This Week's Sponsor:

PowerPhotos

The Ultimate Toolbox for Photos on the Mac

Posts tagged with "wwdc"

iCloud Logo Spotted at Moscone Center

 

Apple started the WWDC 2011 preparations at the Moscone Center a few days ago – we tweeted pictures of the Apple logo and outside banners going up, though we weren’t able to see what Apple was working on inside the conference building. As tweeted by @stop, the photo above shows the official logo / icon of iCloud that Apple will unveil at the WWDC keynote on Monday.

What do you think? Judging from a first photo, it looks like iCloud is going to replace MobileMe entirely – several rumors in the past weeks claimed iCloud would be a service within MobileMe, but from the looks of the icon it appears iCloud will simply replace Apple’s previous cloud offering.

We should receive more photos from Moscone Center later today and we’ll update this story with the new shots. Look past the break for more updates!

Read more

Apple Releases Official WWDC 2011 App

Apple has just released the free, official WWDC app on the App Store – the app is propagating now in iTunes and should be available here. Unlike last year, this year’s WWDC app works both on the iPhone and iPad with a native interface. The WWDC app allows you to check on the conference’s schedule, view floor diagrams of the Moscone Center and create your own schedule of labs, sessions and events you’re planning on attending. The app also comes with a News section to stay on top of the latest announcements made at WWDC throughout the week.

Apple says a new photo gallery will be updated daily with the latest photos from the show floor, labs and events, and the Favorites tab in the bottom toolbar will offer a way to organize sessions you want to attend. The new map feature will allow attendees to tap on a specific session or lab to find the specific level or location they need to go.

Access to the app is limited to WWDC attendees only – developers who purchased a ticket to WWDC ‘11 can use the app.

From the iTunes description:

Reserve Time at the Labs
The WWDC 2011 app allows you to make a reservation at the User Interface, App Review, iTunes Connect, Program Support, or Developer Publication lab. Once you make a lab reservation, it will appear in the schedule section of the app when you filter your view by Favorites.

Sessions and Labs Schedule
View the daily conference schedule including lunchtime and evening events. Filter your view to search by technology, platform, sessions, or labs.

Create Your WWDC Schedule
Tap on the detail view of any session, lab, or event. Then tap “Add to Favorites”. Your selections will be added to the Favorites section of the app and can be updated on-the-go.

Locate Sessions and Labs
Easily find your way around Moscone West with detailed floor maps. You can also tap on a specific session or lab for the level and location where you need to go.

The WWDC ‘11 schedule has also been posted online but it’s only available to owners of a WWDC ticket. Check out more screenshots of the app below. Read more

Apple Confirms: June 6 Keynote with Steve Jobs To Unveil iOS 5 and iCloud

Apple just confirmed with a press release Steve Jobs will be on stage (alongside other Apple executives) at the WWDC keynote on Monday, June 6, to officially unveil iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud, the upcoming cloud service from Apple. The WWDC ‘11 was long rumored to be focused on new software announcements with Mac OS X Lion set to debut this summer and an iOS 5 beta ready to be seeded to developers, but the iCloud launch was far from certain as Apple was rumored to be closing deal with music publishers, but negotiations could still fall off before the WWDC. It’s not clear yet whether iCloud will be a music service or a much larger set of tools part of a MobileMe rebrand, though Apple’s press release seems to suggest just that.

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.

Previous reports indicated iOS 5 would be released publicly this Fall, with betas seeded throughout the summer to developers. The OS was reported to feature new music, location services, “completely revamped” notifications and widgets, as well as a heavy cloud-based underlying structure that, at this point, we assume will be directly connected to iCloud for the web, desktop and mobile. Other rumors in the past months pointed at iOS 5 with new features called “Photo Stream” and “Media Stream” to instantly share photos and videos with your friends through the Cloud, similarly to how a separate report claimed the new MobileMe would be a mix of Facebook and uStream for social functionalities and video sharing.

10.6.8 Will Get Mac App Store Ready for Lion, Remove Mac Defender

According to the release notes of the latest build of Mac OS X 10.6.8 seeded to developers on Friday, the upcoming upgrade will contain improvements for Preview, VPN and IPv6, but more importantly it will make changes to the Mac App Store application in order to get it ready for Lion’s digital distribution this summer. As noted by 9to5mac, the installer of build 10K531 reports 10.6.8 will “enhance the Mac App Store to get your Mac ready to upgrade to Mac OS X Lion”, as well as “identify and remove known variants of Mac Defender.” Last week, Apple indeed updated a support document related to the Mac Defender malware promising that “in the coming days” a Mac OS X software update would be released to automatically find and remove Mac Defender and its known variants. At this point, it appears Apple is getting ready to release Mac OS X 10.6.8 relatively soon, perhaps even ahead of the WWDC that kicks off on June 6.

