Jobs to Kick Off WWDC Next Week
Apple has announced that CEO Steve Jobs will lead the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6. It is expected that during the address, Apple will unveil its next generation of software – Lion, the 8th major release of Mac OS X.
The company will also announce iOS 5, the next version of its mobile operating system which powers the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It is doubtful that a new iPhone will be offered at this event, as has been the trend in previous years. Industry speculation points to late September as the date for that unveiling.
Among one of the most awaited announcements is that of the new iCloud range of services. This new offering will allow subscribers stream songs and albums directly to Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices and Apple TV. Last week, BusinessWeek wrote the following about iCloud, “Armed with licenses from the music labels and publishers, Apple will be able to scan customers’ digital music libraries in iTunes and quickly mirror their collections on its own servers, say three people briefed on the talks. If the sound quality of a particular song on a user’s hard drive isn’t good enough, Apple will be able to replace it with a higher-quality version. Users of the service will then be able to stream, whenever they want, their songs and albums directly to PCs, iPhones, iPads, and perhaps one day even cars.”
Jobs’ appearance was not guaranteed at this event, as he went on his third medical leave in January. He is a survivor of pancreatic cancer.