WWDC Keynote Details Announced - What's Next?

Moments ago, Apple sent out a press release detailing what to expect at next week’s WWDC conference in San Francisco, California. While the announcement itself was unprecedented, since Apple typically does not release documents such as this ahead of an event, it still excluded a number of details worth addressing. What We Know The first paragraph of the document reads as follows:

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software - Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

In specific terms, this confirms Jobs will attend next week’s conference as part of the company’s keynote address. Naturally, given Jobs’ health issues, this is terrific news. In addition, Apple “will unveil” OS X Lion. This almost certainly means the next generation OS will be ready for customers soon after the big announcement. For iPhone/iPod touch and iPad users, the company will also “unveil” iOS 5, “the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system.” On this, we’re still not convinced the iOS will be available for consumers next week. Finally, Apple’s cloud system has a name and it is...iCloud. This means our many stories about “iCloud” were, in fact, correct. What We Don’t Know In addition to not knowing when iOS 5 is to be made available, nothing is really known about iCloud either, besides its name. First, the only way Apple would release iOS 5 now would be if the company also releases a new iDevice. We’re still pretty confident in our opinion that a new iPhone will not be announced next week. Therefore, Apple is most likely going to unveil iOS 5 on Monday, but state it will be released to the public later this year. Then, and only then will a new iPhone be released. Again, in our opinion. Second, what does iCloud mean? We know Apple’s new service will include music. Plus, in making today’s announcement, Apple must have completed its contracts will each of the music labels and publishers, which is great news. However, beyond that, we don't know what else iCloud will have to offer. Will it include other types of files (movies, TV shows, etc.)? And, what will the service cost? We’re pretty confident these questions and more will be announced next week. Please visit AppAdvice often as we set the stage for next week's WWDC conference in San Francisco, California. In addition, be sure to check out our iOS 5 and iPhone 5 pages. What do you think? Leave your comments below. [Photo: Yolande Larkin]

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