FORTUNE — “Yesterday, Apple Inc. Finally revealed their latest iteration of iOS for iPhone and the iPad. There were no real ‘wow’ moments just the continued rehash of market numbers and a collection of little improvements to the world-wide hit operating system.”
So begins Daniel Rubino’s coverage of Apple’s (AAPL) World Wide Developers Conference on WPCentral, where “WP” stands for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Phone.
On the theory that it never hurts to get a different perspective, we offer the highlights of Rubino’s analysis, posted Tuesday:
- We’re not trying to be too bitter here — look, Apple an d iOS have a massive success on their hands so they’re not messing with a good thing (think of all the grandparents with iPhones!). But today’s unveiling of the new iOS is starting to show that Cupertino may be out of “big” ideas for mobile and are instead concentrating on refinements.
- There are some who are suggesting that Apple “stole” the Facebook and Twitter integration thing from Windows Phone. Perhaps… While it’s a shame that Apple is picking the best from Windows Phone for their OS, we can’t exactly be shocked (and let us be happy they’re steering clear of Metro so far).
- The Maps thing is certainly interesting if only because it now shows how uncomfortable Apple is with Google. In reality this is very bad news for the company behind Android. With Google Maps relegated to “just an app” on the iPhone, they’re losing a big chunk of the mobile market which actually makes Microsoft and Bing a bit stronger.
- Although FaceTime will now work over cellular, Windows Phone 8 will feature Skype built into the OS and integrated into your contacts — and not just messaging but VOIP... The fact of the matter is that Skype has 200 million registered users and works across devices and platforms. FaceTime does not.
- Passbook is certainly a neat idea but it is hardly something that Microsoft or a third party app couldn’t implement just as easily… As Apple seemingly skips over NFC for another generation, Microsoft is embracing it for Windows Phone 8.
- Siri is still a serious app and Microsoft doesn’t have a solution in Windows Phone 8 for it as far as we know… Of course there is still the question: Is Siri more gimmick than useful feature? We’ll leave that to you to ponder. We’ll just say this: Windows Phone developers will like the new Voice tools and we hear Ask Ziggy is due for some serious upgrades.
- While Apple had their day, next week Microsoft will begin to unveil how they do more in one update than Apple does in three. Mark our words.
You can read the whole thing here. Thanks to Brian S Hall for spotting it.
