty agreed and issued some kind words toward Cupertino.

"This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM's leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take for granted, but can't imagine living without," Rometty said.

"Our alliance will bring the same kind of transformation to the way people work, industries operate and companies perform."

iOS 8 vs iOS 7

APPLE UNVEILED iOS 8 during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday, and while it isn't a drastic overhaul like iOS 7 it will bring lots of new features to the iPhone and iPad.

We've stacked up iOS 8 against last year's release to see what features you can expect.

Notifications
Apple has made some fairly major tweaks to Notification Center, a feature which was first introduced in iOS 7, and therefore somewhat limited.

Chief among these tweaks is the addition of interactive notifications, a feature which lets you reply to messages or "Like" a Facebook post, for example, without having to leave the app you're already in.

Notification Center has also been beefed up with widgets. No, hell hasn't frozen over - Apple has in fact introduced Android-style widgets, which developers can start building to appear in the drop-down menu. Apple's Craig Federighi showed off an eBay app that's already available, which will allow users to bid on items from the notifications screen.

Compare this to iOS 7 and Apple's tweaks will be welcomed by most, with the feature presently limited to viewing notifications and tapping to jump into apps.

Messaging
Apple's most interesting iOS 8 updates arguably relate to messaging, with the firm introducing a number of new features.

First off, Apple introduced Quicktype, a feature that could signal the end of Autocorrect. This is a smart word-prediction service, which Apple claims will quickly learn how you talk and what words you're likely to type next, depending on who you're talking to. Support for third-party keyboards was also announced, which means iPhone users can soon opt to replace Apple's proprietary offering with Swiftkey, for example.

Apple also announced that with iOS 8, users will be able to use Do Not Disturb on specific group iMessage conversations, in order to silence frustrating notifications. The firm has also introduced a Snapchat-style Destruct feature, allowing users to send images, videos or audio messages that will be automatically deleted, unless a user has specified otherwise.

These features likely will be welcomed by current users of iOS 7, although the firm has been criticised for "ripping off" features from Snapchat and Whatsapp.

Siri
Apple's voice-activated digital assistant, Siri, will see a fairly major update in iOS 8. Mimicking Google Now, users will be able to say "Hey, Siri" to activate the feature, which will soon be capable of recognising songs (thanks to Shazam) and will be able to recognise streaming voice recognition.

Healthkit and HomekitiOS 7 didn't introduce many new apps from Apple, with the firm instead focused on touting its redesign. iOS 8, however, sees the arrival of Healthkit and Homekit, which sees Apple looking to challenge the likes of Samsung while making its mark in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Healtkit is similar to Samsung's S Health feature, allowing users to track data such as the number of steps walked, calories burned and so on. Unlike the app found on the Galaxy S5, however, Apple's Healthkit app supports third-party apps, including Nike+.

Homekit is Apple's rumoured smart home application, allowing users to easily control internet-connected devices, such as Philips Hue lightbulbs, from their iPhone or iPad.

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