As for Lion’s release, latest rumors indicated that after widespread internal testing Apple could release the OS sooner than initially expected – not in July or August, maybe at the WWDC. A WWDC release, however, would appear strange considering Lion Developer Preview 3 still has several bugs to fix and a GM build hasn’t been seeded yet. Apple is undoubtedly “enhancing” the Mac App Store’s underlying code to make the transition to Lion easier and the download process as smooth as possible, though it seems likely that the company will also sell boxed copies (DVDs or portable USB keys, as many suggested) for those users unable to download gigabytes of data from the App Store.

Back to School Announcement at WWDC with Special iPad Discounts?

BGR reports one of Apple’s announcements at the upcoming WWDC will be about the Back to School 2011 program, which was initially rumored to launch this week. According to the website, this year’s Back to School will continue offering a free iPod touch to students who purchase a new Mac, although it’s possible that Apple will also kick off a new promotion with a $200 discount off an iPad following the purchase of a new Mac.

We have been told Apple will continue to offer educational discounts on computers and either a free iPod touch, or $229 towards the purchase of any other iPod. Our source also let us know that there might be something new in the works, as well… they heard that it’s possible Apple might offer students up to $200 off an iPad with the purchase of a new Mac.

The Back to School program has usually been announced in late May or early June. With the WWDC starting on June 6, the promotion could play nice with other major announcements such as Lion and iOS 5 made on stage. In the past years, Back to School allowed students to get a free 8 GB iPod touch, and the current family of iPod touches starts at $229 with the 8 GB model featuring the Retina Display and FaceTime camera. Apple’s push in the educational market was brought to the press’ attention again two weeks ago as the University of Delaware said an “Apple Store” would come on campus, enabling students to check out and buy products directly next to university’s library. With a wide selection of apps targeting students available on the App Store, $200 off an iPad combined with, for example, a MacBook Air indeed would be a good deal.

OS X Lion Nearing Public Release?

According to a report from TUAW, Mac OS X Lion has gone “live for internal testing” at Apple last week. Whilst it’s not clear what that means, we assume Apple has begun widespread internal testing of a new build of the OS that’s nearing GM status. TUAW suggests Lion might see a public release at WWDC in two weeks, or at least sooner than previously expected considering many had pointed at Lion on track for a late July / August release:

This suggests the new OS might possibly ship as early as WWDC with an “available today” mention at the keynote – or it might not. But Lion is looking to be one step closer to availability for Apple customers.

The latest developer preview of OS X Lion brought minor graphical changes to apps Apple had already updated in previous DP builds, as well as tweaks and performance improvements to make the OS more stable and faster. Developer builds of Lion have been seeded through the Mac App Store with a redeem code system, though Apple is also believed to make the OS available on DVDs or portable USB keys for users with slow Internet connections, unable of downloading GBs of data from the Mac App Store.

Going to WWDC? Find The Perfect Party With This App

In about 20 days from now, the city of San Francisco will see thousands of knowledge-hungry Mac and iOS developers arriving from all parts of the globe to attend the WWDC, Apple’s annual developer event that this year officially kicks off on June 6. With Apple showcasing the next version of iOS and Mac OS X Lion on stage, plus other cloud-related services we’ve heard about in the past weeks, there’s the chance this year’s WWDC is going to be one of those to be remembered for years to come. Not to mention the Apple Design Awards, for the first time counting both Mac and iOS applications that provided an example of excellence and developer craftsmanship throughout the past months of App Store availability.

I’ve never been to WWDC, but I have a pretty solid feeling it’s not just about Steve Jobs, Forstall’s perennial surprised face, Cocoa and sessions. From what I hear, there are some wild parties and dinners going down in San Francisco during the WWDC. After all, those tired developers deserve some fun after a day of CoreAnimation training and ADAs tension, right? Meet Party List, a free iPhone app that everyone who’s going to WWDC this year should download. The app? It basically gives you a list of “all the hippest, kewlest, craziest, and down right awesomest parties” happening during WWDC. Then, you save a party to your favorites and you go there – simple. To promote and event you’re organizing, just get in touch with the developers and ask them to include it in the app. That’s it.

Party List is free – attending the WWDC, of course, is not. I won’t be in San Francisco to record my experiences with developers, parties and drinks with Scott Forstall, but if I could come, I’d certainly put Party List on my homescreen. The app even supports push notifications – now, here’s something I wish Apple will fix come June 6.

Apple Already Running Nuance Tech in New Data Center, WWDC Announcement?

Following last week’s speculation of Apple negotiating a deal with voice-recognition company Nuance for future integration in iOS devices, TechCrunch reports today more details on the rumored collaboration between Apple and Nuance, which should be a major announcement at next month’s WWDC in San Francisco. According to the website, the partnership between the two companies goes as far as to allow Siri – previously purchased by Apple – to be integrated into iOS 5, using Nuance’s voice recognition technology in the backend. Siri, in fact, was based on Nuance’s tech while providing more information of its own, and since the acquisition last year Apple had to make sure Nuance would still license the software (they even hold multiple patents for it) to use in the future version of Siri – likely a native feature in iOS 5.

For this reason, TechCrunch speculates Apple may be already running Nuance’s tech on its servers in North Carolina, through the massive data center that should begin operations this Spring. With deals likely already inked ahead of the WWDC, Apple might want to pass information through their own cloud to make voice recognition faster for all users, scalable, and more secure.

In digging into the information about the relationship between the two companies, we had heard that Apple might actually already be using Nuance technology in their new (but yet to be officially opened) massive data center in North Carolina. Since then, we’ve gotten multiple independent confirmations that this is indeed the case. And yes, this is said to be the keystone of a partnership that Apple is likely to announce with Nuance at WWDC next month.

More specifically, we’re hearing that Apple is running Nuance software — and possibly some of their hardware — in this new data center. Why? A few reasons. First, Apple will be able to process this voice information for iOS users faster. Second, it will prevent this data from going through third-party servers. And third, by running it on their own stack, Apple can build on top of the technology, and improve upon it as they see fit.

Valued at over $6 billion, an acquisition of Nuance was quickly dismissed last week as an expense Apple wasn’t ready to consider, suggesting a partnership would make more sense in order to keep things running (in Siri and the future iOS integration) at a lower cost. The fact that Apple may be running Nuance’s tech on its own backend, however, seems to suggest that Apple has at least negotiated a way to get direct control of the service, which, again, should power the next version of Siri for iOS 5. TechCrunch speculates voice recognition will be one of the WWDC’s big announcements, although it’s unclear whether third-party developers will get immediate access through a series of APIs or not.

The WWDC kicks off on June 6, and Apple has already formally announced that they’ll unveil the future of iOS and OS X at the developer-oriented event. Voice recognition has long been in the rumors as a major new functionality of iOS 5 – alongside a new notification system, maps, and social services – which should be previewed next month and released this Fall at Apple’s usual September media event.

Production Of New MacBook Airs Starting Next Month? Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge CPUs?

According to a report by AppleInsider based on research from Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is getting ready to start mass production of new MacBook Air models featuring updated Intel graphics, Core i5 and Core i7 Intel “Sandy Bridge” processors and Thunderbolt technology. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, production could start as early as next month in “late May”, with the new machines set to be released in June. The report seems to corroborate a previous rumor that suggested Apple was considering an “early refresh” of the MacBook Air line (which was unveiled by Steve Jobs in October 2010 at the “Back to the Mac” event) to implement the Sandy Bridge architecture. The current generation of MacBook Airs feature Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors – an outdated technology that can still be found in the original MacBooks, and was replaced in the early-2011 MacBook Pros by Sandy Bridge-based Corei3, Corei5 and Corei7 CPUs. Since the Cnet’s report that pointed to new MacBook Airs with Sandy Bridge coming out in June, however, speculation has arisen suggesting Apple also wants to integrate Thunderbolt in the machines’ thin design.

Kuo tells AppleInsider that his latest round of checks with suppliers and system builders in the region reveals that MacBook Air shipments are set to rebound during the current calendar quarter, fueled by an upgrade to Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge microprocessors, integrated Intel graphics, and the expected adoption of the new Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology that made its debut on MacBook Pros earlier this year.

Should Apple follow its current trend of using ultra-low-variants for the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and low-voltage ones for the 13.3-inch models, consumers can expect to see new 11.6-inch MacBook Airs sporting 1.4GHz to 1.6GHz Core i5 and Core i7 chips and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs with 2.10 and 2.30GHz Core i7 processors.

With several Thunderbolt-enabled products coming out in the next months and the WWDC scheduled for June, it would make sense for Apple to refresh the popular MacBook Air family to include more powerful CPUs and a Thunderbolt port. The iMac line is also expected to go under a refresh soon – again, allegedly sporting Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt. The WWDC ‘11 kicks off in San Francisco on June 6, but it’s been rumored to be a software-focused event, rather than the stage for major hardware announcements. A speed-bump update for the MacBook Air, though, could fit well in Apple’s WWDC timeframe.