(Mashable.com) -- At WWDC 2012, Apple unveiled the next generation of iOS, its mobile operating system. iOS 6 sports more than 200 new features and upgrades — including the new Apple Maps, deep Facebook integration and improvements to Siri. Although iOS 6 won't be available on compatible devices until sometime this fall, the first beta build is currently available to developers. We've installed iOS 6 on our new iPad (64GB Verizon LTE model) and poked around with the new features. While it is clear that this is a beta — certain features aren't fully baked, and there is some crashing and inconsistency with a few existing apps — it's equally clear that this is a solid OS update.
@highlight
Apple introduced the next generation of its mobile operating system, iOS 6, this week
@highlight
While certain features aren't fully baked yet, it's clear that this is a solid OS update
@highlight
The iOS 6 platform has heavily integrated social media and sharing functions with Siri
@highlight
We tested iOS 6 on an iPad and not an iPhone, so we can't explore all its new features
Apple
Apple
What didn't work as we expected was transit directions, and this could be a real wrinkle for @placeholder.
Facebook
For sharing photos and websites, the ability to share directly to @placeholder is great.
Facebook
You can also choose what level of visibility you want a post to have and attach a @placeholder location to the object you are sharing.
Facebook
Apps that hook into the @placeholder login in iOS 6 need only request permission to do so once.
iOS 6
iOS 6
OS
iOS
OS
iOS 6
iOS
Apps that hook into the Facebook login in @placeholder need only request permission to do so once.
Facebook
Users can also now launch apps, post to @placeholder and send Tweets with their voice.
Siri
Siri
For us, the more command-like nature of @placeholder — and the fact that various iOS tasks can now be started using voice commands — is a great step forward.
iPad
iPad
I tested this by calling my phone from my @placeholder.
iOS 6
iOS 6
OS
iOS
OS
iOS 6
iOS
Still, as with all @placeholder releases, the most interesting bits are usually what happens on the backend and not the flashiest user-facing features.