iCloud, iOS 5, Lion are all set to make an appearance at the Apple keynote, but with precisely what features? And does an iPhone 5 figure in the 'likely' or 'improbable' column?
Yes, like everyone, you're too impatient to wait until Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) actually starts: you want to know what's going to be unveiled right now! Let nobody say that the internet has in any way whatsoever affected our ability to endure delayed satisfaction. (Perhaps unrelated: children who are able to sacrifice short-term gratification for longer-term reward do better in later life. OK, where were we?)
We know that there are going to be at least three things announced this Monday at WWDC when Steve Jobs (first surprise: he has been on medical leave since January) will come up and show off iOS 5, Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and iCloud.
That we know any of what's going to be in the speech is a surprise: usually Apple just keeps it a complete secret.
Wild cards: the possibility of some hardware of some sort. New iPhone? New Time Capsule? New cable? Who knows? It's not as if WWDC has never seen new hardware; in fact it's been about 50-50 in our recollection. Not always thrilling ? there was the year everyone got a (gasp!) webcam ? but hardware, nevertheless.
So, what should you expect? Here's our guide to what's up, with extra help on how likely they are.
Likely
iOS5:
? Better multi-tasking
? Deep integration of Twitter and Facebook
? iCloud integration so you can play/stream music over Wi-Fi and maybe 3G
? New notification system to replace the dire "stop everything! You've received a text message!" modus interruptus, and instead something more like Android's pull-down bar
? Widgets ? another Android, um, borrowing ? that let you link directly to turn your Wi-Fi/3G/sound/whatever on or off.
Lion
? Availability in the autumn
? Priced at $129
? update process made feasible through the Mac App Store
? Dropbox-like synchronisation between devices, which will bridge the gap to the iPad (which otherwise requires horribly convoluted efforts to transfer files wirelessly)
iCloud
? You hook up (yet another new version of) iTunes, it scans your music library, all the songs you own "appear" in the cloud for you to listen to when you like, where you like, on an authorised Apple device.
? Music discovery system to find new stuff, rather like Last.fm, powered by Ping. (Remember Ping?)
Hardware
? Actually, nothing falls into "likely" here, though the Time Capsule wireless backup hard drive is long in the tooth.
Wild cards
? Some commentary on patent-holding companies that are suing Apple developers.
Less likely
iOS5
? Fix for the alarm clock bug
? OTA (over-the-air) OS updates. Apple is a slave to iTunes here, but if Google's Android can manage incremental updates that are downloaded during quiet periods, it isn't witchcraft. The challenge is how to revert if your phone is bricked.
? Split-pane views of multiple apps on the iPad, rather like Microsoft showed off on Windows 8 last week.
? An App Store for Apple TV (see below)
Lion
? Lower price than $129; Apple likes to make money by dangling features in front of people
iCloud
? TV and movie episodes you've bought "appear" in the cloud too. Not very likely, because the TV and movie studios have been silent on this, and don't really like the idea of their stuff being available via the cloud.
Hardware
? Apple TV update. OK, so it was introduced in September 2010, and all three of the people who bought it really love it. But what is it really for? Maybe it need a touch of iCloud, plus some apps, and it can really make TV into something that Apple can get its hands on. Not that anyone else ? Google or Microsoft included ? has managed this.
Wild cards
? Someone from Microsoft showing up to demo the next version of Microsoft Office for Mac running on Lion. That stuff is sooo 2001.
Really improbable
iOS5
? New folder system that reorganises itself according to what apps you actually use
Lion
? Immediate on-sale as soon as Jobs finishes speaking.
iCloud
? That it will be free. Apple learnt its lesson about free cloud services years ago with iTools, which hax0rs used to store hacked files by the thousand; part of the logic of moving to the paid-for .Mac (as it became) was to flush them out.
Hardware
? iPhone 5, to go on sale in July. There hasn't been enough noise from the supply chain (to which people are listening very carefully) for this to be likely. Expect it in September.
Wild cards
? Apple to buy Lodsys and MacroSolve, the two companies that have been hassling app developers over claims of software patent infringement.
Utterly impossible
? Steve Jobs welcoming Steve Ballmer onto stage and announcing that they're going to put Windows Phone 7 onto the iPhone. Seriously, we suspect that if Jobs and Ballmer ever touched hands, it would be like matter and antimatter meeting (you decide which is which). If anyone knows of a documented occasion when they've met, we'd love to hear from you.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/jun/06/wwdc-2011-steve-jobs-icloud
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