Today at its WWDC keynote, Apple finally revealed iOS 6 to the world. The news wasn’t exactly a surprise, as Apple has released a new version of its mobile iOS every year since the iPhone first made its debut. But some of iOS 6’s key features made a big splash nonetheless.

Siri Improvements

Facebook Integration

Do Not Disturb

Passbook

Guided Access

No Mo Google Maps

Apple led off by announcing a series of enhancements and improvements to its voice recognition software Siri. The service has been improved to give users more contextual information when they search for information in certain categories like sports, movies, and restaurants. When asking for a San Francisco Giants score, the game’s final result as well as complete box stats are reported back. When searching for restaurants, Yelp reviews are now integrated into the search results, and users can quickly make a reservation via OpenTable.Apple also announced significantly expanded language support for Siri. Canadian English will now be formally supported, as well as Spanish dialects for Spain, Mexico and the United States. Italian, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin are also supported in iOS 6. Apple was quick to point out that many of these languages feature support for specific territories. For example users in Taiwan will experience tweaked Mandarin support from users in mainland China.Apple also announced that users will (finally) be able to launch Apps directly with Siri.Next up Apple revealed robust integration with uber social network Facebook. Users can put in their Facebook username and password directly from the iPhone’s settings menu, and will never need to enter those credentials again for any App. iPhone owners can now post status updates directly to Facebook from within Photos, Game Center, Maps, Notification Center and more.Facebook is also being integrated into the App Store itself, an announcement popular with the developer-heavy crowd. iPhone owners can now “like” apps from within the App Store itself.Amidst all the bells and whistles, it can be easy to forget that every smartphone is an actual telephone first and foremost. Apple recognized some of its own phone's shortcomings, and announced a handful of improvements to the core phone experience.iPhone owners can now reply to incoming calls with a handful of pre-set text messages (ala “I’m in a meeting”) with one tap. Owners can also set themselves “remind me later” notifications when receiving a phone call. The reminder can be set to a length of time, or can be set to go off when a user exits the building.The core phone experience also now includes a simple-but-powerful “Do Not Disturb” function. When "Do Not Disturb" is turned on no phone calls, texts, or other notifications won't light up or vibrate your phone in any way. Users have granular control over the feature, so if you want certain numbers to ring no matter what, you have that option. It's a bit like Airplane Mode for the sleeping crowd.FaceTime has gotten a bit of a functionality facelift, as well. The popular video chatting will finally be available over 3G data networks! The news is expected, but welcome nonetheless (unless you work at, say, AT&T). Apple also announced that users will be able to sync their mobile phone number and their Apple ID. This means that users receiving a FaceTime phone call request will be able to answer with their iPad or their desktop computer.Apple also revealed Passbook, a brand new App featuring more location-aware wizardy, similar to the phone call reminder geofencing. Apple describes the App as “The simplest way to get all your passes in one place.” In practice, Passbook acts as a single hub for anything that involves a physical ticket. Think boarding passes on an airplane, movie tickets, store gift cards, etc. The “catch” is that passbook only works with supported services; those that offer up digital iOS versions of their paper documents.We think this is an easy way to get services onboard before Apple announces NFC on the new iPhone, but hey, what do we know?Passbook is location-aware, and surfaces relevant info on your phone’s lock screen automatically. So if a user purchases a movie ticket with Fandango, the ticket will appear on your phone’s screen ready to be scanned by the theater as soon as you enter the area. Passbook entries are also live, so if your gate changes at the airport you will see your digital boarding pass now reflect your new departure gate. Slick.Although it might not impact most iPhone or iPad owners, Apple also revealed Guided Access, a powerful set of new App controls. When parents are giving their iDevice to a youngster, or someone else they don’t want having full control (examples given included a child with autism or a classroom full of kids taking a test), specific App functions and menu items can be disabled in advance, at the owner’s discretion. Owners can also lock the device into single app mode. This disables the home screen, keeping users locked into the launched app.Apple also unveiled iOS 6’s brand-new mapping application. The Cupertino company built this new maps platform from the ground-up, dropping longtime cartography partner Google.Apple has already ingested data from 100 million local businesses to help bolster local search, ensuring iPhone owners won’t be left clueless when using Maps to try and find restaurants or businesses in their neighborhood.Siri-powered turn-by-turn navigation is also built into the new Maps, officially putting Garmin and other navigation GPS companies on notice. Maps features realtime traffic data (powered by anonymous data corwdsourced from iOS users) and can automatically reroute drivers past areas of heavy traffic.The most impressive (but least practical) addition to the revamped Maps is undoubtedly the new “Flyover” option. Apple has been flying helicopters through major metropolitan cities, gathering a huge amount of data on their 3D geometry. iOS users can now take a virtual bird’s-eye our of cities like San Francisco and Sydney. An example shown during the keynote featured a rotating image of an impressively-rendered downtown San Francisco, centered around the Transamerica Pyramid.Apple promised that iOS 6 would launch with over 200 new features, not just the whizz-bang additions spotlighted during their presentation. Glossed-over improvements include Game Center challenges, improved privacy controls, improved “lost phone” options, easy Photo Stream sharing, iCloud tabs in Safari and more.iOS 6 will support the iPhone 3GS and later as well as second and third generation iPads. It is due out “later this fall,” with a developer’s beta available as of today. IGN will have more on iOS 6 and all of the hottest Apple news leading up to the launch of this major refresh.

Justin is Editor of IGN Wireless. He has been reviewing cell phone games since the dark days of Java flip phones. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN