TechNews: iOS 8 TO BE RELEASED LATER TODAY

The iOS 8 release date is later today. Here are the latest features from Apple.

Apple is taking the flat iOS 7 design and rounding it out with new features with iOS 8, and it'll be available to download in few hours,  two days ahead of the iPhone 6.

That means instead of a dramatic redesign, this year's mobile operating system update ties everything together with the overarching theme of convergence."

iOS 8 features tighter Mac OS X Yosemite integration while loosening the restrictions on Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor. This goes a long way to the Passbook-integrated Apple Pay.

New software kits also bring once fragmented security and health gadgets together, something that this year's "one more thing" surprise, the Apple Watch, will take advantage of in early 2015.

Apple like to announce new iPhones on Tuesdays, make new iOS updates available to download on Wednesdays and , depending on availability, start selling or taking per-orders for new devices on Fridays.

That's the case here, though this year's iOS 8 update changes last year's upgrade scheme a bit. Apple is making it available on its servers one week after last Tuesday's iPhone 6 launch event, not the next day.

That means iOS 8 beta testers have had one more week with the newly launched "Gold Master version" that gives them time to toy with its near-final developer state. Of course, whole developers can get their hands on the final iOS 8 beta update now, everyone else has to wait until the official release date in just a few hours.

COMPATIBILITY:
iOS 8  requires an iPhone 4s or Newer and iPad 2 or newer to update to the latest software. Only the iPhone 4 is cut from the list.

Both the iPads mini and iPad mini 2 tablets and the forever alone iPod 5th generation are also going to work with the new iOS, just like they did with iOS 7. No one besides 2010's iPhone 4 gets left behind.

its important to note that all of these iDevices use Bluetooth 4.0, a low-energy version of the antenna that many wearable require for constant syncing.

iOS 8 gets rid of the only iOS 7-compatible device without bluetooth low energy and keeps ones thats work with Fitbit Flex, Jawbone Up24 and Nike Fuelband SE. seems fair.

How to download iOS 8 beta
The iOS 8 beta "Gold Master" is available to download right now, but its locked behind Apple's iOS developer program that costs $99 a year.

iOS 8 Beta features includes;

Touch ID for all
iOS 8 camera time-lapse mode
SMS and phone calls on Mac
Hand off and WiFi Hotspot
Group messages with voice and video
Interactive notifications
quick-type Keyboard
iOS 8 extensions
iCloud
iOS 8 Family sharing and many more.....

The iOS 8 has been scheduled for release later today.

Source: Techradar