At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced new MacBook Airs and Pros -- including the next-generation model of the latter -- and advances to its operating systems OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6. The Forrester research group (http://www.forrester.com) has offered some comments on the developers.

Analyst Ted Schadler blogs that the announcements were a "developer tour de force," and what is most impressive is the pace of innovation at Apple: These advances to the software come only one year after Apple's last upgrades. As far as the new hardware goes, according to Schadler, "CIOs will wonder even louder about where HP and Dell and Microsoft are with comparable computers."

The new features available on iOS 6 will enable the second generation of apps --much like Apple's ecosystem enabled the first -- Forrester analyst Thomas Husson writes. Of particular note is news of Apple's new mapping application.

"This is mostly about enabling new product experiences for its own Apple-branded products and for developers to launch more convenient services on iOS devices. Indeed, location is no longer a service, like maps or navigation, but is increasingly an enabler of new product experiences," writes Husson.