On Monday, Apple will be holding their yearly World Wide Developer Conference, and as usual, there is a lot of speculation and excitement surrounding the event. At 1 O’clock Eastern time, the keynote address will take place, and what will be announced and highlighted are the topics of countless rumors and guessing.
For me, I am particularly interested. I don’t normally buy into the rumor mill and all of the talk that goes on about what Apple will or will not do because people tend to be wrong in many of the cases. However, this year, I really have been paying attention, and I really can’t wait until Monday afternoon. I think there are some good educated guesses, and based on the banners that are already up, it appears that we can expect a few obvious items to show up during the keynote address.• A release date for OS X Mountain Lion will undoubtedly be announced. Since February, Apple has made it no secret that there will be an upgrade to 10.7 Lion and there has been a lot written about the new features and changes expected. Apple has stated a “summer release” for Mountain Lion, and I expect that we will have a firm date for that launch, as well as some details about the new operating system.
• iOS 6 will be discussed and highlighted. Again, the next version of the iDevice platform’s operating system has been a hot topic on many of the Apple related sites. Just what it will contain, such as new Apple maps and improvements to functionality. I would expect a September or October release of the update, as well as a preview as to what we will see in the new software.
• A refresh of Apple’s hardware lines. What exactly will be announced, I don’t know, but I think there will be announcement of a new Mac Book Pro line and a new Mac Pro desktop, as well as, possibly, new iMacs. Will the Mac Book Pro and Mac Book Air lines be combined? Will liquid metal be part of the announcement for the body of the portable Macs? I have no idea, but I believe there will be plenty to talk about. It is time for me to replace my laptop, so I am particularly looking forward to this topic.
• iCloud and improvements to that service. I have read a lot of information and predictions about this subject, but I am not sure what will be talked about. Without a doubt, it appears that iCloud has been much more integrated into Mountain Lion and will be in iOS 6, but will iCloud resemble Mobile Me as far as some of the lamented features that are going to be lost when Mobile Me closes? I really don’t know.
What I don’t think will be spoken about is a new iPhone, a “mini iPad” nor some new Apple television models. I just don’t think any of these topics are on the radar for a WWDC. Additionally, at best, maybe there will be an announced opening to the current Apple TV hardware to developers. However, I don’t know how this could or would exactly work.
Overall, I think this WWDC will be quite memorable and innovative for Apple. Like me, I hope you all stay tuned to find out.