iOS 6 Release: Best Anticipated Features

After the success of the new iPad, speculation is now growing about the specifications and launch of Apple's next-gen smartphone, popularly tagged as the iPhone 5.

The new iPhone is expected to arrive in June with a number of new features, one of which could well be the Cupertino tech giant's updated version of iOS 6 - which should in itself provide plenty of enhanced features.

According to Cult of Mac, iOS 6 will be launched at the World Wide Developers' Conference (WWDC) to be held in early June - though it should be noted that Apple has not specifically confirmed this event. However the fact that the Moscone Center in San Francisco has been booked for an unknown event starting 11 June suggests something is brewing. Incidentally, the idea of Apple using the WWDC as a launch-pad does make sense, given it traditionally uses its conference as a space to introduce new software; it was where they released iOS 5 last year.

In any case, while we wait for official news, we have put together a round-up of the top anticipated features of iOS 6:

iOS 6: Face Recognition

Recent Apple patents suggest the company might include facial recognition software for iOS devices. Unlike Google's latest version of Android, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, which includes a face unlock feature, iOS facial recognition will make use of complex algorithms. It will detect reference points of a user's features and will check for level of attentiveness before unlocking the iOS device.

iOS 6: Enhanced Siri for Everybody

When Apple launched the iPhone 4S, one of the most talked about upgrades was the voice assistant, known as Siri. Unfortunately, the popular voice-activated personal assistant was available only for iPhone 4S users. Other users had to jailbreak the iPhone 4 to run Siri.

Therefore considering thepopularity of the feature, we would expect that iOS 6 would integrate Siri even more into the operating system, and make it available on more devices.

iOS 6: Turn-by-Turn Navigation (with Voice)

The iOS 6 software is expected to come with a map that allows location-finding using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and directions for multiple routes.

iOS 6: Multitasking

The multitasking feature made its debut with the iOS 4 in 2010, however, it was restricted to a certain number of apps. This time around, it is expected iOS 6 will offer advanced multitasking options.

Additionally, iOS 6 could include the ability to view content from two windows side-by-side, as well as that to monitor, in real-time, data bandwith usage.